I think this is a difficult one for anyone to comment on. Anyone who entered can be criticised as simply being upset at not winning. And anyone who didn't enter can be asked why they didn't enter if they don't rate the winners.
But I do have to say I was rather surprised at the results when I saw/heard them. I checked out the comments made in the deleted post about the winner, and found them to be factually true. But to my mind the main point is the quality of the winners. I actually thought the one that came fifth (if I recall rightly) had the most musical merit, despite a poor recording. (This is somebody who could benefit from a prize and some support and encouragement.)
Of course Arturia has every right to make decisions on winners for a competition it devised and provided the prizes for. But I really didn't think the winning entries demonstrated Arturia's instruments very well. They'd hardly make a professional musician think these are instruments that can be used in a serious musical context.
I'm speaking here as someone who's gone out of my way to support customer perceptions of Arturia. I think the Arturia software I have is superb. When people were posting ridiculous but still damaging comments about the MMV I responded not only by posting to the website and putting myself in the line of fire, but also by recording an entirely MMV composition and putting it on my website. I did the same with the excellent 2600V. I also gave a copy of the MMV to a friend in a well-known rock band, as Fredric Brun may possibly recall. Your records of ownership of the MMV from my Vintage Collection will bear that out, anyway. I already owned the MMV and the Vintage Collection copy is registered to someone else.
I really wish the competition prizes had gone to people who'd be making good music with them. That would have done a lot for Arturia's public image. As it is, I'm not so sure of that. It's your decision, but I'm rather surprised - which is why I would have liked to have impartial people hearing the non-winning entries.
