If You Can‘t Join ’Em... Beat ’Em (1972)

After the Association of Musical Instrument Industries (AMII)  repeatedly rejected Orange, Cliff Cooper launched the Orange Gold Seal and co-founded the London Music Show to champion innovation.

Cliff Cooper, Orange Founder and CEO, remembers: “The AMII, which no longer exists and shouldn't be confused with the MIA (Music Industry Association), who are doing a great job today, was originally set up to support British music manufacturers. But for four years running, AMII rejected Orange’s application to join, always without explanation.

“It was incredibly frustrating. Many of our competitors were AMII members, enjoying exclusive benefits like government Board of Trade grants that covered half the cost of attending major international trade shows in Frankfurt and Chicago. Meanwhile, we were exporting over half a million pounds of British-made equipment every year. We had the track record, we had the reputation. Yet we were still locked out. I felt so strongly about it, I even wrote to then UK Prime Minister Edward Heath.”

Taking a Stand

“Things escalated further when AMII launched their own ‘Seal of Approval’, but without any real testing. If you were a member, your gear got the seal, regardless of quality or safety. To challenge this, we created our own ‘Orange Gold Seal of Approval’, a genuine badge of quality. We even launched it with a tongue-in-cheek comic-strip ad in the trade press, poking fun at AMII’s approach: ‘Who wants one of their stickers with its smelly glue on the back of their amp? The Orange Gold Seal is the true mark of a quality-built and tested amplifier’. We knew they wouldn't sue.”

Change Comes Knocking

“When it became clear that AMII had no intention of admitting new, up-and-coming companies, we decided to form our own group: IMD (Independent Music Dealers). In 1972 we launched our own trade exhibition, The London Music Show, to coincide with the AMII-run London Music Trade Fair. It was a big success.

“Not long after, I got a call from an AMII board member asking to meet. We talked, and I was invited to join on the condition that the other companies who’d previously been rejected were allowed in too!”