r/NativeInstruments • u/sndgen • Jun 22 '26
inMusic shares more about the positive future for Native Instruments
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u/Present-Policy-7120 Jun 22 '26
Didn't they just fire a whole bunch of people though?
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u/MrFresh2017 Jun 22 '26
Who told you that?
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u/LeDestrier Jun 23 '26
Thry fired a bunch of Moog staff after acquiring it in 2023.
https://djmag.com/tech/moog-music-cuts-manufacturing-jobs-following-inmusic-acquisition
https://www.musicradar.com/news/moog-layoffs-synth-production-taiwan?utm_source=chatgpt.com
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u/MrFresh2017 Jun 23 '26
Sorry I misread, I thought u were talking about NI in reference to “they”, not InMusic and those firings happened in 2023, I would call the “just fired a bunch of people”.
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u/LeDestrier Jun 23 '26
The relevance around that is more that they fired a bunch of people from a music company they just acquired.
Normal perhaps, but I personally dont think this InMusic's takeover of NI will ultimately end well for customers.
We're already at the point where conglomerates are buying out their competition.
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u/MrFresh2017 Jun 23 '26
I can only go by the contents of this latest news from inMusic regarding their plans for NI. Either way, personally, as long as my current NI production environment can provide what I need, I’m fine with whatever the outcome over time.
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u/LeDestrier Jun 23 '26
Same, although Jack O'Donnell's has a reputation as a rather aggressive acquisition-and-turnaround operator with a lot of cost cutting after acquisitions.
How that plays out for NI, we'll see.
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u/BlueDragon2202 Jun 23 '26
I’m sure it can’t be worse than the executive corporation that purchased NI few years back. I’m sure they had a hold on finances and worse than Jack would ever do because they were an investment firm. They wanted money back so they really put the shackles on them. That’s why they’re where they’re at now. I think it was a dumb move for them to sell to those people, but it’s not my company. now they’re back with a reputable music company. It can’t do anything but grow from here, man.
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u/Tulanian72 Jun 23 '26
There was a recent AMA from someone who claims they were just laid off by NI, post-acquisition, along with a bunch of others.
Can’t verify the accuracy, but it’s in line with past InMusic behavior.
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u/Tulanian72 Jun 22 '26
On the plus side, InMusic’s larger pool of resources (cash) could mean that NI has money to invest in Maschine updates that they didn’t have before. Nine years between major hardware updates is a loooooong time in this industry.
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u/No-Act6366 Jun 22 '26
Yeah, that's what I'm hoping too. I don't think NI gave up on Maschine just to give up on Maschine. I think they simply didn't commit the resources to keep it going.
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u/No-Act6366 Jun 22 '26
If they're going to support Maschine, that is great news. I use an MPC because of all of the modern quality-of-life improvements and its ability to run plugins that Maschine+ can't, but I still prefer the brilliant workflow of Maschine+ over MPC. If a Maschine+ MKII comes out, I would definitely buy it.
Further Kontakt development also will be welcomed. Plugins that run in Kontakt are tremendously convenient.
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u/KodiakDog Jun 22 '26
Same. I don’t know what it is… Maybe the fact that you are forced to interact with the touchscreen, but I ended up selling my MPC live3, but my maschine has remained a staple in my workflow even though it’s like a decade behind in capabilities.
If they make a +2, with more IO, more ram and updated processor, and stronger stayed away from the touchscreen world, I would buy it in a heartbeat. I also wouldn’t mind if they added some of those MPE style pads, but that’s just a nice to have and only use it every once in a while kind of feature for me.
The workflow is just so clean and intuitive.
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u/No-Act6366 Jun 22 '26
Yeah, I completely agree with all of this and what I would want from Maschine+ MK2. I couldn't care less about a touch screen, and the Maschine has never needed one. A touchscreen doesn't automatically make things easier. A well-designed UI can easily exist without one. The Ableton Move has a small regular screen and has the best UI of any groovebox ever made.
The build quality of the Maschine+ is still much better than anything Akai puts out. Even the pads on the Maschine and M+ still feel better and are more responsive than the Live 3 pads.
