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Blue Microphones

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Baltic Latvian Universal Electronics, LLC
Blue Microphones
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryAudio equipment
FoundedOctober 1995
FoundersSkipper Wise
Mārtiņš Saulespurēns
Headquarters
Westlake Village, California
,
U.S.
OwnerLogitech
(2018–present)
Websitewww.bluemic.com
A Yeti USB microphone

Blue Microphones (legally Baltic Latvian Universal Electronics, LLC) is an American audio production company owned by Logitech that designs and produces microphones, headphones, recording tools, signal processors, and music accessories for audio professionals, musicians and consumers.

History

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Blue Microphones was founded in 1995 by American session musician Skipper Wise and Latvian recording engineer Mārtiņš Saulespurēns.[1] The company's name is a backronym for Baltic Latvian Universal Electronics. The company was founded in Latvia. The company is headquartered in Westlake Village, California, United States.

Blue Microphones’ first creation was the Baby Bottle, a professional XLR microphone used widely by musicians for recording. In the early 2000s, Blue's perspective pivoted to manufacture microphones for collaborating with other aspiring creatives online, synonymous with the needs of the developing consumer world of technology in the 1990s. The Westlake Village company created a low-cost condenser microphone called the Snowball for use with music recording software GarageBand in the late 2000s. The size, shape, and weight of the Snowball was created to that of a regulation softball. The Snowball microphone became popular[2] with aspiring pro musicians and dedicated hobbyists as an alternative to renting time in a recording studio.[3]

With the popularity of the Snowball, Blue Microphones continued to manufacture USB microphones. Their top-selling microphone to date, the Blue Yeti launched in 2009. The Blue Yeti has had many special iterations, including the Yeti X, and Yeti Pro.

From 1995 - 2004, Blue microphones were manufactured in Latvia. In 2005, the production moved to China, with some microphones being built in the United States.[citation needed]

In 2008, Wise and Saulespurēns sold the company to Transom Capital, a private equity firm in California.[4]

In 2013, The Riverside Company acquired Blue Microphones from Transom Capital. Intrepid Investment Bankers advised Blue Microphones in the transaction.[5]

In July 2018, Logitech announced plans to acquire Blue Microphones for $117 million USD.[6] In June 2023, Logitech announced they would relegate the Blue brand to audio processing technologies, and use the Logitech G and Yeti branding for future microphone releases.[7]

  • Yeti Blackout
    Yeti Blackout
  • Snowball
    Snowball
  • Dragonfly
    Dragonfly
  • Two Blue Bottle microphones set up to record a grand piano
    Two Blue Bottle microphones set up to record a grand piano

Awards

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  • Electronic Musician 2000 Editor’s Choice Microphone of the Year - Blueberry condenser microphone
  • RetailVision 2009 Best Hardware peripheral - Mikey and Eyeball 2.0[8]
  • BeatWeek (formerly iProng) Best in Show 2009, 2010[9]
  • Blue Yeti X was awarded for Innovation in 2020 by CES (Consumer Technology Association)[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Nathan Olivarez-Giles (July 21, 2009). "Blue Microphones turns up the volume". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  2. ^ "10 Best Cheap Microphone For Streaming And Gaming". GamingFYI. 2022-02-18. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  3. ^ "Blue Microphones turns up the volume". Los Angeles Times. July 21, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  4. ^ "Transom Capital Acquires Blue Microphones". Music Inc Magazine. October 20, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
  5. ^ "Transom Capital Group Completes Sale of Blue Microphones". www.prnewswire.com.
  6. ^ Lawler, Richard (July 30, 2018). "Blue Microphones sells to Logitech for $117 million". Engadget. Oath Inc. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  7. ^ Hollister, Sean (June 8, 2023). "Despite promises to leave Blue's product line unchanged, Logitech is killing off the Blue mic brand, will sell Yeti and Astro under Logitech G". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  8. ^ "RetailVision Europe 2009". RetailVision. May 26, 2009. Archived from the original on January 23, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  9. ^ "Best of Show CES: Blue Mikey 2". BeatWeek. January 9, 2009. Archived from the original on February 20, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
  10. ^ "Innovation Award Honorees - CES 2022".
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