Roland

Roland Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972. In 2005, Roland’s headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. It has factories in Taiwan, Japan, and the USA. As of March 31, 2010, it employed 2,699 employees.[2] In 2014, Roland was subject to a management buyout by Roland’s CEO Junichi Miki, supported by Taiyo Pacific Partners.

Roland has manufactured numerous instruments that have had lasting impacts on popular music, such as the Juno-106 synthesizer, TB-303 bass synthesizer,  and TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines. Roland was also instrumental in the development of MIDI, a standardized means of synchronizing electronic instruments manufactured by different companies. In 2016, Fact wrote that Roland “arguably did more to shape electronic music than any other company in history”.