[1] In 2014, it was subject to a management buyout by its CEO, Junichi Miki, supported by Taiyo Pacific Partners.

The name was found in a telephone directory, and Kakehashi was satisfied with the simple two-syllable word and its soft consonants.

The letter "R" was chosen because it was not used by many other music equipment companies, so would stand out in trade-show directories and industry listings.

[10] With seven employees from his former company, a rented shed, and $100,000, Kakehashi built on his experience at Ace, introducing a drum machine, the TR-77 or Rhythm 77, as Roland's first product, followed by the TR-33 and TR-55 released that same year.

[15] Although it was not an immediate commercial success, the 808 was eventually used on more hit records than any other drum machine[16] and became a cornerstone of the emerging electronic and hip hop genres.

[17] It has been described as hip hop's equivalent to the Fender Stratocaster guitar, which dramatically influenced the development of rock music.

Roland played a key role in the development of MIDI, a standardized means of synchronizing electronic musical instruments manufactured by different companies.

[23] Kakehashi proposed developing a standard with representatives from Oberheim Electronics, Sequential Circuits, Yamaha, Korg, and Kawai.

Users of the service can download and emulate a number of Roland synthesizers (modelled through a proprietary paradigm called ACB[32]) and drum machines in audio plugin formats.

This collection also includes orchestral modules (namely the Roland SRX racks) and new additions such as original sampled instruments.