On the stand of Stanton's UK distributors, Lamba plc, the three companies announced that they will leverage their combined expertise in the field of DJ hardware, music software and digital content delivery. They will develop innovative and highly integrated solutions for the DJ market by fusing high-quality hardware with sophisticated software and convenient legal music downloading.

"Stanton recognised the importance of digital DJ technology long ago with the introduction of FinalScratch. We're proud to be partnering with Native Instruments and Beatport to push the category further and bring DJs the most powerful, user-friendly and complete systems available," said Dave Froker, CEO, The Stanton Group

"Native Instruments kickstarted professional software-based DJing four years ago with Traktor DJ Studio, and has been dedicated to pushing the envelope ever since. This new partnership is an important step forward for the whole market. The first complete and truly integrated digital DJ platform is on the horizon and the benefits for DJs all over the world will be substantial," added Daniel Haver, CEO, Native Instruments GmbH.

"With the DJ world going through a rapid change, it is our dedication and responsibility to deliver the best content possible to the digital DJ. With this partnership we offer the smoothest way of combining content, manipulation, and performance on one platform. Both Stanton and Native Instruments have paved the way for digital distribution with Final Scratch and Traktor. Collectively, we now have the hardware, software and content to grow and support the digital DJ culture," remarked Jonas Tempel, CEO, Beatport.

While Final Scratch v1.5 continues to make waves in the market, Stanton also used PLASA 2004 to announce Final Scratch 2, which will ship from the end of November. All of which is a huge confidence-booster for Lamba plc. Their chairman Frank Irish commented, "The legacy of FinalScratch, which we have supported from the beginning, is now set to go into overdrive with the formation of this new alliance; it is great news for the UK's clubs and laptop-based digital DJ's."