I recently read the biography (for lack of a better term) of sequential circuits. Dave Smith(the founder who still makes awesome synthesizers today) was a primary stakeholder in pushing the standard though. What essentially happened was All companies had a data/sync standard for electronic instruments. Then Oberheim released a system that many manufacturers saw as a threat to their business. Dave Smith convinced Roland to just adopt something and that momentum of sequential and Roland would turn adoption in their favor. That pretty much worked. Iirc the midi association then made Tom Oberheim president.