Blue Microphones

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Baltic Latvian Universal Electronics, LLC
Blue Microphones
TypeSubsidiary
GenreMusical Equipment
Founded1995
FoundersSkipper Wise, Martins Saulespurens
Headquarters
Westlake Village, California
,
U.S.
ProductsRecording equipment such as Microphones and Headphones.
ParentLogitech
Websitewww.bluemic.com
A Yeti USB microphone

Blue Microphones (legally Baltic Latvian Universal Electronics, LLC) is an American audio production company owned by Logitech that designs and produces microphones, headphones, recording tools, signal processors, and music accessories for audio professionals, musicians and consumers.

History[]

BLUE Microphones was founded in 1995 by American session musician Skipper Wise and Latvian recording engineer Mārtiņš Saulespurēns.[1] The company's name is a backronym for Baltic Latvian Universal Electronics. The company is headquartered in Westlake Village, California, United States.

BLUE Microphones first creation began by manufacturing the “bottle,” a versatile studio XLR microphone encompassing interchangeable capsules curated to isolate sonic signatures for any application, and became widely used among professional recording musicians. At the time, Skipper’s daughter Jessica, an aspiring singer at age 12, suggested to Skipper to create a microphone for sending audio recordings through the internet. Jessica grew up playing softball with Skipper, so she made the shape with her hand when suggesting the microphone idea of what is known today as the Snowball—the exact dimensions of a softball. Jessica’s perspective was to collaborate with other aspiring creatives online, synonymous with the needs of the developing consumer world of technology in the 90’s. With a nudge from Apple Inc., the Westlake Village company created a low-cost condenser microphone called the Snowball for use with music recording software, GarageBand. That microphone became popular with aspiring pro musicians and dedicated hobbyists as an alternative to renting time in a recording studio.[2]


The first BLUE microphone was created in 1995 in Riga, Latvia. It was the famous ''Baby bottle", which is still being manufactured in 2021.

From 1995 - 2004 BLUE microphones were manufactured in Latvia, from 2005 the production moved to China, but some microphones were built in the US.

In 2008, Skipper and Martins sold BLUE Microphones to Transom Capital, a private Equity firm from Southern California.[3]

In 2013, The Riverside Company acquired BLUE Microphones from Transom Capital. Intrepid Investment Bankers advised BLUE Microphones in the transaction.[4]

In July 2018, Logitech announced plans to acquire Blue Microphones for $117 million USD.[5]

  • Yeti Blackout

  • Snowball

  • Dragonfly

  • Two Blue Bottle microphones set up to record a grand piano

Awards[]

  • Electronic Musician 2000 Editor’s Choice Microphone of the Year - Blueberry condenser microphone
  • RetailVision 2009 Best Hardware peripheral - Mikey and Eyeball 2.0[6]
  • BeatWeek (formerly iProng) Best in Show 2009, 2010[7]
  • Blue Yeti X was awarded for Innovation in 2020 by CES (Consumer Technology Association)[8]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Nathan Olivarez-Giles (July 21, 2009). "Blue Microphones turns up the volume". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  2. ^ "Blue Microphones turns up the volume". Los Angeles Times. July 21, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  3. ^ "Transom Capital Acquires Blue Microphones". Music Inc Magazine. October 20, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
  4. ^ "Transom Capital Group Completes Sale of Blue Microphones". www.prnewswire.com.
  5. ^ Lawler, Richard (July 30, 2018). "Blue Microphones sells to Logitech for $117 million". Engadget. Oath Inc. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  6. ^ "RetailVision Europe 2009". RetailVision. May 26, 2009. Archived from the original on January 23, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  7. ^ "Best of Show CES: Blue Mikey 2". BeatWeek. January 9, 2009. Archived from the original on February 20, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
  8. ^ "Innovation Award Honorees - CES 2022".

External links[]

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