Native Instruments GmbH is in preliminary insolvency.

@FreakyFwoof @the_spc Here's the unusual situation: because *so much* is owed to creditors, the future of these products is really secured. You have to sell it to pay the debts, and the insolvency process makes that happen.

I'm happy to remind would-be future owners of how important accessibility is to that value proposition.

@pkirn

I guess a few people having invested in Kontakt (as users or library producers) will now be unpleasantly reminded what *vendor lock-in* means.

@pkirn @fabio Fair, and I certainly don't take it as an endorsement of PE. It's just frustrating all around to see a good company that has a sizable user base, which by all outside observations seemed to be doing middling to well, suddenly keel over like this.

@pkirn@mastodon.social I've not exactly been following this, but I have heard a few things here and there over the last few years, and this isn't coming as a surprise.

For me, since shifting to Linux and open source a few years ago now, I haven't done any music production, or tried to set anything up yet, since I need a new machine really. I had tried to do some research in finding a Kontakt alternative that could either load up Kontak Instruments, or remap them to a another format - as after 20 years, Kontakt was the only NI product I used in the end - but used very heavily. And I have a ton of unfinished tracks I would like to finish, even if just for myself.

So, if anyone reading this more familiar with Linux audio knows of such a way, please let me know. It has been previously recommended to me to try using Carla, and hacking Kontakt VST to work in Linux, but I was already reluctant to go that way. I would rather find a native sampler that can somehow use Kontakt instruments, and then import the midi regions from older tracks that I've made. Thanks.

Native Instruments GmbH is in preliminary insolvency.

Not remotely what you want to see. Will keep tabs on this one in a tough time. Details:

https://cdm.link/ni-insolvency/

@FreakyFwoof I can't see them going under man. The product catalogue is still wicked valuable and the brand is super well known, even if its rep isn't all shiny all of the time. At most I'd expect chopping of some comparatively dead wood.

@pkirn @the_spc Linked here. Thanks as always sir. https://universeodon.com/@FreakyFwoof/115922628563673284

@Scott @FreakyFwoof Are iZotope, Brainworx, and Plugin Alliance part of the insolvency? That's a huge chunk of music tech software industry.

@Scott @FreakyFwoof Are iZotope, Brainworx, and Plugin Alliance part of the insolvency? That's a huge chunk of music tech software industry.

@antiquedigital @fabio Right, but if you're trying to do *that*, this is specifically what you *don't* want to happen -- because then you lose control of breaking up the company.

I'm the last person to be a fan of private equity, but this is actually worse -- and the role of private equity is typically to avoid this case. So this has a lot of people really shocked.