inMusic to acquire Native Instruments: industry powerhouses reach a definitive agreement.

inMusic to acquire Native Instruments: industry powerhouses reach a definitive agreement.

For some, Native Instruments’ journey from industry frontrunners to preliminary insolvency felt as inexplicable as an M. Night Shyamalan plot twist.

For others, in hindsight, the apparent downfall of Native Instruments came as no real surprise, much like an M. Night Shyamalan plot twist.

Either way, the insolvency story certainly shook things up and left millions of music makers with many reasonable concerns and questions.

Although speculative, the general consensus that rapid expansion and an apparent shift in priorities that placed market leadership above customer satisfaction led to NI’s downfall seems fair.

As we discussed when the story broke, the Soundwide era is perhaps the best example of Native Instruments possibly taking millions of customers for granted.

While core products, particularly Kontakt, are so deeply entrenched in every level of music production, it was never likely that Native Instruments would just disappear.

With the insolvency process underway and stories of failed and potential acquisitions floating around, the most pertinent questions were, where will Native Instruments end up, and what will it mean for existing customers? (product support, login/registration processes, and future pricing, etc.).

We can’t answer every question yet, but we finally know where Native Instruments is heading: under the very broad umbrella of inMusic.

In a statement regarding the acquisition, Native Instruments CEO Nick Williams said: “After three months of hard work, and three months of extraordinary loyalty from you, I am pleased to share that a definitive agreement has now been signed for Native Instruments to be acquired by inMusic”.

With the exception of another plot twist, the deal should be completed in the coming weeks, with more news to follow.

The move includes Native Instruments and all of its controlled brands, including Plugin Alliance, iZotope, and Brainworx.

The immediate and simple reaction to this news is that it’s far better to hear that Native Instruments is in the hands of another industry heavyweight, rather than an external investment firm.

There might be concern that such an iconic brand could just become one of many for inMusic.

inMusic Brands controls Akai Professional, Moog, Denon DJ, M-Audio, Alesis, Numark, Air Music Tech, and more.

However, I believe that inMusic is one of, if not the best, at managing a large portfolio of brands that share fundamental values while maintaining separation and individuality between each entity.

And, they have to; they operate at all ends of the market, from beginner to high-end music production tools.

Although I believe inMusic is uniquely equipped to handle such a large integration, it will be interesting to see the positive and negative impacts that come our way.

Native Instruments’ MPC Edition sound expansion packs provided a taste of the MPC and Maschine worlds colliding, and I imagine that more, if not all, sound content will become available for both hardware platforms. It should create more options for producers because MPC and Maschine expansion packs typically have contrasting styles.

We should also see more of the newly acquired instruments/effects drafted into the MPC standalone workflow.

inMusic has a presence in the plugin world, particularly with Air Music Tech, but that position will be strengthened when this deal is completed. The acquisition of iZotope, in particular, will bring inMusic to a different area of the plugin market.

There is a lot of work ahead, and decisions made during this integration could delight or upset millions of existing inMusic customers, as well as the newly inherited ones.

I imagine there may be a few bumps in the road, but I’d be surprised if there’s anything too drastic.

I see the inMusic move as a positive one, and unless I see otherwise, I believe inMusic will work to build bridges and make the NI community feel appreciated again.

The strange part of the process, for me and many others, I’m sure, is seeing MPC and Maschine under the same roof, so to speak.

Choosing between MPC and Maschine is like choosing between Sega and Nintendo, or Xbox and PlayStation.

People typically pick a side and live with it.

I’m sure MPC and Maschine units will continue to improve while maintaining the core physical and workflow elements that convince people to choose one over the other.

Another aspect of the coming integration that’s open to speculation is the workforce behind the products.

Nick Williams also mentioned that “Our teams continue to build, ship, and support every day.”

But that’s no indication of how inMusic will structure things when the new era officially begins.

Native Instruments didn’t become the powerhouse it is without good people carrying it from the ground up. Any significant failures appear to come from decisions made from the top down.

I imagine the NI staff are still feeling uncertainty, but I hope this move leads to the best possible outcome for all involved, the brands, the staff, and, not least of all, the artists and producers.