Highlights of 2022
At Genelec, we've always looked to you, our global community, for the ultimate inspiration, in awe of the spirit of unity and collaboration you channel through your music and creativity. We have big plans to celebrate that and to highlight your part in our decades-long story next year, as we celebrate Genelec's 45th anniversary. Before we get there though, let's look back at our best moments of 2022!
January
Kicking off the year in January, we were honoured to receive further acclaim for our multi-award-winning GLM loudspeaker manager and system calibration software, this time by winning the publicly voted 'Monitoring' category at the prestigious Resolution Awards with GLM version 4.1. Thank you, everyone, for participating in the poll!
The month continued with another triumph for Genelec software and for the entire audio creation industry's pursuit of computer-aided monitoring perfection when we launched our Aural ID plug-in, introducing native software integration to our established Aural ID personal HRTF technology. Together, the Aural ID plug-in and personal HRTF provide a simple-to-obtain and high-quality solution for spatially-accurate reference monitoring over standard professional headphones - from stereo to immersive. What’s more, Aural ID is completely tailor made to your ears, offering you the absolute highest level of precision.
Rounding out the month, Producer and Engineer Sylvia Massy, known for her work with Tool, System of a Down, Prince and Johnny Cash among others, treated us to a Masterclass about microphones live from the studio where she keeps the world's largest collection of them.
February
In February, we proudly received Sound On Sound Magazine's 'Highly Commended Award' for our 8361 'The Ones' Smart Active Monitor. Once again, this was owing to the fantastic support of our global community, and in particular, SOS Magazine's highly knowledgeable professional readership, to whom we extend our sincere gratitude.
Later that month, Genelec's Artist Room welcomed one of Finland's most exceptional rock vocalists, Noora Louhimo, for two powerhouse performances and a quick interview. She was incredible, and it's safe to say that anytime you need a reminder of music's freedom of expression and visual vivacity, her Artist Room videos will light the way!
March
As Finland's winter landscape persisted into March, Genelec's factory prepared to add further flexibility to our award-winning Smart IP family of PoE networked loudspeakers, a series that offers simple, sustainable and highly scalable solutions for premium AV applications. We duly launched the super-compact 4410 loudspeaker and introduced the free Smart IP Controller app for ultra-accessible day-to-day system operation via Android or iOS mobile devices.
Aside from producing technologies like Smart IP that have a minimal environmental footprint, Genelec fully embraces sustainability wherever we can, from carefully assessing supply chains to using renewable power generation and servicing our decades-old loudspeaker models. We consider sustainability to be equally as important as sound quality and profitability, and this year we decided to make our approach to business as easy to understand as possible by launching our website's Sustainability Hub.
April
Education is another force for good that's very close to our hearts. Throughout the year, we offer a wealth of knowledge and wisdom from respected audio professionals, covering a broad range of fields. This April, we visited highly acclaimed Sound Engineer, Zukye Ardella, at her New York studio, and she gave us a brilliant live Masterclass on vocal production.
Immersive audio is a hot topic right now, yet the technology is relatively new for most engineers, so it presents a huge number of opportunities for learning fresh ideas and expanding the horizons of stereo mixing. To make your journey into spatial audio as simple as possible, we decided to launch our website's Immersive Hub this April, allowing you to locate all the most vital information and resources on one page.
May
As May rolled around, we were delighted to learn that our sustainability credentials, particularly in AV, were once again highlighted amongst a host of other industry-leading companies, this time at the prestigious Inavation Awards. Proudly, Genelec was chosen by Inavate Magazine's expert panel of judges as the winner of their Sustainability Award, which we earned for our continued efforts to minimise our environmental impact.
As late Spring is a period of growth, it was a fitting time to make one of the most important updates we've ever made to our GLM software. GLM 4.2, and its new GRADE Report, expanded the software's scope from the precise calibration of Genelec Smart Active Monitoring systems to a total analysis of the listening environment, combining full system and room performance data and presenting it in a handy PDF readout. GRADE, standing for 'Genelec Room Acoustic Data Evaluation', can create reports in a matter of minutes, enabling you make your best-informed decisions when considering studio improvements - whether they be adjustments to your system or acoustic treatment.
Adding extra sheen to an already great month, our elegant Harri-Koskinen-designed 6040R floorstander impressed at one of Finland's most prominent design competitions, the Fennia Prize.
June
As the greenery of June returned to our Finnish Iisalmi base, our US colleagues across the pond made the whole Genelec family proud by bringing home two fantastic accolades from the Technical Excellence and Creativity (TEC) Awards, held at the famous NAMM Show in California. We were delighted to hear that GLM 4 won the TEC 'Outstanding Technical Achievement Award' in the 'Production Essentials' category and that FM Design won the 'Outstanding Creative Achievement Award' for their incredible work on our Boston Experience Center. A big thank you to everyone that voted Genelec, and lots of warm appreciation for everyone involved in the two projects!
