Native Instruments file for insolvency...

[conundrum]

NI really needs to change the way authorization for their products works, so it's 100% off line.

The importance of this in this market is probably negligible, a pet issue of a tiny minority.

It’s a “pet issue” of the minority, until it’s not.

[jancivil]

The importance of this in this market is probably negligible, a pet issue of a tiny minority.

Right now: Likely.

But should NI really vanish from earth without a solution in place, that'd become something fundamentally different. People would all of a sudden become aware how a large part of their stuff depends on a) one single company and b) their authorisation scheme.

The context that came from was NI needing influx of cash so a high degree of trust of the company from potential buyers of Kontakt libraries is paramount.
I think we're getting ahead of ourselves quite a bit. Those of us with the most to lose aren't suddenly aware of this reality.

Ultimately buying a Kontakt library becomes dodgy sooner or later if this remains unsolved. It's been, what, a week now?
For me if Kontakt 8 is needed it's already close to unfeasible. I can't know how many of us need to worry right now about a new authorization. IME it's time to consider hierarchy of needs for sure.
This was true for me by October 2024 when I bought massively from VSL at fire sale prices.

[jancivil]

NI really needs to change the way authorization for their products works, so it's 100% off line.

The importance of this in this market is probably negligible, a pet issue of a tiny minority.

It’s a “pet issue” of the minority, until it’s not.

The context of what I quoted was at present NI needs to change in order to generate highest trust so sales increase if the day is to be saved. This supposes that the debt accrued by the company as a whole owes directly to sales pertaining to Kontakt. This is not in evidence, for my part I doubt that based on what I've read from people with more information and access than myself.

Conjecture upon conjecture like we're already there. If one wants to think that way, sees it in their crystal ball, whatever, I don't. At any rate, that would be down to whether accountants think that sea change is worth the expenditure and wide consensus among several interests before there has been any change of proprietorship.

[jancivil]

Dunning Kruger Rules OK

[Funky40]

This here has already impact on me doubting "SW purchases" in general. Well, there are more reasons to that in play. The SW market IS changing right now....



I have already everything i need. The thought to just freeze my mac becomes more and more real.
This NI situation IS effectivly adding to that !
.........and the whole RAM and SSD price hike ofc.

[fedexnman]

Yes the SSD and Ram issue is bad , but remember it was Nvidia and GPUs that were ripping off gamers 1st .

[jamcat]

I was using primarily Brainworx and Lindell Audio plugins, but then switched over to Universal Audio a couple years ago after they went native.

I own Kontakt but never really used it, because every major sampling house has their own proprietary sampler platform for their libraries.

The only thing from iZotope I have are the Exponential Audio plugins they cannibalised and killed off. iZotope are pretty irrelevant to me, since Studio One Pro, like most DAWs, has mastering tools built in. And also, I despise them (see above.)

So I’m fairly unaffected by what happens either way. But that did get me thinking: perhaps the same things that have insulated me from the fallout are major factors to why the brands under NI have been struggling so much in recent years.

[machinesworking]

I work for a music retailer, and the majority of people buying gear, are not on KVR. Most folks are new to music production, and those that are professional, could care less about this and that. What is the majority of customers? KVR? or everyone else?

Reality is online forums are for old people these days. I would doubt if there's anything like 20% of KVR that's under 30, 45 even? These types of things and this type of drama isn't that important to younger musicians. I'm old now and I admit I'm fascinated by this stuff, but I guess I'm just not that paranoid about it anymore. I like NI software, but if I have to replace their plugins to get similar results, it's just not that big of a deal. Software just isn't that expensive, and I still have a 2010 Mac in the corner here with depreciated software on it, it still works. The only thing that died was Alchemy, and it's replaceable. You want permanence? get hardware, and even then there's always issues, both my hardware polys are being worked on right now.

Plus, I just don't think NI are going anywhere, getting inspected by an insolvency lawyer doesn't mean they're going to be disappearing tomorrow.

[IvyBirds]

They need to go on KVR right now, read the comments, and implement all of these exceptional business ideas to save the company

Interesting idea. No one has suggested that yet with the exception of you.

Logic would dictate what NI needs is cash so they can pay their bills. They only way for them to get cash is to either take on more debt which will be very expensive, very difficult, and perhaps impossible

Or they can sell stuff and make some profits

KVR and other forums like it represents a direct link into their user base and pool of potential customers.

It's highly doubtful that until they somehow regain confidence in the market place that they will be able to sell stuff at any significant level to make a difference however

Do you honestly think anyone is buying Komplete Standard right now for $600, or Komplete Ultimate for $1200, or Komplete Collectors for $1800?

