What Happened at Sonos and Why QSC Should Pay Attention
The Pro Audio and MI user experience has largely been defined by solution fragmentation, where musicians, engineers, and producers must piece together systems from a variety of manufacturers—much of which is analog and unaware of what’s happening upstream or downstream. However, change may be on the horizon. Speaking in June 2024 at the InfoComm show, QSC’s CEO, Joe Pham outlined a comprehensive, integrated, AI-powered vision for AV (audio and video). This aspiration is bold and ambitious, aiming to redefine how systems are designed, deployed, and managed.
As we explore QSC’s vision, we’ll also reflect on what’s happening in consumer audio, with significant challenges faced by Sonos. Their story may serve as a cautionary tale with valuable lessons for QSC and the Pro Audio industry at large.
QSC’s Integrated Vision for Pro Audio
QSC’s vision for the future of Pro Audio is ambitious, forward-thinking, and potentially transformative. At its core is an integrated system that unifies audio, video, and control into a single, scalable, and flexible ecosystem. Unlike traditional Pro Audio setups that require professionals to cobble together various components from different manufacturers, QSC’s platform is designed to work seamlessly across all these domains, simplifying the user experience and improving efficiency.
Joe Pham’s vision for QSC includes:
Unified Platform: Built to be an all-encompassing platform that brings together the various elements into one cohesive system.
Scalability and Flexibility: The platform would be designed to scale across a wide range of applications, from small conference rooms to large stadiums.
Open Architecture: QSC emphasizes an open architecture approach, allowing third-party manufacturers’ products to integrate.
AI-Driven: QSC plans to incorporate artificial intelligence into the platform to automate configuration, provide real-time system monitoring, and predict maintenance needs.
QSC’s integrated vision represents a significant departure from the traditional Pro Audio landscape, where fragmentation and complexity have been accepted as the only way. Even Dante, the closest thing the industry has to a platform, does not cover the entire ecosystem, because Audinate (Dante’s developer) does not produce hardware endpoints like speakers, mixers, or microphones. By integrating the constituent parts and simplifying setup and management, QSC aims to create a more user-friendly and efficient operating experience for audio professionals.
What’s Happening with Sonos?
Sonos wireless home audio speakers and platform have been known for ease of use and networking stability. However, recent developments at Sonos have revealed challenges associated with maintaining an integrated ecosystem.
Sonos faced significant backlash when it decided to discontinue support for an older version of its app, which many users had come to rely on for its simplicity and reliability. The new app introduced by Sonos, while offering new features and a modern interface, was not backward-compatible with older Sonos speakers. This left many long-time customers forced to choose between upgrading their systems—often at significant cost—or continuing to use a deprecated app that would no longer receive updates or support.
Sonos failed to balance the new value provided by the new app with the very reasonable customer expectations of simplicity and stability. Simply put, it appears that Sonos shipped the new app before it was finished and sufficiently tested.
The lack of backward compatibility in the new app forced customers into difficult decisions. This is, to some extent, a repetition of lessons apparently not learned in the Recycle Mode debacle in 2019.
But perhaps the most important lesson from Sonos is that managing an integrated system of hardware and software becomes increasingly complex as the ecosystem grows. And that’s with the relative simplicity of Sonos’ closed ecosystem in which third-party speakers aren’t permitted.
The challenges faced by Sonos offer valuable lessons for QSC and other companies in the Pro Audio space, particularly as they navigate the complexities of building and maintaining integrated ecosystems.
Observations About Pro Audio Products, Platforms, and User-Centricity
Analyzing the current state of Pro Audio reveals several attributes that are “business as usual,” creating the opening for QSC’s bold aspirations.
Solution Fragmentation: Pro Audio professionals are forced to piecemeal together an array of products from multiple manufacturers.
Lack of Comprehensive Platforms: Pro Audio lacks an “operating system” that unifies hardware and software into a cohesive system. While Dante has made strides in standardizing audio networking it is not a complete end-to-end solution.
Low User-Centric Design: Pro Audio products have historically prioritized technical performance, flexibility, and control over simplicity, intuitiveness, or delightful user experience. This has resulted in tools that are powerful but may be difficult to use, with steep learning curves and limited suitability for non-experts.
Incremental Progress: Much of what is marketed as innovation in Pro Audio is, in reality, incremental improvement. There has been a relative conservatism in the visions of many companies, with few attempting to fundamentally reimagine how Pro Audio systems are designed and used.
In this context, QSC’s vision for a unified, integrated platform represents a significant departure from the status quo.
Lessons for QSC and Pro Audio as a Whole from Sonos
The challenges faced by Sonos offer valuable lessons for QSC and the Pro Audio industry at large. While the needs of consumers and professionals may differ, the underlying principles of managing an integrated ecosystem are similar.
User Experience is Paramount: One of the key takeaways from Sonos’s experience is the importance of prioritizing user experience, reliability, and stability. Getting UX right isn’t about being the smartest, most creative, best designed product; it’s about genuinely and openly listening to users throughout the development cycle to continually validate assumptions and perceived value.
Backward Compatibility Matters: Professionals—even more so than consumers—invest in products with the expectation that they will be supported for years to come. Ensuring that new systems remain compatible with existing products is crucial for avoiding the pitfall of forced obsolescence.
Communication and Transparency: Clear communication with customers is essential, particularly when making significant changes to a product or platform. Companies must be transparent about the reasons for changes and any potential challenges users might face during the transition. This isn’t the place for puffery or future promises.
