MUMBAI: The third annual, month-long celebration of MIDI covers recent MIDI developments, and raises funds for COVID-19 relief

Los Angeles, CA - May Is MIDI Month 2020 is the third annual celebration of MIDI – the technology that has powered countless hit records, live performances, songwriting collaborations, educational initiatives, and even Broadway plays. It takes on added significance because of the recent ratification of the ground-breaking MIDI 2.0 specification.

May Is MIDI Month is a unique collaboration among over 23,000 individuals and companies who work, play, and create with MIDI. This global community involves The MIDI Association (TMA), whose members participate in free online activities at midi.org, and the MIDI Manufacturer Association (MMA), the non-profit trade organization that maintains and advances the MIDI specification, and countless big players in the tech and manufacturing world, including Google, Apple, Yamaha, Roland, Melodics, Art+Logic, and more.

Recognizing the toll that COVID-19 has taken on the creative community, this year’s May Is MIDI Month is soliciting donations from MIDI Association members, with all proceeds going to the Grammy MusiCares® COVID-19 Relief Fund. To help meet our goal of $15,000, May Is MIDI Month corporate MMA sponsors Ableton, Art+Logic, Audio Modeling, Bome, IK Multimedia, Moog, Steinberg, Sweetwater, and Yamaha will match donations, turning every individual dollar that’s donated into $10 for the cause.

Each Saturday in May, TMA will present live webinars on new MIDI developments at 1 PM Eastern/10 AM Pacific time. Every Sunday, a newsletter will cover the technology behind MIDI, as well as the artists who are using MIDI to expand their creative boundaries. Additional articles posted on the TMA’s midi.org site, and discussions on the site’s forums, will further de-mystify what MIDI 2.0 means to artists. All of these activities are free to TMA members and membership is also free. There will also be a number of potential stories for outlets to report on throughout the month that focus on the cooperation necessary to develop the new standard, how MIDI 2.0 will affect musicians, and a preview of some of the possible hardware developed in anticipation of the new standard.

May Is MIDI Month 2020 not only celebrates the technology and artists who use it, but the companies and developers that since 1983, have put aside their corporate rivalries to place the needs of artists first. Come join us, and find out why 37 years after making its commercial debut, MIDI is bigger, more important, and more universal than ever.

2020 The MIDI Association (TMA), All Rights Reserved. The MIDI Association, TMA, and The MIDI Association logo are trademarks of The MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA), a California-based Non-Profit Standards Organization that creates and manages the MIDI specification for the music industry. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. Mention of company names other than The MIDI Association or the MIDI Manufacturers Association does not imply direct involvement in any aspect of The MIDI Association or the MIDI Manufacturers Association.