Decline
In 1983, CBS sold Rogers and Fender to a group of individuals, who were running the Fender division; the new owners soon after decided to discontinue the Rogers Drums line. In the late 1990s, the Rogers name was acquired by the Brook Mays Music Company ("BBMC") of Dallas, TX. BBMC positioned the brand as a low-cost, but high quality import line of beginner-to-advanced drums, that were sold exclusively in the company's own chain of music stores. Many purists and collectors believed this to be disrespectful to the company's great reputation. However, the drums sold successfully because many drummers (especially younger ones) wanted Rogers kits. But for various reasons the Brook Mays company ultimately was unable to continue operating its retail stores, most of which were small- to mid-scale local merchants first bought and then managed by BBMC. Adding to BBMC's business difficulties, First Act Inc., a competitor that sold its instruments through mass market retailers, sued BMMC in 2005 and was later awarded $20.7 million on the grounds that BMMC had falsely advertised and defamed it by sending letters to customers criticizing the quality of its instruments. In the summer of 2006, BMMC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
On August 26, 2006, the Yamaha Corporation of America announced, that it had acquired the intellectual property rights to the Rogers Drum Company at the BMMC bankruptcy court-ordered auction.
"Opportunities to acquire a well-respected brand, that is so treasured by players do not come along everyday," said Tom Sumner, Vice President and General Manager of Pro Audio & Combo Division, Yamaha Corporation of America. "We will use our expertise to improve on the Rogers legacy."
Yamaha displayed its new Rogers drums at winter NAMM 2007. The drums appear to be an amalgam of different Rogers eras, with some Yamaha touches. The reaction from classic Rogers fans has been overwhelmingly negative.
Read more about this topic: Rogers Drums
Famous quotes containing the word decline:
“Our achievements speak for themselves. What we have to keep track of are our failures, discouragements, and doubts. We tend to forget the past difficulties, the many false starts, and the painful groping. We see our past achievements as the end result of a clean forward thrust, and our present difficulties as signs of decline and decay.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“Families suffered badly under industrialization, but they survived, and the lives of men, women, and children improved. Children, once marginal and exploited figures, have moved to a position of greater protection and respect,... The historic decline in the overall death rates for children is an astonishing social fact, notwithstanding the disgraceful infant mortality figures for the poor and minorities. Like the decline in death from childbirth for women, this is a stunning achievement.”
—Joseph Featherstone (20th century)
“I heard a Californian student in Heidelberg say, in one of his calmest moods, that he would rather decline two drinks than one German adjective.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)