What Could Go Wrong with QSC’s Vision?
While QSC’s vision for an integrated AV platform is ambitious and forward-thinking, it also carries significant risks. The history of the Pro Audio industry, combined with the challenges of developing and maintaining complex platforms, presents several potential pitfalls:
Complexity of Integration: Developing an end-to-end platform that integrates hardware, software, and AI is a complex undertaking. Ensuring that all components work together seamlessly, especially in a field where reliability is mission-critical, could prove challenging to say the least. Unlike Sonos’ closed ecosystem, QSC is proposing to integrate with third-party manufacturers’ products, and will likely need to do so with both networked and traditional analog products.
User Experience and Adoption: While the QSC vision aims to simplify operation, there is a risk that the integration of advanced features like AI could complicate the user experience. If professionals find the system too difficult to use, too different from what they are accustomed to, or simply unreliable, they may be reluctant to adopt it. It took roughly 30 years for digital mixers and active loudspeakers to each reach broad acceptance!
Backward Compatibility and Transition: Just as Sonos faced backlash for discontinuing support for older products, QSC must carefully manage endpoint support for its new platform. If existing customers feel forced to upgrade or abandon their current tools, it could lead to dissatisfaction and reduced loyalty.
Market Resistance: Pro Audio is known for reliance on traditional methods and equipment. There’s a reason it’s difficult to find a Dante-enabled speaker that doesn’t also have an analog input. There is a risk that professionals may resist the move to a more integrated, software-driven platform, preferring to stick with the tools and workflows they are familiar with.
Support and Development: Maintaining an integrated platform requires ongoing support and continuous development. QSC will need to invest heavily in ensuring that the platform remains reliable, secure, and up-to-date. Any lapses in support could undermine the platform’s credibility and lead to a loss of confidence.
What If QSC Gets It Right?
If QSC successfully realizes its vision, it disrupt the landscape of the Pro Audio industry. Full stop.
Setting a New Standard: Other manufacturers might be forced to rethink their strategies, either moving away from fragmented offerings toward more integrated solutions, or simplifying their offerings to reflect acceptance of QSC as the standard bearer for system infrastructure.
Accelerated Adoption of Advanced Technologies: If QSC demonstrates the effectiveness of AI-driven features and advanced system management in Pro Audio, it could accelerate the adoption of these technologies across the industry. Other manufacturers might begin to incorporate AI and automation into their products, driving the industry toward more intelligent systems that more people can use.
Increased Competition: QSC’s success could inspire competitors to develop rival integrated platforms, leading to increased competition in the Pro Audio market. This could be beneficial for end-users, as it would likely result in an arms race for improving user experiences, technical capabilities, and raising the table stakes for reliability and stability.
Ecosystem Lock-In: If QSC becomes the go-to platform for Pro Audio, other manufacturers might develop products that are specifically designed for the QSC ecosystem. This could create ecosystem lock-in, in which professionals become increasingly reliant on QSC’s platform. While this development could further enhance interoperability and ease of use, it could also limit the flexibility that professionals currently enjoy with system-agnostic products.
Business-Model Transformation: Success with an integrated platform could lead to a transformation in business models across the industry. For example, QSC and others might adopt a more service-oriented approach. While subscriptions to what were previously perpetually licensed software could be charitably seen as having mixed results, subscription or usage-based models might be experiments worth trying here. This could not only reshape revenue streams for manufacturers, but more importantly shift focus from hardware sales toward long-term service and relationship support.
User-Centric Design Doesn’t Always Mean Simplification
There’s a common belief that user-centric design should always lead to simpler products. However, in Pro Audio, “user-centric” might also mean providing tools that offer deep customization and control, even if they are more complex. Pro Audio product designers should resist the temptation to draw too heavily on consumer audio UX without validating their hypotheses with enough customers to feel confident that simplification is valued. Professionals might value powerful features over simplicity, as long as those features are well-designed and accessible.
Pro Audio professionals are motivated by the need for precision, reliability under pressure, and the ability to customize setups and performance to meet the unique needs of events and venues.
The key is to chase accessibility without sacrificing the detailed and complete control that define professional-grade equipment. In particular, Information Architecture could play a crucial role, enabling workflows that are efficient and intuitive while supporting the depth and complexity professionals need. It’s not just about creating products that feel fun and friendly; it’s about structuring information and tools in a way that makes search, navigation, and task execution powerful and streamlined—access to the right controls quickly and managing complex setups with confidence.
By understanding and addressing users’ motivations and fears, QSC can redefine what user-centric design means in Pro Audio—not by making everything simple, but by making everything accessible, reliable, and powerful. This approach could empower professionals to push the boundaries of what’s possible in live sound and event production, ensuring that complexity remains a strength rather than a weakness.
Wrapping Up
QSC’s vision for an integrated AV platform represents a bold theoretical step forward for the industry. QSC has the potential to simplify operation, improve user experience, and move the industry forward. However, as the challenges faced by Sonos demonstrate, the path to achieving this vision is fraught with risks.
The Pro Audio industry has long been characterized by solution fragmentation and system complexity. While QSC’s integrated approach portends a compelling alternative future, it must be painstakingly managed to avoid alienating existing customers, introducing instability, or limiting the flexibility that professionals value. If QSC can successfully navigate these challenges, it could reshape the industry for manufacturers, and more importantly, for customers.