Areal has appointed François Villaret as Chief Executive Officer, formalising a relationship that began when he joined the company as a strategic advisor in July 2025. Villaret brings extensive experience in spatial audio, go-to-market strategy and international commercial development. Prior to joining Areal, he spent seven years as Head of Business Development at immersive loudspeaker manufacturer HOLOPLOT, joining when it was a six-person team and serving as a management team member as the business grew to more than 130 people. During that time, Villaret worked across go-to-market strategy, partnerships and commercial expansion, helping develop opportunities across live sound, experiential entertainment…
Author: Alicia Pollitt
Global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks has announced the release of Vectorworks 2027, the latest version of its product line, built around how design professionals work every day. Rooted in the company’s design-first philosophy, Vectorworks 2027 reduces friction, simplifies routine tasks, and makes it easier to visualise, document, coordinate, and exchange information. The result is a more responsive design experience that reflects how professionals work, with improvements across performance, visualisation, data-driven graphics, and content resources. The 2027 version includes Vectorworks Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, Design Suite, Fundamentals, ConnectCAD, and Braceworks. “Innovation isn’t always about introducing something entirely new. Sometimes, it’s…
dBTechnologies USA has appointed SK Mac as its manufacturers’ representative firm for the Metro New York and Mid-Atlantic territories. SK Mac is supporting the continued growth of dBTechnologies across the professional audio, systems integration, production and MI markets. Established in 1926 by Samuel King Macdonald, SK Mac has served the region’s professional audio industry for a century. The company began representing Shure in 1931 and celebrated its 95th year with the manufacturer in 2026. The appointment follows a strategic review of SK Mac’s professional audio portfolio and places dBTechnologies within a focused group of manufacturers represented across both territories. The…
The vital work that Backup does is only possible thanks to the unwavering support of the industry, through the fundraising of individuals to the partnerships with industry companies. The generosity of its supporters enables Backup to continue its vital work and Backup was excited to welcome Rosco and Epson on board this summer, two giants of industry and long-term supporters of Backup’s work. For Steve Ramos, Business Unit Director in the UK for Rosco, giving back to the people that have kept Rosco a global name was a key factor in the company’s choice to partner with Backup. “At Rosco…
Solid State Logic has enhanced the experience for live engineers in its demo facility with EM Acoustics Reference Series loudspeakers. The British console manufacturer chose EM Acoustics to create a natural environment for engineers to experience its Live Series desks. The demonstration area at SSL is a purpose-built facility at its Oxford HQ where engineers can get hands-on with the manufacturer’s desks in a familiar setting. Whether it is a traditional mains and nearfield setup for recording or immersive audio for broadcast, the rooms all feature the type of sound system that feels right for the application. This stretches to…
Across Garbage’s 2026 European tour, FOH Engineer David Gaumé took the band from theatres and clubs to festivals, city squares and outdoor stages all on his own compact Waves LV1 Classic rig. For Gaumé, who had already built much of his live mixing around Waves, moving to LV1 brought a familiar workflow directly into the console, with everything in one integrated environment. “The LV1 to me is my playland,” he said. “That’s it.” Gaumé has been Garbage’s front-of-house engineer since 2017. Long before he ever touched an LV1, he was already a heavy Waves user, in the studio and live.…
Dutch Barrier Services has reduced the carbon impact of its sales and rental crowd safety barriers by a further 35%, to an overall certified 3.8 kg CO2 per kilogram of used aluminium, by sourcing the most sustainable certified aluminium from two sources: Speira and Hydro. Dutch Barrier Services was formed in 2022 with sustainability a core ethos across product development, manufacture, feeding into sales and rental operations. The use of sustainable aluminium has always been in place, centred around a shared ethos to minimise environmental impact with neighbouring ‘sister company’ Dutch Barrier Solutions. Dutch Barrier’s manufacturer has progressed from using…
Robert Juliat has announced the appointment of Hong Jun Logic as its new partner for Taiwan. Hong Jun Logic will be responsible for the distribution of RJ’s complete product line in the region, with immediate effect. Established in 2018, Hong Jun Logic specialises in the supply of professional lighting for corporate events, live concerts and touring, television and film, theatre and performing arts. Hong Jun Logic brings a combination of modern solutions with more than 40 years of leadership experience in the professional lighting industry. “We chose to represent Robert Juliat because the RJ brand shares our own commitment to…
L8 Visualiser has announced the release of L8 v65, featuring a fully free license tier: L8 MVR. Designed to lower the entry barrier for lighting designers, pre-programmers, and students, the new edition enables users to leverage real-time visualisation straight out of the box without requiring a physical hardware dongle. The L8 MVR license introduces native support for the My Virtual Rig (.mvr) file format, allowing seamless scene imports directly from major CAD and lighting design software. Operating via cloud activation, users can instantly unlock access to up to 128 fixtures across 2 DMX universes directly within the application interface. Key…
