The sinking ship
Earlier this year, the world of music production was shaken by the news that the legendary Native Instruments has entered the phase of insolvency. This German company headquartered in Berlin and with offices around the world, is one of the leading manufacturers of equipment for music production. They’re primarily known for their software package Komplete and an industry-standard virtual sampler named Kontakt. For decades, this platform powers most of the virtual instruments and sample libraries on the market. Native Instruments also produces physical products, including MIDI controllers, audio interfaces, and DJ gear.
Being a long-time user of Komplete, I was rather worried by this situation. It is one of foundations of my creative work and includes several products that I use on a regular basis. Although I firstly didn’t believe that things are as bad as it was told, you can't to think about possible long-term consequences. Personally, I was concerned the most about the backward compatibility. I don’t have a habit of converting my DAW projects to audio files for further mixing and mastering. Instead, I always keep and work with the original version, even when it's entirely produced with virtual instruments and sample libraries. Therefore, I was worried about the potential loss of support.
I won’t pretend that I know a lot about business and that I’m particularly interested in this. But it’s hard to believe that a giant in its field whose solutions are considered an industry standard and with strong presence for many decades, can become questionable. Still, it happened. The joys of capitalism…
Native Instruments has gone through several changes regarding its owner. In 2021, most of its assets were acquired by an American investment company by the name Francisco Partners. A few years later, the company founded a short-lived parent outfit called Soundwide. This is when financial problems started. At the same time, Native Instruments acquired IZotope, a renowned American developer of software for music production.
To be honest, I don’t know what has brought Native Instruments to the state of uncertainty. Were the culprit wrong decisions of their owners at the time or perhaps new acquisitions? Or were the market changes to blame? The products by Native Instruments are frequent choice of professionals, but their solutions are also being used by countless amateurs. The latter are, however, more and more a questionable audience, due the the relentless rise of AI. Sad, but probably quite true.
Native Instruments received numerous critiques, even from long-time fans including myself. These are mostly related to changes regarding Kontakt. With each new generation, it became more and more cumbersome to use and overcluttered with optional “creative tools” that meant to draw in a wider user base that is not proficient at playing a musical instrument. Komplete has also gone through a few changes for the worse. The package is available in several versions with different price range. For years, a golden option was a Standard package, containing most tools needed by a serious producer or composer. For some time now, however, the most attractive new releases are reserved for much more expensive packages: Ultimate and Collector Edition.
Although Kompete has a competition from products by companies like IK Multimedia and UVI, it still remains a quality long-term investment. If nothing else, for access to platforms like Kontakt, Reaktor, Guitar Rig, and Ozone. Personally, I think that Kontakt libraries released by Native Instruments themselves are of high quality and can often match those made by leading 3rd party developers.
All in all, I was relieved to learn that Native Instruments will be acquired by a company inMusic, that has brands like Akai, M-AUDIO, AIR Software, Denon, Rane, and even Moog under its umbrella. Although certain critics feel all these companies to be somewhat stagnant now, I still believe that future of Native Instruments is much safer in the hands of the owner that is more connected with the world of music than the former Francisco Partners was. Anyhow, the German company is much to important and valuable to completely disappear from the market, as some predicted earlier.