KVR Audio

parma · Post by **parma** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 5:47 am

man, I feel bad for the companies that use Kontakt as the basis for their products. Who's going to buy Kontakt-based stuff until this is all settled one way or another? I was thinking specifically of Slate & Ash. Really cool, unique products but what happens to them now? Certainly revenue will drop. And their stuff is so programmed that its not going to be easy to transfer to a different platform.

ATS · Post by **ATS** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 6:04 am

parma wrote: Wed Jan 28, 2026 5:47 am man, I feel bad for the companies that use Kontakt as the basis for their products. Who's going to buy Kontakt-based stuff until this is all settled one way or another? I was thinking specifically of Slate & Ash. Really cool, unique products but what happens to them now? Certainly revenue will drop. And their stuff is so programmed that its not going to be easy to transfer to a different platform.

This is what I was thinking about since I just dropped a small fortune on Heavyocity stuff. They aren't just going to throw this stuff away though. It is worth it to someone to keep it going.

Lbdunequest · Post by **Lbdunequest** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 6:11 am

So much cognitive dissonance in peoples mind. Dont worry, your kontakt libraries and kontakt will be fine.

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 6:18 am

Funky40 wrote: Wed Jan 28, 2026 3:05 am ok, so if i would freeze my mac now, take it off of the web, NOT updating my mac OS again, would everything NI continue to run properly ? I guess it would, no ? *

i´m not hyperventilating vs. NI and its situation, ......i´m well aware since some time that the day might come where this market will force me to just freeze my Mac, -and live with what i have-, anyway.

* a answer would be appreciated

I'd like an answer to this too. I may go as far as going out buying an extra Mac M4 just to install absolutely the full NI Komplete system on it and then setting that machine aside as a backup "hardware" synth system.

parma · Post by **parma** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 6:20 am

Lbdunequest wrote: Wed Jan 28, 2026 6:11 am So much cognitive dissonance in peoples mind. Dont worry, your kontakt libraries and kontakt will be fine.

Oh, ok. Thanks then. Problem solved.

Gavincoolguy · Post by **Gavincoolguy** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 6:32 am

At least the plugin alliance installer allows you to download and export the blob. I'm going to keep both a backup of the installers from the website and one made by the installation manager as the one made by the installer requires the manager to install.

Lbdunequest · Post by **Lbdunequest** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 6:53 am

Filing for insolvency doesnt mean companys end, it means restructuring. Sometimes happens that company goes brankrupt, sometimes. As EvilDragon said, kontakt and komplete makes money. So logic says restructuring will happen the way that will most likely save kontakt and komplete.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 7:04 am

And Komplete doesn't work if you also don't continue the rest of products that are contained within. Dunno. We'll have to see what happens.

Gavincoolguy · Post by **Gavincoolguy** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 7:05 am

It can also very quickly lead to liquidation and a closed sign. I would in the least, back everything up that is salvageable without online activation.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 7:11 am

That is actually unlikely. Not impossible, but unlikely.

parma · Post by **parma** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 7:11 am

Yes, Kontakt seems the most likely to survive in some form based just on user numbers but, if I was a third-party Kontakt developer, I don't think I feel particularly good about today's developments.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 7:24 am

The mere fact that it is likely to continue doesn't really make me worry, personally, for now. Restructuring will happen. As it already did a number of times, in fact.

kmonkey · Post by **kmonkey** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 7:36 am

Lbdunequest wrote: Wed Jan 28, 2026 6:11 am So much cognitive dissonance in peoples mind. Dont worry, your kontakt libraries and kontakt will be fine.

Since you used it in this context, it'd be pretty obvious you clearly don't even know what "cognitive dissonance" is. Look it up. You just heard it on the internet, someone used it (wrongly, so it seems), do you? Not smart, but not unexpected.

Imagine your whole family's savings disappear because you invested it to acquire silly nonsense, and you can not pay your dues, your family comes to you worried and asks you what do we do now: and you tell them, " you should not have so much cognitive dissonance, don't worry bua ha ha ha

jules99 · Post by **jules99** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 7:49 am

It seems like many have a bit of a distorted view of how big the industry is and where growth potential lies.

Fender went and bought PreSonus in 2021 on the heels of the massive boost music production software saw during the pandemic. But also, because growth in the guitar instrument industry has been stalling for a while. But that growth has slowed down significantly in recent years.

Fenders annual revenue, one of music equipment's biggest companies, has been between $700m and $800m annually in the last few years. The last revenue I found from NI has its annual revenue at around $80m, so a TENTH of that. Ableton's is between 100-120m.

With that in mind, and given how much smaller many other music software companies are, and how saturated the market is, who is going to buy all of NI, or parts of it?

Splice maybe? Imagine-Line? Or one of those cash-loaded AI music companies like LANDR?

DrGonzo · Post by **DrGonzo** » Wed Jan 28, 2026 7:58 am

This news hit me harder than I thought it would. As much as I've lost interest in NI the last 10 years, the new management really seemed genuine and after seeing Absynth getting resurrected, a small seed of hope was planted in my otherwise ice-cold cynical heart.

I hope they figure out a way to keep on keeping on. Let's just hope Apple won't get wind of this news.

And yeah, I wouldn't like to be a developer with Kontakt libraries as my main focus right now.

Native Instruments file for insolvency...