Turnpike Reggae Festival returned to Germany, for two days of roots reggae, modern reggae and dancehall in a relaxed, wholesome setting. Supporting the volunteer-run event, production supplier MA Holtewert expanded its HK Audio system to improve coverage and low-frequency performance. Held mid-August in Herzebrock-Clarholz, near Gütersloh, the festival welcomed a line-up including Chuck Fenda, Dr. Ring Ding, Akeem Garrison and Teacha Dee. Organised by the non-profit Turnpike e. V., the festival combines camping, Caribbean food and a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere under its “GET REGGAE!” motto, with profits donated to clubs and organisations in the region. “Turnpike is completely run by…
The Rebellion Festival is the largest independently run punk festival in the UK. Hosted inside Blackpool’s historic Winter Gardens, the festival features more than 300 live acts spread across six stages. For the year’s event, multiple Martin Audio Wavefront Precision line array solutions delivered the necessary power and dynamics, including in the Winter Gardens’ magnificent main Ballroom, the Olympia Room (known as Club Casbah for the event), and the Conference Room. The festival rigs were supplied by Liverpool-based dBS Solutions. “In the main Ballroom, we deployed an all–Martin Audio system centred on WPL large-format line arrays,” explained James Roberts of dBS…
ROXX has strengthened its presence in France with the appointment of François Mondié as Business Development Manager for ROXX France. With more than two decades of experience in professional lighting and entertainment technology, Mondié brings an extensive network and a broad industry background spanning sales, systems integration and technical consultancy, as well as the planning and outfitting of cultural venues and lighting distribution. “My most recent role gave me the opportunity to look at the lighting market as a whole, and ROXX was one of the brands that really caught my attention,” he said. “It is a young, agile and…
L-Acoustics has achieved B Corp Certification, awarded by the non-profit B Lab to companies independently verified against rigorous global standards of governance, transparency, and social and environmental performance. Certified through B Lab’s Large Enterprise and Multinational pathway, built for companies with complex, multi-site operations, the certification covers the entire L-Acoustics Group across all 13 sites worldwide. Encouraging other pro audio manufacturers to join them, L-Acoustics joins a broader community of more than 10,000 Certified B Corporations in over 100 countries, including more than 640 in France. The live events industry is being asked, more each year, to account for the…
Sony has announced the launch of the DWT-B40 bodypack transmitter and the DWR-R40Q rack-mount receiver, the latest additions to the DWX Digital Wireless Microphone Series. The two new models, DWT-B40 and DWR-R40Q, are expected to be available in February 2027. Configuring frequencies on wireless microphones has traditionally required specialised expertise and complex procedures. With the 4th generation of DWX Series, however, channel setup and pairing can now be performed through straightforward operations, making the products suitable not only for professional production environments but also for a broader range of applications, including theatres, operas and musicals to small & big scale…
WyoJam, hosted by BlueSeed AVL, a production company owned by Aaron Gebauer and Corbin Abernatha, opened with a free concert benefiting REACH, a local nonprofit supporting individuals with autism, before moving through three nights of performances featuring Afroman, the Ying Yang Twins, Michael Ray, Bucky Covington, and other artists. With national touring acts and genre-themed programming each night, WyoJam needed an audio system that could support the variety and artist expectations for each performance. BlueSeed AVL looked to DAS Audio’s ARA Series to deliver consistent power, coverage, and clarity across everything from hip-hop to country. BlueSeed AVL’s confidence in DAS…
Soundcraft has announced the launch of its Signature Plus Series Analog Connected Mixing Consoles as the next generation of the acclaimed Signature Series, it adds more professional workflows and flagship features. Available in 12-, 16-, 22-, and 32-channel configurations, each model offers consistent audio performance and functionality, ensuring users enjoy the same professional features regardless of input channel count. The clean, purpose-driven layout separates the console’s creative inputs and its flexible output sections for intuitive navigation, while colour-coded buttons and tactile “squircle” knobs ensure fast, accurate adjustments—even in low-light environments. Signature Plus sound quality rivals consoles typically priced much higher.…
The Cribs returned to Leeds to perform at the city’s Millennium Square this summer, their first appearance at the historic site in a decade and keeping pace with the energy of the performance was Lighting Designer, Tom Rawlinson who powered his hard-driving light show on his trusty ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M+ Stadium Console. Rawlinson mirrored the intensity of The Cribs in his design. He backed the band with three rows of intense lighting directed downward or in the air, avoiding direct backlighting, something he said he is “not a fan of.” Setting a bold tone on stage was flashing lettering that…
Shure has announced WAVETOOL 4, the latest evolution of its professional audio monitoring and listening software. WAVETOOL 4 enables teams to monitor, replay, and verify live audio across their entire system in real time. By combining direct listening, instant replay, and team collaboration, WAVETOOL 4 gives engineers greater confidence to troubleshoot issues faster and keep productions running smoothly. WAVETOOL 4 builds on the platform’s listening-first foundation with new capabilities that expand visibility across complex productions. New features include full-system Global Instant Replay with up to 30 minutes of history, expanded channel capacity, a customisable user interface, and enhanced collaboration tools…
