đ˘ [05/08] An announcement from Nick Williams, CEO of Native Instruments
đ˘ [05/08] Native Instruments joins inMusic FAQs
Uh oh⌠đ
According to an article by Create Digital Music (CDM), Native Instruments is currently undergoing preliminary insolvency proceedings:
To access and read insolvency documents:
*Native Instruments*
đĄ What this means
â What this doesn't mean
(Snippets taken from Production Expert)
Articles / Timeline of events
Date
News
12-04-2025
The European Commission clears acquisition of Native Instruments Group by Bridgepoint and Bain Capital Credit(Unconfirmed: Deal apparently fell through and the insolvency is the result of that.)
01-27-2026
Native Instruments GmbH is in preliminary insolvency | CDM
01-28-2026
Plugin Alliance says it is "business as usual" | CDM
01-29-2026
Statement from Nick Williams, CEO of Native Instruments
(Also available on ni-japan.jp)
03-19-2026
An update from Nick Williams, CEO of Native Instruments
05-08-2026
An announcement from Nick Williams, CEO of Native Instruments(Also available on ni-japan.jp)inMusic and Native Instruments Unite | inMusic
I will continuously update this post as we learn more.
As per Jeremy_NI's post:
Any further updates will be shared through our official channels when appropriate.
This is not an extinction level event. There's been no statement from NI or from anyone that's taken the wheel. Innocent until proven guilty. Do not assume the worst.
If (and it's a big if) the skittles fall, then we can just hire Jeff Goldblum to hack into the NI servers and save us all. Oh, and that crop duster pilot guy. đ¤Ł
BTW the Maschine+ is fine without wifi. I use mine most of the time with it off.
I am sure if the plug was pulled there would be patched versions made by the community that would work just fine. If the company wont offer a fix then users usually do it themselves.
Thank you. That was all I was asking, but I do feel bad for the staff too.
Here is another interesting angle on all of this
Native Instruments in Insolvency: How It Affects Users
You may need to translate from Spanish - but it's a good read on the possible tracks this could takeâŚ
VP
The trouble with things like this, even if a buyer was announced tomorrow, serious damage has been done. Been reading comments on other forums, a fair few saying they arenât going to invest any more in the NI eco system.
Sure if a buyers found, some of those will change their minds but many wonât (especially if another private equity firm buys)
Be honest, if right now you were in the process of deciding between say a s88 mk3 or an Arturia Keylab 88, or maybe between a Maschine or something from Akai, now that youâre read the article, which would you choose?
I suspect most wouldnât choose NI. I love my s88 mk3, but I assure you that when I was deciding whether to buy it or the Arturia, had this happened then, Iâd have bought the Arturia.
Thatâs why announcements like this are so damaging, it can start an unstoppable spiral of doom. I pray that isnât the case with NI
Here is a translated graphic of what could shake down in the next 90 daysâŚ
Until there is an official statement - this is a decent roadmap.
Here's hoping the first (and only stop) is Scenario One aboveâŚ
I canât believe that just yesterday I made the comment (in a fb group post, responding to the no-news at NAMM) that we should crowdfund a carve-out of Traktor from NIâŚ
As many have said, this is not necessarily the end, but itâs not a great sign either. We all love NI gear (hardware, software and soundware) but especially for Traktor, the business model is broken. Everyone wants more regular updates and more features, but where is the revenue stream? Itâs a one-off purchase for software, assuming it didnât come bundled with your controller. So then relying on new hardware sales, but the hardware is expensive to develop and too far between release cycles⌠and the user community donât want subscription, but most of the competitors have realised that is the only model that worksâŚ
At least with both Komplete and Maschine the business model is funded in part by the regular soundware releases: new virtual instruments, Maschine expansions, new effectsâŚ. but Traktor doesnât have that same cash engine. This may be unpopular, but if I were advising on a buy-side deal, I would be looking to carve it off and sell it, pitching that itâs innovation (physical stems control on DJ hardware) and sound quality positions it well enough to work in a subscription-model business. ÂŻ\_(ă)_/ÂŻ
Iâve been a long time user of Traktor and 2 weeks ago I bought a Maschine mk3 to start making beats. Iâm now wondering should I cut me losses and return the Maschine whilst I still have the opportunity to do so. I donât know whether itâs worth investing in learning the new instrument without knowing thereâs a long term future for it.
Fender is another interesting idea for a buyer. Lots of complimentary gaps for product lines.
Some new energy with a new CEO. And if the answer is for NI is to be more "upmarket", this CEO knows the turf. He knows the Asian market too.
Knocking on the door at ServcoâŚ
I'd find this a rather inspiring place to land.
Thank you , I just did a browser translation of the two original in German documents into English :
.
Berlin, HRB 72458 , 3612 IN 602/26 :
Berlin, HRB 225514 , 3612 IN 604/26 :
I partly agree that this has a chance of working out, but at the same time, if people are forced to pay a subscription fee, most of them will probably just switch to something with a brighter future like Djay or VDJ (latter also have a lifetime licence option if you want it). Both are far ahead of Traktor in most of the features (if not all of them), supported devices and are being actively developed without any signs of financial problems. I'm really not sure what they could possibly offer that would justify a monthly (most likely) fee.
Only one thing to note on this - there is already a way for you to download Kontakt and Komplete Kontrol and Maschine that does not rely on Native Access. Worst case, you could still use the software and harward as is now. But, I don't want to speciluate - just wanted to point out, that any hardware wouldn't stop working.
For sure. Not my translation or even my content.
Just a quick roadmap to cut through all the chatter for users to get a sense of what this filing means and what could happen.
That third column of User Mitigation is totally up to the user to decide if any of that is even necessary.
I can tell you right now - I won't be downloading 400 installers etc :)
Great work thank you đ , where did you find that ? Or did you cook it up yourself ?
akai will save the day, whoever owns them will scoop us up
