The industry’s leading distributor of percussion brands today got a lot stronger with the announcement by KMC Music (www.kmcmusic.com) that parent company JAM Industries (www.jamindustries.com) has acquired Rhythm Tech (www.rhythmtech.com). The acquisition, completed last month, makes KMC Music the sole United States distributor of Rhythm Tech percussion products and accessories, according to KMC Music President Mark Terry.
“JAM Industries is very excited to add Rhythm Tech to its growing portfolio of company-owned brands,” Terry said today. “For more than 35 years, this great company has helped to set the standard for hand percussion, mounted percussion, drums, and accessory products that are the choice of leading players like Carmine Appice, Carter Beauford, Greg Bissonette and Dennis Chambers. This tradition of innovation is guaranteed to continue because Richard Taninbaum, the visionary founder and President of Rhythm Tech, will continue to consult on future Rhythm Tech product development and design.”
According to Taninbaum, the acquisition of Rhythm Tech by JAM Industries will help the brand in many important ways. “Rhythm Tech will now have the industry’s greatest retail sales force to represent it in the marketplace as well as a new and greater depth of resources behind it that will enable Rhythm Tech to continue its long proud tradition of innovation.”
Founded in 1980, Rhythm Tech’s debut of the now iconic crescent-shaped tambourine redefined the world’s view of what a tambourine could be and the role it could play in the creation of music. Conceived of during a now legendary recording session at the Power Station in New York with Bob Clearmountain, the crescent tambourine was an overnight sensation, evolving into the de facto standard tambourine not just for percussionists, but for millions of singers, keyboardists, horn players, and anyone else whose live or recording situation requires them to make something jingle.
“It’s hard to believe that the elegantly ergonomic, infinitely playable shape of Rhythm Tech’s famous crescent-shaped tambourine hasn’t always been with us,” Taninbaum reflected. “The fact is that before we broke the rules and created it, tambourines were always round and could be about as pleasant to jangle as a dumbbell! This commitment to break the rules can now continue with the great resources of JAM Industries and KMC Music behind it.”
The acquisition of Rhythm Tech by JAM Industries is just the latest in a series of stunning industry moves by KMC Music in the percussion category. “The addition of Rhythm Tech to a line-up that already includes Paiste, Gibraltar, Latin Percussion, Remo, Toca, Vater, and Vic Firth further strengthens our position as the industry’s only one, true ‘one-stop’ source for all their percussion needs,” emphasized KMC Music Vice President of Merchandising Roger Hart.