Joué Play - A Music Instrument Platform


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About

WHO WE ARE

Our vision: Music is not a luxury, it’s a fundamental art which needs to be achievable for everyone.

We ARE a team of musicians fond of technology. We CREATE expressive and modular instruments simplifying music creation. We BLUR the line ...

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Contact

Publicist
Ali Scott
8123391195 x204

Current News

  • 01/07/202001/07/2020

Meet the Joué Team

Pascal Joguet Co-Founder and CEO

A musician as well as an inventor and entrepreneur, Pascal received a masters in audio engineering and worked at France’s preeminent audio innovation center, IRCAM. He founded his first company Jazz Mutant in 2004 and developed his first musical product, the now legendary multi-touch Lemur controller. In the years that followed, he strengthened his expertise in startup management, business development, and innovative product industrialization before...

Press

  • Billboard, Mention, 01/17/2020, Executive Turntable: Artist Partner Group Boosts Leadership Team; Dalton Sim Launches Good Harbor Text
  • Tech Crunch, Feature story, 01/15/2020, Crowdfunded hardware startups are breathing fresh life into music making Text
  • TIME, Feature story, 01/09/2020, The 25 Best Products of CES 2020 Text
  • Trending Today TV, Video feature, 02/24/2020, Magical Modules with Joué and Arabian Prince of N.W.A. Text
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News

02/06/2020, Sustainability is a Process: How Joué Builds High-Quality Electronic Devices by Building Human Relationships and Trust
02/06/202002/06/2020, Sustainability is a Process: How Joué Builds High-Quality Electronic Devices by Building Human Relationships and Trust
Announcement
02/06/2020
Announcement
02/06/2020
When a French tech hardware startup set about figuring out how to build electronics sustainably, they discovered some key lessons: Sustainability is about more than using specific materials or practices as a company. MORE» More»

When a French tech hardware startup set about figuring out how to build electronics sustainably, they discovered some key lessons: Sustainability is about more than using specific materials or practices as a company. It’s about deepening human connections all along the supply chain, as proven by Joué and its team of makers in the south of France. 
 

After a wildly successful first music product (the Lemur instrument used by artists like Daft Punk, Kraftwerk, and Björk) the designer behind the Joué modular MIDI instrument decided his next project needed to take a very different approach. 
 

For Joué, they turned away from plastic and focused on what they could find near their base in Bordeaux. They wound up using regionally sourced wood and high-precision electronics from a nearby family firm. As they built relationships with their suppliers and manufacturers, they realized how human-centric values and trust supported their goal of sustainability, while boosting product quality. (The company has seen zero customer returns for manufacturing defects.) 
 

“For the last 10 years, we were involved in a lot of big-name tech projects in the consumer tech industry. These were designed in one part of the planet, then files were sent to people on the other side of the planet who were supposed to build it. This was a problem for me,” relates Pascal Joguet, co-founder of Joué. “You don’t know the people you’re working with. You don’t know how they live, who they are. It was first and foremost a human relation problem. So we tried to make hardware with local people, who were willing to take the time to see what we wanted to do at the core, and for us to understand how they work.”
 

The base of every Joué instrument, Joguet and his co-founder Arnaud Rousset decided, should be wood, for aesthetic and practical reasons. To make the bases, the duo had to figure out what woods would work and who could produce them efficiently and well. 
 

Rousset first went on a quest to figure out what woods might have the right properties. He discovered that beech grown in the northeastern parts of France was ideal in its properties: strong, durable, and beautiful. Then they had to find someone who agreed to work it. After months of searching, “I contacted a company cold,” recalls Arnaud. “I did a presentation on our project. The guy understood what we wanted to do. He wanted to do a sustainable product but had never done it before. We sourced the wood and he agreed to use this type of wood because he believed in the project.” To achieve sustainability, they needed a strong human connection, one built-in person.
 

These connections evolve and grow, and can take a company ever closer to its sustainability goals. As Joué enters new markets in North America, the company plans to take a similar approach, creating relationships with suppliers and manufacturers in the U.S. to craft instruments close to where their new fans are, from regional materials.  
 

“It’s about having a vision and trying to build it. You can’t do it perfectly from the first; you go step by step and you keep to your plan and find the right people on the road,” reflects Joguet. “But you can only find solutions if you talk with people, not just about profit and costs--though that’s important, too--but about your values, what you want to put into your product and what you want to give.”

 

About Joué
 

Joué is a music innovation company creating engaging, playful instruments and software for both aspiring music makers and professional musicians. Its modular Pads and lightweight but durable Boards can be used right out of the box or customized via MIDI commands. Based in Bordeaux, Joué designs and manufactures its instruments and components out of environmentally friendly materials in France. Its culture and production practices reflect a deep commitment to human creativity and environmental sustainability.

