FACES
Peter Freedman
By Michael Raine
He ’ s able to joke about it now , with his characteristic wit and thick Australian accent , but before his company became the gem of Australia ’ s audio industry , Peter Freedman almost bankrupted his family ’ s business . With a bit of luck and a lot of hustling , however , Freedman turned a small audio shop and PA installer into the audio manufacturing powerhouse known worldwide as Rode Microphones . And while he ’ ll be the first to acknowledge that things are very good these days , he also speaks openly of how those early struggles left a mark .
Freedman has spent literally his entire life in the audio industry . Born in Sweden to Henry and Astrid Freedman , his earliest memories are tied up in audio as his father repaired electronics , freelanced for a pro audio distributor , and mixed live bands . “ I ’ ve spent 41 years in pro audio , and I remember as a two-year-old ,” Freedman recalls , “ being with my dad mixing bands in the ‘ 50s or early ‘ 60s . So it ’ s nothing but pro audio in my head .”
After the Freedmans moved to Sydney , Australia in the mid-1960s , Henry started Freedman Electronics – a small audio shop and PA installer that also served as the Australian distributor for German audio brand Dynacord . It became a haven for young Peter .
Over the years , Freedman Electronics scored some high-profile install jobs and the Dynacord line proved popular around Australia ’ s club circuit .
When Henry got sick , 29-yearold Peter inherited the company in 1987 and things quickly took a turn for the worse . As he says , he was young , ambitious , enthusiastic , and completely lacking in business sense . Borrowing a lot of money from the bank , Freedman took on new brands for distribution and even started a new company , Image Design Works : Disco , Sound & Lighting . Now burdened with loads of debt , things nearly became catastrophic for Freedman when the stock market crashed on Oct . 19 , 1987 , a day referred to around the world as Black Monday , and which hit Australia especially hard .
“ There are so many things that make what happened to me look like nothing , but it ’ s individual ,” says Freedman , thinking about the years after the crash as he fought to keep the company afloat while supporting a wife and two young children . “ It felt like horror , felt like I was in jail for six or seven years , and I had to walk to work for awhile because I couldn ’ t afford a car – which I guess was good for me in a lot of ways – but to know what it ’ s like to not be able to buy groceries and stuff , it affects you forever .” While scouring the shop for literally anything they could sell , Peter found an old condenser microphone he bought in China years earlier . Though it didn ’ t seem so at the time , it proved to be a pivotal moment .
“ I got into debt and I wasn ’ t looking to go , ‘ I ’ m going to make mics and start exporting !’ It was like , ‘ Oh wow , a whole lot of toasters , let ’ s sell them .’ I had this mic that I had bought in China in ’ 81 ; it was a studio mic and it wasn ’ t very good , but it was alright and we fixed it up . I thought , ‘ I can get these ’ and I sent out my sales guy I had brought over from England , Colin Hill , and he came back and said , ‘ There is a lot of interest in this ,’ and it was just one of those right-place-at-the-right-time things ,” Freedman recalls . They rebranded the refurbished mic the Rode NT1 , and in that inauspicious way , Rode Microphones was born .
“ I thought , ‘ If we can sell 500 of these in a year , I think we can get out of debt eventually and be alright ,’ and now we do 1.1 million in 12 months . Who dreamt that ? Nobody ; it ’ s like it ’ s not real . I hope I don ’ t wake up and it ’ s not real . That would be bad …” laughs Freedman .
Of course , since the original NT1 in 1993 , Rode has brought manufacturing in-house in Australia ( at a time when most competitors were outsourcing ) and has become an industry leader in the coveted high-end home and mobile recording markets .
And while he ’ s received many accolades along the way , including the Order of Australia , one of the country ’ s highest civilian honours ,
Freedman stresses that his family , employees , and business partners are the reason he is where he is and made it through the tough times . “ I couldn ’ t have done it without my wife ,” he says . “ I have no respect for money and I ’ m no good at it . I can ’ t count it properly . I ’ m ADD and I love marketing and I love technology and I can sit with you now and I ’ ll come up with 50 pretty awesome product ideas that are not in the market that would sell , so that is my skill . But making them and paying for them and getting them out there , that ’ s the team . You have to build that and I learned that early on .”
Looking forward , Freedman assures anybody who asks that he ’ ll never stop reaching for new heights . “ You don ’ t sit there one day and wake up going , ‘ Oh , OK , I think I ’ m there .’ I ’ m not there now . It feels like I ’ ve just started and I ’ m 21 . The only times I don ’ t feel 21 is when I look in the mirror and go , ‘ Who ’ s that old bugger ?’ You know , I ’ m just kicking off . I certainly don ’ t feel as vulnerable as I was before , and I ’ m not , but there is no ‘ there .’”
Michael Raine is the Senior Editor of Canadian Music Trade .
20
CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE