SynthCube has announced that it has acquired Mod Wiggler, a popular synth forum.
Here’s what they have to say about the move:
“This was not only a business decision, but a gesture of support for an important community platform. We can influence its future in hopes that it remains in the ‘synth world’ by preventing it from moving into a digital marketing agency.
We honor the legacy of its founder, Mike McGrath, by preserving Mod Wiggler as a welcoming place for synth enthusiasts to connect, create, and thrive together.
For those who don’t know, Mod Wiggler is an online forum and community dedicated to synthesizers. It serves as a platform for the enthusiasts and friends to discuss, share knowledge, and collaborate on all things related to synthesis and electronic music and noise. If you’re new to the forum, we invite you to join us and become a part of this vibrant community!”
Here’s what Mod Wiggler manager Rob McGrath has to say about the change:
“When I started managing this site after my brother passed away, I did so with the goal not to just keep the site alive but to keep the community thriving, both for the community’s sake and as part of Mike’s legacy that his children could look at and be proud of.
I’m proud with what I’ve been able to do these past 4 years – re engineering the site to be far more reliable and responsive, dropping operating costs, while keeping this an accessible and welcoming place that is the de-facto home for modular synth know-how.
But there is only so much one person can do. Securing this community for the long term means it can’t be owned by a single person. It means letting it go so it can be better managed by an established team that has respect for the scene and MW’s place in it.
That’s why today I am proud to announce that MW will be joining the synthCube family.
This decision was not taken lightly, and is the result of much discussion between synthCube, myself, and the rest of Mike’s family.
When Mike’s family was approached with a generous offer for the site from an advertising firm, I couldn’t bear the thought of killing the community with banner ads and SEO pages that ruin the user experience. I knew we needed someone in the community to make a counter offer.
SynthCube came to mind immediately, as they have a long history in our community, and have been essential to funding MW’s operation in the past. In working with them, it is clear to me that they know exactly what MW is and respect how important our culture is to the site’s success.
Fortunately, they jumped at the chance, and immediately understood the weight of the situation.
This does not mean things are changing. SynthCube enjoys MW for what it is and while there may be some new options and offerings in the future, it is important to all of us that the core member experience remains the same.
Nor will I be going anywhere. I’ve promised to stay on board for at least the next year, with the same day-to-day responsibilities. I’ll just be sharing those responsibilities from here on out.”
Full details are available at the forum site.
As long as they don’t lose the cat avatar… that would be a major bummer.
Agreed! 🙂
well perhaps they could go back to using it’s previous name and leave politics out of the forum..If honouring the legacy of the muffwiggler’s founder was ever a goal.
Make MW Great Again?
make mw embarrassing to bring up in mixed company again
Start a new one then, if you dont like the company.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/muff
If only there were some dystopian book written 75 years ago that warned of a language called newspeak which endeavored to remove every potentially offensive word until we were unable to effectively communicate with each other.
If only…
lol exactly
^this
I’m still hoping that anyone really offended by the name change is boycotting the forum.
It’s not the name change, it’s the “thought process” behind it.
Whatever keeps the snowflakes away is fine.
if the people in conversation get that offended then you know who not to bother with. people should focus on more important things like telling there government to stop stealing tax money and misusing. it.
how are we supposed to wiggle muffs if we have to work like robots.
It’s genuinely a hassle when you have to explain the context/joke when you’re looking at it in a break at work / at home / in a public place / in front of kids. MW and GS get more views from me since they changed their names, mainly because it’s easier to have a quick browse in more situations. I also don’t mind that it’s more welcoming to more groups.
Frankly I liked it better when it was Knobgoblins. The interim name before it was modwiggler was way too guitar oriented.
‘knobgoblins’ lol. that one was great.
what’s in a name anyway… the least important aspect.
Can we all just appreciate Rob’s awesome job over the years
clearly we do that is why we want to keep the name he chose.
and that is also why the forum still exists because of everyone using it.
so I think we appreciate it.
synthcube is a great resource for us in massachusetts. glad to see them branching out into another space supportive of the community.
This is excellent news! Muffwiggler/Mod Wiggler was where I went to when I got into the synth world and even more so, the modular world. I’m so proud of a company that’s in my backyard taking-on this responsibility. I’m sure it was a tough move for the McGrath family to let this piece of Mike go, but I think it’ll be in great hands. I definitely appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into the decision.
Hoping everyone involved keeps the best of intentions out in front of them and wishing everyone involved the best of luck.
Game over
It’s funny they now have a patreon initiative for the family of Mike McGrath, the founder of ModWigglers!!!!! This reminds me of that french theater play writer Antonin Artaud who had his friends organise a performance of his play, to ban him from entering because of his appearance could scare the audience. When alive Mike McGrath had been asked to rename the muffwigglers site and had denied to do so. Now we are “changing” history in his memory…What a horrible world are we creating…
cool maybe we can go back to calling it muffwiggler
as the creator intended