Roland Names Masahiro Minowa New CEO

Roland Corporation has announced representative director, COO and CIO, Masahiro Minowa, has been appointed representative director, CEO and CIO, effective July 1. Representative director and CEO Gordon Raison has stepped down, effective June 30 for personal reasons.

“While I regret that Mr. Raison is resigning as CEO and representative director, I respect his decision to put his family first,” said Toshihiko Oinuma, Roland Corporation’s outside director. “I honor and thank him for his contribution to Roland. Raison’s achievements include the globalization of the company as ‘One Roland,’ the acquisition of Drum Workshop to support future growth in our drums and percussion category, and the advancement of the Roland Cloud software and services platform.”

“Despite experiencing fluctuations in the overall market over the past few years, the musical instruments industry continues to grow over the longterm, and Roland is now poised for its next phase of growth,” Rasion said. “Mr. Minowa is the perfect person to implement the current medium-term management plan and to continue the further development of the Roland Cloud business, which is the key to Roland’s future success. I will support Mr. Minowa and Roland’s management as an advisor until the end of the term and will always be Roland’s biggest fan.”

“I am grateful for the confidence of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the board of directors, and I am very proud to lead Roland as it continues to design the future of music,” Minowa said. “By further expanding the content and services that we are currently promoting, and by increasing the number of musical instruments that are connected via Roland Cloud, we are confident that Roland will continue to provide innovative experiences for the next generation of music lovers and creators.”

Masahiro Minowa joined Roland in April 1996 and has served in his current role of representative director, COO and CIO since March.

roland.com