Native Instruments file for insolvency...

[SLiC]

I also remain optimistic, but if NI did go down (and it had a negative effect on the software people own) I suspect many people may reconsider purchasing expensive software, it could have a knock on effect to a lot of software instrument companies.

[EvilDragon]

The unactivated licences should hopefully still show up in NA where they can be activated.
So you don't need a serial number to activate them.

This is correct.

[Sascha Franck]

I also remain optimistic, but if NI did go down (and it had a negative effect on the software people own) I suspect many people may reconsider purchasing expensive software, it could have a knock on effect to a lot of software instrument companies.

Absolutely!

"What if the company goes down?"
"Oh, no worries, we'd show some dignity and come up with a solution!"

... wouldn't sound that plausible anymore in case even one of the big players wouldn't follow that premise.

Anyhow, I'll just wait and see.
For the time being, I took the opportunity to look for a Battery alternative (was about time anyway). TAL-Drum seems excellent so far.

[KVRaudioline]

https://cdm.link/ni-insolvency/

https://neu.insolvenzbekanntmachungen.de/ap/suche.jsf

Looks real

Well, I expected it, seen it on other Companies.

When a large-ish Company starts to buy and buy to create a Monopoly, it tends to die in debts!
You start to see customers are neglected... I have been watching for the past 4 years now and I could see they were going there... only bought maybe 1 or 2 cheap plug-ins then stopped...

[KVRaudioline]

I suspect this may be the first of many this year, markets saturated...there are probably more people making synths and sound packs than there are making songs!

Yep, I expected Native to fail and now others too... Spitfire was sold to Splice I think = degraded to a poop Company.

Time for the smallest one to get on and rise...

[KVRaudioline]

It’s sad. I remember when they first hit the scene with Generator. They’ve been circling the drain for years, but it’s sad to see an icon die. I guess Sugar-Bytes got the last laugh after all. RIP

I wonder if some of the smaller Companies can raise now and even start pushing out Linux Plug-in versions. It may be their only chance to shine - work hard and get the rewards.

The world is changing fast!
Lets see 2026-27 AI flop, in part... I mean it is clearly visible.

[dionenoid]

https://blog.native-instruments.com/sta ... struments/

[digitalboytn]

For the time being, I took the opportunity to look for a Battery alternative (was about time anyway). TAL-Drum seems excellent so far.

Battery is built on the Kontakt engine,so the streaming from HD is something special...

I see that TAL Drum gives you a maximum of 8 layers...

Well..some of the drums that I'm using in Battery have 128 layers (and more if I wanted) and they happily stream from an SSD without a single hiccup...

Battery 4 is a killer drum and percussion player...

The only thing I would like is resizable GUI...

The rest of it is perfect...

Like I said before....there are some great offerings in the NI catalog,so whoever buys the assets are not going to kill them off...

If you kill the chicken,you're not going to get any more eggs

[ATS]

https://blog.native-instruments.com/sta ... struments/

that was a nothing statement

[KVRaudioline]

Holy crap! What does this mean for all NI customers? Think of Kontakt alone and all the 3rd party developers that have made instruments that only work in Kontakt.

This could be absolutely devastating for all of us. I can't tell you how much NI stuff I own.

I doubt it would go under completely. The Kontakt user base alone is valuable enough to make sense to a company like Yamaha or Fender. Just pray it isn't Avid or Gibson.

Yep!

[KVRaudioline]

More info here:
https://community.native-instruments.co ... roceedings

[Sascha Franck]

https://blog.native-instruments.com/sta ... struments/

That's pretty much as good as no statement.

[Sascha Franck]

Battery is built on the Kontakt engine,so the streaming from HD is something special...

I see that TAL Drum gives you a maximum of 8 layers...

For my purposes, I don't need streaming and usually no layers, either.
I want a tool allowing me to work with one shot samples as quickly as possible, ideall also featuring a loop slicer. TAL-Drum seems excellent for that.

Battery 4 is a killer drum and percussion player...

The rest of it is perfect...

IMO they completely messed it up when going from version 3 to 4. In fact, version 4 is a disgrace.

Anyhow, regardless of how the NI drama turns out, Battery is dead (they even kinda admitted that themselves).

[foosnark]

Are they the first big victim of A.I. in this field?

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

To summarize what a former employee said elsewhere: this has nothing to do with a lack or decline in sales. NI was actually making good money from Komplete and keyboards. The insolvency has nothing to do with AI, piracy, or the disappointment of KvR users with their strategy.

It's because private equity firms bought up all those other companies, using cheap debt during COVID when interest rates were low. Then they stuck the merged company with the debt. Then interest rates went up.

The folks who sold NI, PA, Brainworx, iZotope to the PE companies cashed out big-time.

[EvilDragon]

Yup, that's basically it.