Zipping over to the UK for a moment, we had the pleasure of showing you the incredible new 9.1.4 Genelec powered Dolby Atmos 'Studio 4' room at London's legendary RAK Studios - a forward-thinking creative powerhouse with a glorious 46-year musical history. Our video interview with Studio Manager Emma Townsend and Immersive Engineer Robbie Nelson is not to be missed!
Meanwhile in Mumbai, Jolie's - a luxury bar with premium audio courtesy of Genelec S360 and 8010 loudspeakers complemented by four 7382 subwoofers - became the deserving recipient of the MONDO-DR Best Bar Award; another extremely proud moment for Genelec.
July
In July, we kicked off a highly educative collaboration with ScreenCraft Works, bringing a host of global experts from the film and TV industry into free live online masterclasses to discuss a wide range of topics among themselves and with public participants. Rarely has such inside information been so readily available, so we encourage you to watch the replays and look out for more live sessions in the future!
Later that month, we enjoyed an epic adventure at mobile gaming giant Supercell's Helsinki headquarters, where they've recently installed over 500 Genelec loudspeakers, making their setup one of the largest Genelec AV installations on the planet. You too can open the doors to Supercell's whimsical and well-thought-out working space by watching our exclusive video case study.
August
Goosebumps were felt all around at our Artist Room this August, as we set the stage for Finnish sensation Rita Behm to perform there. After a rapid rise to fame in her native Finland, BEHM, as she's more often known, has gone from strength to strength, creating resonance with highly relatable lyrics and emotive performances. She put all of that skill on show when she treated us to an intimate acoustic session - and you can experience it any time you like by watching her exclusive videos on Genelec's Music Channel.
After that excitement, all eyes turned to Tokyo, where the Genelec Japan team celebrated five years since they were established to build on our strong history of success in the Japanese audio industry. Congratulations once again, we look forward to many more years of fruitful cooperation!
September
Another country in which we've been fortunate to build a very strong community is Germany, and this September we solidified our commitment to the territory by launching a dedicated homepage in the native language. So, for those of you who prefer to use German, you can now visit www.genelec.de - willkommen!
October
Everyone at Genelec is passionate about making it as simple, easy and comfortable as possible for you to experience and learn about our audio solutions. That's why local language content is important, however, we've recently gone even further by opening physical Experience Centres around the globe where anyone can book a time to audition Genelec systems. October saw us welcome our first guests into the fabulous new Helsinki and Stockholm demo rooms. Have you visited a Genelec Experience Centre yet?
We ended the month with an exciting charity auction, which we ran in cooperation with international rock icon Ville Valo. Ville created a custom-painted pair of Genelec 8341 The Ones monitors for us to auction, and he chose Finland's ETKL social protection charity to receive all the proceeds! Well done to everyone that took part, you helped make a very positive difference to the lives of children and women in great need of protective care!
November
Invigorated by the rapid growth we've seen in home studio culture, we piloted a new video series this November, which we called 'Home Studio Transformations'. The first episode is a two-parter that follows celebrated Finnish interior designer, Milla Alftan, and her Music Producer husband, Kristian Maukonen, as they build a new home studio space with the expert help of Genelec and Konto. Watch out for more of these in the near future!
After that quick visit to the forests of Finland, we lapped up the diverse sound of Colombia's 'Pacific music' with genre pioneer and master of the chonta marimba, Hugo Candelario González, who gave us a Spanish-language masterclass on the specifics of this beautiful, energising music.
December
The life-changing energy that music gives us can be especially important for young people. Crucially, that energy comes not only through the enjoyment of listening to music, but also through the creation of music and how that freedom of expression leads to empowerment. That's why we were so delighted to support The Music Works in creating their free-to-use Music Bus in the UK, a fantastic mobile recording studio that we got our first look at in December. Hats off to everyone that made it a reality!
Finishing off the year with a healthy dose of glamour and pure behind-the-scenes magic, we paid another visit to rock superstar, Ville Valo, this time at his home studio! Watch our exclusive video interview to see his inspiring Genelec-powered recording space and find out about the enlightening experience he had putting together his forthcoming debut solo album, Neon Noir.
Thanks for a great 2022!
If you've read everything up to here, that deserves a small thank you in itself; we're continuously humbled by how present and involved you are in our story! When it comes to 2022, we'd like to remind you just how much we appreciate you joining us for the ride, and we look forward to seeing you again next year!
As always, we couldn't have done any of this without our wonderful team of Genelec people stationed across the globe. This year, we had the pleasure of highlighting several of them in a series of social media posts and website articles called #OurGenelec, yet so many more of our people are doing wonders away from the limelight - so here's a big thanks to each and every one of you too!