A major strategic partnership between Ableton and Cycling '74 has been announced. A meaningful integration between flagship products Live and Max/MSP is suggested, while the companies will codevelop new products in the future.

Ableton CEO and cofounder Gerhard Behles and Cycling '74 CEO David Zicarelli form the poles of this California/Germany long-distance relationship and both said a few things about it:

Cycling '74 and Ableton to Codevelop New Products

The world of creative media software tools is about to get a lot more interesting. A new strategic partnership between Ableton and Cycling '74 promises exciting developments on the horizon for digital media creators, producers, and performers. Ableton CEO and cofounder Gerhard Behles and Cycling '74 CEO David Zicarelli are pleased to announce this unique alliance between the two dynamic and innovative audio/video software companies.

"We've been excited by the idea of bringing the worlds of Ableton and Cycling '74 together for a long time," says Behles, who has been a fan of Zicarelli's company for many years. "In our own musical work," Behles says, "we have been avid users of Cycling '74's products since long before Ableton existed."

Behles and the rest of the Ableton team have long been inspired by Cycling '74's commitment to empowering creative people. "Cycling '74 represents the idea that artists should be free to create the tools to match their unique creative vision—that the making of the tools can become part of the creative process," says Behles. "That's an inspiring thought, and we admire the Cycling '74 team for delivering on this fascinating promise."

Behles describes the creative vision and hopeful spirit behind the collaboration: "We feel the Cycling '74 approach to designing software for the creative community perfectly complements Ableton's. By integrating the technologies in a meaningful way, both companies can stay focused on their key strengths, avoid diluting their product philosophies, and bring the best of both worlds to the creative user."

The mind reels with the possibilities: Live's realtime audio engine married to Max/MSP's modular virtual instrument-building and multimedia toolkit could represent the coming year's biggest releases.

Since we just happen to have traveled to Ableton's home turf of Germany to cover MusikMesse, we'll soon be getting some comment from the show floor on this subject. Keep it on Gearwire for the latest.