 
Announcement
02/06/2020

01/16/2020, Anaheim, CA, Anaheim Convention Center - Hall B; Booth 8200
01/07/202001/16/2020, Joué Featured at NAMM 2020
Event
01/16/2020
Event
01/16/2020
Venue City, State
Anaheim, CA
Venue
Anaheim Convention Center - Hall B; Booth 8200
Joué can be found at NAMM at Booth 8200 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. Joué has created a series of modular instruments that can turn any focused music lover into a creative musician. Crafted in France from materials meant to be durable, portable, and sustainable. MORE» More»

Joué can be found at NAMM at Booth 8200 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA
 

Joué has created a series of modular instruments that can turn any focused music lover into a creative musician. Crafted in France from materials meant to be durable, portable, and sustainable, the Joué Play was designed by musicians to please both touch and ear. It’s also simple to start using: plug the Play into your device, launch the app, and start making music. 
 

Joué instruments start with a sleek, lightweight base, the Board, and then layer silicone Pads reminiscent of keyboards and fretboards that can be switched out easily. Musicians can make a beat, add a deep pad sound, then switch to a distorted guitar solo in a snap. Easy to carry in a backpack, Joué Play allows creators to make music, jam with friends, practice on the road, or just have fun anywhere.
 

“We designed Joué’s products to encourage infinite creativity, by letting creators swap out Pads and take their instruments wherever they need to go,” Joguet, CEO, explains. “This award is a great way to introduce our products to American audiences. We’re excited to hear what happens next.”

Event
01/16/2020

01/13/2020, Joué Announces Artist and Technologist Arabian Prince as Brand Ambassador
01/13/202001/13/2020, Joué Announces Artist and Technologist Arabian Prince as Brand Ambassador
Announcement
01/13/2020
Announcement
01/13/2020
France-based innovative music company Joué is announcing that Arabian Prince is joining the team as an advisor and lead brand ambassador. The GRAMMY-nominated producer and founding member of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted hip hop group N.W.A. will help guide Joué as it brings its creative instruments to the US market. MORE» More»

France-based innovative music company Joué is announcing that Arabian Prince is joining the team as an advisor and lead brand ambassador. The GRAMMY-nominated producer and founding member of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted hip hop group N.W.A. will help guide Joué as it brings its creative instruments to the US market.
 

“We make an instrument for everyone, including music makers who just getting started,” notes Pascal Joguet, founder and CEO of Joué. “Arabian Prince is also dedicated to getting all sorts of people creating and getting engaged with tech. He is a great bridge between DJs, electronic music artists, and hip hop producers, and shares our commitment to empowering people to make music with what they have, using tech like Joué offers to take it to the next level.”
 

“An instrument like Joué fits into what’s happening in music tech, as the whole way people see their creative output is changing,” muses Arabian. “The lines are blurring between artist, DJ, and producer. The people who were just artists are becoming DJs. There are amazing DJs who are getting into production. A product like Joué makes sense to creatives who don’t fit into one single box.”
 

Arabian Prince experienced Joué’s products firsthand when he met the French team at a California event and got to jam on the modular, playful instruments himself. He hopes to share the fun and spontaneous creativity of that encounter with others, as well as work with Joué to develop additional Pads (the silicone overlays that make Joué flexible and pleasant to the touch) that pay tribute to classic drum machines and other coveted vintage tech producers and musicians love.
 

Arabian and Joué share a vision for Joué as an instrument for everyone, from novices to experts. “There’s a huge number of people who want to make music, who have ideas, but don’t know exactly how to start,” explains Arabian Prince. “It’s a lot like gaming: the real energy is not at the pro level, it’s everyone who aspires to be pro. The real energy comes from those millions of aspiring creative people who want to break into the producing and artist world. That’s where Joué can fit in.”
 

Those attending NAMM can meet Arabian, who will be jamming on the Joué at the Anaheim Convention Center in Hall B at Booth 8200 from Thursday January 16- Sunday, January 19, 2020.

Announcement
01/13/2020

01/07/2020, Meet the Joué Team
01/07/202001/07/2020, Meet the Joué Team
Announcement
01/07/2020
Announcement
01/07/2020
Pascal Joguet Co-Founder and CEO, LinkedIn A musician as well as an inventor and entrepreneur, Pascal received a masters in audio engineering and worked at France’s preeminent audio innovation center, IRCAM. MORE» More»

Pascal Joguet Co-Founder and CEO

A musician as well as an inventor and entrepreneur, Pascal received a masters in audio engineering and worked at France’s preeminent audio innovation center, IRCAM. He founded his first company Jazz Mutant in 2004 and developed his first musical product, the now legendary multi-touch Lemur controller. In the years that followed, he strengthened his expertise in startup management, business development, and innovative product industrialization before founding Joué. Pascal is a dedicated nature lover and humanist, and is passionate about putting human well being first in economic decisions, while respecting nature and the environment.

