Why You Should Do It Anyway!

André Michelle built one of the first DAWs (Music Studio) on the internet. What began as a dream project turned into a 16-year lesson in persistence and repeated failures. He now shares his story of building openDAW, a fresh and modern attempt to democratize music production without compromise.

André talks about why openness matters, why saying no is a feature, and why good ideas eventually find their place if you keep going. “If everybody owns it, nobody can steal it” has become a guiding principle behind every decision.

openDAW removes barriers like sign-ups, cookie banners, and vendor lock-in, putting all data management in the hands of the user with no forced cloud or tracking. By working closely with music teachers and musicians, openDAW not only becomes more robust but also lays the foundation for others to extend it. With the openDAW SDK, developers can create their own music production applications.