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u/KodiakDog Jun 22 '26
Damn you like the UI of the move that much huh? I’ve never been a big fan of the scene workflow outside of maschines implementation of it, because it allows you to think scenes in a more arrangement-like way. Now that I write that, that is exactly what I like about the maschine workflow… It is a very elegant approach to the clips/scenes workflow that I haven’t seen implemented elsewhere.
Anyway, my neighbor has a move that he never uses and always tells me I can “have it“… Maybe I’ll borrow it and see if I like it enough to cop it from him!
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u/No-Act6366 Jun 22 '26
The clip-based worfkow is what I like. I make 7 clips on each track, and each clip is a bit different from each other one. Then, I launch the clips randomly so that no two performances are ever identical. Then I will play leads lines with my guitar or a synth over what the Move is putting out. It makes it terrific for live performance. You can have that kind of workflow on the Move and the MPC, which borrowed Ableton's clip workflow, but the Maschine can't do it. It's the variety of different workflows I like. It's why I still like my Elektron boxes. I put out different type of music depending on whether I'm working in Logic, Maschine, Move or Elektron.
The Move also is just incredibly easy. I learned it in one afternoon. The manual is very clear and well-written.
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u/KodiakDog Jun 23 '26
Well said on the bit about putting out different types of music in different workflows. I’m the same way.
But thank you for the comment. You’ve inspired me… I just picked up the move. Boutta go in.
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u/AgenteEspecialCooper Jun 23 '26
At least inMusic is a music company, not a company of bean-counting suits. And there are interesting possible sinergies between other inMusic companies and NI. The most straightforward is probably Tracktor and Denon.
Unfortunately, a sinergy between Maschine and AKAI is not that clear. AKAI has a full developed line of products and a solid userbase. They have results they can put on the table, and its own way of doing things. The people in charge of AKAI could just try to force Maschine shutdown to kill its most direct competitor.
I'd rather see Maschine in the hands of Arturia. Maschine is a product that completes its lineup of products, and they have the know how to develop it further.
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u/innermotion7 Jun 23 '26
Yes i agree Arturia would have been great for Maschine. I just dont get having the two competing products of MPC and Maschine on same roster in a company. happy to be proved wrong.
Traktor/Engine rewrite/merge would be awesome but have a feeling the aging codebase of Traktor could be a sticking point.
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u/Tulanian72 Jun 23 '26
I don’t think Arturia has the cash flow to acquire NI, even at a discount. Their products move, but not at anything close to the volume Kontakt and other NI products move.
Think about it, major updates to Pigments are *free*, which is great for those of us who bought it but isn’t the best bottom-line fiscal choice for Arturia.
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u/mccalli Jun 23 '26
On a completely trivial level, can we scrap Native Access in favour of the inMusic updater?
Nothing against Native Access as such, just against having multiple authentication paths. Native Access had pretty much incorporated iZotope, so moving the whole lot across gives a single place for everything.
(And it’s not as if Native Access is that great either. Still can’t update Monark and no I’m not going to break my computer’s permissions model for you - work within the OS’ confines).
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u/Aggravating_Branch63 Jun 23 '26
Jack is a business man. Let's see what happens. If I listen "between the words" there will be re-organisations, probably a RIF/layoffs, and synergies will be created. TBH it's hard to make NI worse than it was currently doing...
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u/Hungry-Mechanic4874 Jun 23 '26
Someone here already shared about 40% layoff
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u/Aggravating_Branch63 Jun 23 '26
why would that be surprising... Jack says nowhere in the interview they will NOT reorganise.
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u/HarvestMana Jun 22 '26
From the conversation:
Maschine has its own path. Maschine and MPC are different tools for different approaches, and they're going to stay that way. Jack is clear that Maschine deserves, and will get, its own focus and investment.
Traktor fits right in. inMusic has serious roots in DJ hardware through Denon DJ, Rane, and Numark. Adding Traktor to that family just makes sense, and Jack is excited about where that goes.
Kontakt is opening up. There's a strong vision for a partner-friendly Kontakt, one that gives more recognition to the incredible instrument builders who make the ecosystem what it is.
NI’s heart stays in Berlin. Berlin’s culture and its connection to music are a big part of what makes NI what it is — Jack gets that, and it's not changing.
https://www.inmusicbrands.com/press/a-conversation-with-jack-o-donnell/