 

Stéphane Richard Co-Founder and CBO

As Chief Business Officer, Stéphane is responsible for the company’s retail strategy, as well as pursuing partnership opportunities in the music industry and within the broader ecosystem. He has held a range of high-level positions, from sales and marketing to product management and business development, across a variety of industry-leading technology companies as well as emerging startups based in the San Francisco Bay area.

Prior to joining Joué, Stéphane was Chief Product Officer at Kanopy, an award-winning video streaming service providing access to more than 30,000 independent and documentary films. Previously, he was at Thomson Video Networks (now Harmonic) as VP Strategy and Business Development. He holds a MS CS from University of Nantes and MBA from Santa Clara University, Leavey School of Business.

 

Arnaud Rousset Co-Founder and COO

A musician and inspired designer, Arnaud spent the past 20 years designing hardware products for both big names in the electronics industry and startups spanning the telecom, media, and audio realms. Today, he brings his global expertise in hardware development to Joué, generating wild new ideas and transforming them into simple, innovative, and playful instruments.

Arnaud is convinced that creating sustainable and eco-friendly digital products is possible, and Joué is the proof.

 

Arabian Prince, Brand Ambassador and Advisor/Founding Member of Rap Group NWA

Best known as a founding member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted rap group N.W.A., Arabian Prince is songwriter, rapper, ground-breaking GRAMMY-nominated producer, DJ, technologist, Pro Gamer, futurist, and now brand ambassador for Joué. He is the founder and CEO of iNov8 Next Open Labs, president of The Los Angeles First Tech Challenge robotics competition (LAFTC), and partner at Black Dog Gaming.

His passion for technology led him to create a 3D animation and special effects studio in the 90’s, working with companies like Saban Entertainment and Fox, including 100+ video game, film and TV titles for Fox Interactive and Vivendi Universal. As a consultant, Arabian has advised many companies on bridging the gap between technology and the youth, while bringing new product innovations to market. Along with his work with Joué, he is currently working with his tech partners to bring Open Labs to communities across the country to empower people of all walks of life to explore the future of technology. 

 

Announcement
01/07/2020

01/07/2020, Las Vegas, NV, Sands, Hall G; Booth 50241, Eureka Park
01/07/202001/07/2020, Joué Featured at CES 2020
Event
01/07/2020
Event
01/07/2020
Venue City, State
Las Vegas, NV
Venue
Sands, Hall G; Booth 50241, Eureka Park
French-based music innovation company Joué has been selected for its first-ever CES Innovation Award, thanks to its elegant and tech-savvy Joué Play instrument. The Play aims to democratize music creation via engaging interfaces and a user-friendly app. MORE» More»

French-based music innovation company Joué has been selected for its first-ever CES Innovation Award, thanks to its elegant and tech-savvy Joué Play instrument. The Play aims to democratize music creation via engaging interfaces and a user-friendly app.
 

“We’re thrilled to bring Joué instruments to a wider audience in the US, and to demonstrate how modular and intuitive modern instruments can be,” says Joué founder and CEO Pascal Joguet. “Every member of our team is a musician, and we want more people making music. Our technology and design lowers the barrier to entry and starts people creating music immediately.”
 

Joué can be found at CES at Booth 50241 and will be participating in the CES Unveiled event on January 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. 
 

Joué has created a series of modular instruments that can turn any focused music lover into a creative musician. Crafted in France from materials meant to be durable, portable, and sustainable, the Joué Play was designed by musicians to please both touch and ear. It’s also simple to start using: plug the Play into your device, launch the app, and start making music. 
 

Joué instruments start with a sleek, lightweight base, the Board, and then layer silicone Pads reminiscent of keyboards and fretboards that can be switched out easily. Musicians can make a beat, add a deep pad sound, then switch to a distorted guitar solo in a snap. Easy to carry in a backpack, Joué Play allows creators to make music, jam with friends, practice on the road, or just have fun anywhere.
 

“We designed Joué’s products to encourage infinite creativity, by letting creators swap out Pads and take their instruments wherever they need to go,” Joguet explains. “This award is a great way to introduce our products to American audiences. We’re excited to hear what happens next.”

Event
01/07/2020