KVR Audio

Seafire Mk2 · Post by **Seafire Mk2** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 5:54 pm

npdc wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 4:56 pm Are they the first big victim of A.I. in this field?

No, they have deen on the decline for a decade or more.

Cuauhtli · Post by **Cuauhtli** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 5:56 pm

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream - Harlan Ellison

I for one welcome our new overlords. - Ken Brockman

npdc · Post by **npdc** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 5:58 pm

Seafire Mk2 wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 5:54 pm
npdc wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 4:56 pm Are they the first big victim of A.I. in this field?
No, they have deen on the decline for a decade or more.

Maybe, but I'm sure A.I. has a role here too. Less sales affect everybody.

BLUEsunny · Post by **BLUEsunny** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 5:59 pm

npdc wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 5:51 pm
mabian wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 5:50 pm
npdc wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 5:44 pm YouTube videos on the subject are starting to appear:

Yes, but they have nothing more than what we have here to discuss... nonsense.
I hope they make it possible to use the products without Native Access activation
The scariest part is if this will have a domino effect or not. A.I. is killing everything.

Now - Imagine that one day cash will Not be out there - ONLY DIGITAL MONEY -
... and Yes You guess it - All goes OFF LINE for a Long Time ... or For Good ... Someone just may pull a trigger to see what happens ...

rollasoc · Post by **rollasoc** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:01 pm

waxtrax wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 2:59 pm There is still value in the brand name. They will get purchased by someone. All your software is not going to stop working and vanish from your systems overnight.

Apple will buy them for $1 and half a curly wurly and then bundle it all with logic. Be like Alchemy all over again...

sellyoursoul · Post by **sellyoursoul** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:05 pm

Wow. They were pushing out a lot of fluff in upgrades, and a lot of existing products weren't getting needed updates. But I didn't expect them to be in this bad of shape. So I wonder what happens going forward in terms of customer access to purchased products.

waxtrax · Post by **waxtrax** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:06 pm

rollasoc wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:01 pm Apple will buy them for $1 and half a curly wurly and then bundle it all with logic. Be like Alchemy all over again...

As a Logic Pro licensee, that sounds perfectly fine to me!

vertibration · Post by **vertibration** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:14 pm

If Roli can wiggle their way out of trouble, so can NI

VitaminD · Post by **VitaminD** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:16 pm

rollasoc wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:01 pm
waxtrax wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 2:59 pm There is still value in the brand name. They will get purchased by someone. All your software is not going to stop working and vanish from your systems overnight.
Apple will buy them for $1 and half a curly wurly and then bundle it all with logic. Be like Alchemy all over again...

Noooo.. that's even worse than Behringer.

IvyBirds · Post by **IvyBirds** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:16 pm

npdc wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 5:58 pm
Seafire Mk2 wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 5:54 pm
npdc wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 4:56 pm Are they the first big victim of A.I. in this field?
No, they have deen on the decline for a decade or more.
Maybe, but I'm sure A.I. has a role here too. Less sales affects everybody.

NI's issues started long ago when they stopped updating the products people used and loved, and stopped making innovative new things

They just sat back and rehashed Kontact over and over again

I used to get every upgrade to Komplete the day it came out as it was full of cool new things. I stopped in 2018, long before AI. I am not the only the one

Mike777 · Post by **Mike777** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:18 pm

sellyoursoul wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:05 pm Wow. They were pushing out a lot of fluff in upgrades, and a lot of existing products weren't getting needed updates. But I didn't expect them to be in this bad of shape. So I wonder what happens going forward in terms of customer access to purchased products.

I was thinking that too but then heard some demos of new instruments like the Diamond elec piano and the new Session Percussionist. Both I found fantastic. All of the Session instruments are excellent. As still Abbey Roads drums etc. But a lot is fluff.

So how much are home music makers using AI over their plugins today?

zvenx · Post by **zvenx** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:23 pm

I think the mistake many people make is assuming that their favourite instrument (s) in Komplete were financially successful for NI..
I have never seen inside numbers but based on years of beta testing with NI, chatting with NI employees including Project Managers over those years, and seeing what became important and what less important, I think Kontakt and Maschine (and maybe some of the DJ stuff which is a field I am not even remotely involved with) were the only software really making money for them and hence they turned a lot to expansions and supporting those expansions..
my two cents..

never the less as someone who uses NI tools almost daily, it is a sad day.
rsp

dangayle · Post by **dangayle** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:24 pm

npdc wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 5:44 pm YouTube videos on the subject are starting to appear:

God I hate YouTubers and their “omg” and “chin in my hand looking quizzled” looks

ChamomileShark · Post by **ChamomileShark** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:25 pm

Maybe one of the big sample library companies will buy Kontakt to protect their catalogue and then fund development with the income from other 3rd party library companies.

npdc · Post by **npdc** » Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:26 pm

dangayle wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 6:24 pm
npdc wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 5:44 pm YouTube videos on the subject are starting to appear:

God I hate YouTubers and their “omg” and “chin in my hand looking quizzled” looks

Everybody wants a small slice of pie.

Native Instruments file for insolvency...