How about the Izotope packages that cost thousands of dollars?

Since you have such great intellectual abilities and have such great ideas what do you suggest they do to earn the business of the people that post on KVR and other places?

Because I don't think what they have done far has been effective

But no one except for you have suggested they take any advice from users on KVR

[enCiphered]

Then they need to very publicly indicate they have made that change and put out an honest video from someone at the very top about the changes they are making to instill trust in the company. A YouTube video that could be shared on various places would be ideal

What they don't need is the generic statements they have put out that sound like it's written by a lawyer that don't instill any confidence

That’s cosmetic.
No apology videos. No lawyer posts.

What builds trust is:

- regular updates
- no silent product abandonment
- no more surprise layoffs

Everything else is marketing.
And marketing doesn’t fix balance sheets.

[IvyBirds]

Then they need to very publicly indicate they have made that change and put out an honest video from someone at the very top about the changes they are making to instill trust in the company. A YouTube video that could be shared on various places would be ideal

What they don't need is the generic statements they have put out that sound like it's written by a lawyer that don't instill any confidence

That’s cosmetic.
No apology videos. No lawyer posts.

What builds trust is:

- regular updates
- no silent product abandonment
- no more surprise layoffs

Everything else is marketing.
And marketing doesn’t fix balance sheets.

And how will any one find out those things if it's not communicated?

You say they don't need to market or communicate but then say they can't be silent.

[sellyoursoul]

Reality is online forums are for old people these days. I would doubt if there's anything like 20% of KVR that's under 30, 45 even? These types of things and this type of drama isn't that important to younger musicians.

I would wage a bet that most customers of audio/music software aren't young.

[audiojunkie]

Fwiw, I actually think that people using sample libraries may even profit from all this in the long run.

It is now abundantly obvious that it's possibly not the best idea to bet all your money on a "standard" controlled by a company that could go down the shitter any day soon. So a little bit of "diversification" is possibly on order. Which is a good thing as the new sample library playback engines will have to compete with each other.

It'll also make users think twice whether they still like to get away with forced online activations - or whether they should rather ask the developers for alternative activation methods. Or rather: not just ask for other methods but demand them. Simply because this event is setting a precedent, as in that even a big player could just stumble and fall, so all of the possible statements along the lines of "if something like that happens, we'll sort you out" aren't worth the bytes used to write them.

I agree completely! I have been using only serial number / keyfile software for years. Every time a company goes bust, I want to ask some of the naysayers, "So....how's that <plugin name> working out for you?" So many people have boldly said they have no problem with challenge/response or iLok. They even challenge us and say it hardly ever happens. But it DOES happen. It happens more frequently than people realize.

As for diversification, I think that's been going on for a few years now. Fewer and fewer sample houses are using Kontakt. Many have built their own sampler in-house for their sample sets. I think it is going to continue, because developers don't want to pay $2000 up front with no guarantees that they will sell enough product to pay for the licenses. And also, they know as well as the users what state Native Instruments has been in for the last several years.

I'm personally interested in the new, upcoming KODA Sampler. I hope it supports Linux!

[Sindikhate]

I work for a music retailer, and the majority of people buying gear, are not on KVR. Most folks are new to music production, and those that are professional, could care less about this and that. What is the majority of customers? KVR? or everyone else?

Reality is online forums are for old people these days. I would doubt if there's anything like 20% of KVR that's under 30, 45 even? These types of things and this type of drama isn't that important to younger musicians.

They watch influencer "musicians" basically a guy that can edit a video better than writing a track, and almost all have covered the "news".

[jamcat]

Then they need to very publicly indicate they have made that change and put out an honest video from someone at the very top about the changes they are making to instill trust in the company. A YouTube video that could be shared on various places would be ideal

What they don't need is the generic statements they have put out that sound like it's written by a lawyer that don't instill any confidence

That’s cosmetic.
No apology videos. No lawyer posts.

What builds trust is:

- regular updates
- no silent product abandonment
- no more surprise layoffs

Everything else is marketing.
And marketing doesn’t fix balance sheets.

No one cares about layoffs. Product abandonment has already happened. Not doing more of it isn’t going to build trust that has already been damaged.

What actually matters is certainty. That is always the factor for investors of any kind, whether it’s capital investment or just investment in your software tools.

So what they need is to provide clarity about what is going on. If you buy their products, are they going to still be under development and supported in a year’s time? Will you still be able to authorize the software two years from now if you buy it?

If they can make a statement answering those questions in the affirmative, then they will see less of a massive drop in sales than they are going to see without it.