At Future B2B, our editors are constantly engaging with the market, staying in close communication with professionals across the entire industry, including clients, manufacturers, marketers, influencers, and leaders.
Each month, the Future B2B AV Tech team looks back at the previous four weeks to take note of what they have been hearing from the industry and what website visitors and newsletter readers have been consuming in order to see what trends they reveal. While this was traditionally a tool used inside the company to help inform team members, we thought it might be helpful for others to see these insights.
If you have any questions on the trends report, please email anthony.savona@furturenet.com.
Top stories from March
RESI
- Optoma Introduces 4K UHD Dual-Laser Home Cinema Projector
- Daisy’s Take on Tariffs – An Opportunity for the CI Industry
- Review: Josh.ai Josh One and Josh Micro Control System
- Review: SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle Tower Speakers
- Lightapalooza 2025: Snap One Previews Lux by Control4
PRO AV
- What HDMI 2.2 Means for Pro AV
- QSC's Joe Pham to Retire... and Cindy Davis Has the Exclusive 1-on-1
- Tariffs and Pro AV: Expectations and Strategies
- Roadmap 2025: Avocor
- Introducing NDI's New Metadata Lab
MIX
- Pro Audio Counterfeiters Busted, Get Prison and $1.1 Million in Fines
- Classic Tracks: Steve Perry’s “Oh Sherrie”
- DJ / Producer Paul Oakenfold’s Gear Goes to Auction
- G-Eazy’s L.A. Home / Studio Hits The Market
- Focusrite Scarlett 4th Gen Channels A New Update
Top trend
Key force shaping the industry with implications and context
RESI
- Traffic on the website was down from January and February, likely a result of there not being a major tradeshow like CES and ISE taking place. Still, we are up over last March, so progress is still being made. In fact, our traffic has been up YoY since last July.
- The story that got the most clicks (by far) in the RESI newsletter was the High-End Audio Tech Showcase (which was the #9 story for the month). The Stealth Acoustics review was the next most-clicked newsletter story.
PRO AV
- Traffic to the website was up YOY for the third straight month as we continue to see success. This month there were two stories that we don’t write about often. Hot off of CES, we had an article about the new HDMI standard which exploded to a top five article over the past six months, showing the conversion of consumer into commercial is a topic that is very relevant to our readership. Another big article was the effect tariffs can have on the industry, striking while the iron was hot, which got immediate readership.
- As always big Pro AV moves garner much attention. While we have had a big year in acquisitions, Cindy got the exclusive scoop to break the news the QSC’s Joe Pham was retiring. This was the second most-viewed article of the month and stays consistent with our Pro AV newsmakers gaining views.
MIX
- Readers have always turned to us for real news happening within the industry and to find out what gear the top pros are using. This month’s top stories illustrate that well: 5 out of the top 10 stories were news-oriented, and 5 revealed gear used by revered professionals at the peak of the profession. Three of the top 10 stories were focused on product announcements, too, so we’re attracting readers who are in ‘buying mode.’ We highlight new equipment nearly every day, so manufacturers wanting to capitalize on that should consider advertising to double-down on spreading their message.
- Traffic on our website was down 23% YOY, but that’s because in March 2024, a Reddit user posted a link to a Mix Classic Tracks column from 2005 and it got nearly 7,000 page reads for that one story. It had a ripple effect, too—new readers visiting our site also read other Classic Tracks columns during their visits and that skewed our stats like crazy for the rest of the month. Take away that anomaly and we’re doing about the same, perhaps slightly up.
Additional trends
Additional top-of-mind topics for the moment
RESI
Not much has changed since last month, with outdoor electronics and design-centric installations continuing to be of interest. Shades and outdoor awnings are also becoming more common.
PRO AV
Any story with NDI in the headline continues to get a lot of views. This month’s story on the new Metadata Lab was No. 6 overall in PVs. Many trends from previous months continued to generate views, like hybrid workplaces, USB technology, pro audio, and yes, acquisitions. With March the digital signage issue, we had quite a few stories on the trend generate viewership like this one on Nebraska’s new football operations center.
MIX
With the NAB Show only days away, broadcast-related stories have edged up in terms of readers this month, not only in terms of product announcements but also equipment used for mixing ads and the show Severance.
