Technics says the SL-1200 will not be targeted to the DJ community

Although the Technics SL-1200 turntable is the industry standard for vinyl DJs, the company recently announced it will not be targeting the DJ market moving forward.

Speaking to the New York Times, the creative director at Technics, Hiro Morishita, expressed the company’s focus is now centered on hi-fi listening consumers.

"DJs are fine, too, but as a marketing target it’s problematic. We don’t want to sell the 1200 as the best tool for DJing. The 1200 is the 1200.”

Despite having an established fan base of avid vinyl DJs, Technics found that these consumers were not numerous enough and did not have enough money to help revive the brand. Instead it concluded that targeting the wealthy population would be its best route.

Technics stopped production of the SL-1200 in 2010, but made a comeback in 2016 with the new SL-1200GAE Grand Class, which retails for about $2,800.

Now Technics’ new marketing campaign has Alice Sara Ott, a German classical pianist, as its “global brand ambassador”, seemingly drifting much further away from the DJ community.

Harrison is Mixmag's East Coast Editor. Follow him on Twitter here