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Soundwide Lays Off 8% of Staff [not a deal]


PavlovsCat

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A certain developer recently told me that his lack of confidence in the stability of NI and the future of KONTAKT played a significant role in his introducing his own sampler.  It actually makes a lot of sense. I'm a long-time NI customer,  since their early days, and use KONTAKT in nearly every project. Some are speculating that these layoffs are due to the typical cuts made following mergers and acquisitions and others are connecting it pandemic related spike in spending in this market receding. My guess is it's largely the former and a bit of the latter,  but I'm not an industry insider, but part of the inspiration for most mergers and acquisitions is how to improve sales to the same customer base and the cost reductions and more efficient use of resources by eliminating redundant positions (or what are sometimes perceived as redundant positions). 

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1 hour ago, Byron Dickens said:

And this really comes as a surprise to anyone?

No, it's certainly not a surprise. Of course, it's pretty standard to do layoffs following mergers and acquisitions, but as A LOT of the threads in this forum are related to products owned by Soundwide -- e.g., KONTAKT libraries, Plugin Alliance plugins, etc. -- I thought the news is very relevant to forum users. A lot of us, including me -- have spent thousands of dollars on KONTAKT sample libraries, so we care a great deal about the future of NI and that product. 

From conversations I've had with KONTAKT developers I know, I've heard that there was a lot of investment in KONTAKT 7 under the new ownership, which is., of course, a good sign for KONTAKT developers and users. However, it hasn't been that long since NI was acquired, so anything is possible and I know of KONTAKT sample library developers who are mildly concerned about the future of KONTAKT and some who are concerned enough to be exploring other options, just in case (which I think is a smart thing to do).  I just think it's worthy of discussion in a forum where a substantial portion of the threads are related to sample libraries. 

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Dirk via Facebook

Yes, it's true. Soundwide unfortunately went through a "layoff" this week, like so many tech companies right now. Thank you David Finke for sharing this originally.

This process didn't affect any PA or BX staff, but sadly we had to say goodbye to some people at NI and IZO. PA/BX has historically been a super efficient and lean operation, so the tough macro-environment around us all doesn't affect this part of the SW business as much as others.

Personally I am (obviously) sad about the recent event, and I know I share this feeling with the rest of the SW management and all our teams. We will have to adapt to the challenging post-Covid realities and will do our best to heal quickly and to keep on rocking with all our brands.

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12 hours ago, PavlovsCat said:

... part of the inspiration for most mergers and acquisitions is how to improve sales to the same customer base and the cost reductions and more efficient use of resources by eliminating redundant positions (or what are sometimes perceived as redundant positions). 

i.e. How to make the most money for the shareholders and bollocks to the workers.

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44 minutes ago, Technostica said:

Exactly. There’s a great thread on KVR where chatting or non deal stuff is not allowed and it’s actively moderated.

A breath of fresh air.

KVR a breath of fresh air? Double yikes with a helping of crikey. 

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1 hour ago, Technostica said:

Exactly. There’s a great thread on KVR where chatting or non deal stuff is not allowed and it’s actively moderated.

A breath of fresh air.

Ask the mods to move it.   I guess people just assume we don't read other parts of the site.   This is more suited for the coffeehouse.

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There is the sub model pandemic.  Every FL user thinks Image Line is gonna go broke so the users keep coming up with stupid business models.

This is a quote from one of the founders who had to make these posts 1000 times.

We are not abandoning Lifetime Free Updates.

24 years and people are still speculating the business model is about to fail, will be changed to subscription, or makes focus only on new customers (it doesn't).

The OP has enjoyed 15 years of Lifetime Free Updates. You are welcome.

My favorite advice I ever got about running a business is you can't please everyone. Even if your job was to give away $500,000. Customer feedback ...

I got a cheque, no-one uses those any more, I wanted cash. You suck.

The tax man took 30%. You Suck.

500K wasn't enough. You suck.

I crashed the Lambo I bought. You Suck.

All my friends are asking me for money, it ruined my friendships. You suck.

I spent it all. You suck.

Please go make some music. If you don't want to use FL Studio, just close the door politely on the way out. No-one is stopping you using another DAW.

People confuse their sales with the size of their company.  They don't do heavy advertising or always off to shows, have offices around the globe.  They don't need a large support staff and most of it is in their forum.  Most like they've been contacted by larger companies to be acquired.  The are a stubborn group of people that don't wnat to change what's working.

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2 hours ago, Wibbles said:

i.e. How to make the most money for the shareholders and bollocks to the workers.

My dream is those in leadership are not stuffed shirts but have real world experience.

I was listening to the founder of Papa John talking about leaders who never made or delivered a pizza.

I worked for the world's largest optical retailer at one time and the people who help found it eventually moved on because it became more about sales and too many stuffed shirts.   In some things you want people in charge who are skilled instead of a college bookworm.   I've had to deal with that many times.   I've come to the conclusion college educations are overrated because they don't reflect the real world.

It's worse in public education and running into law enforcement.  All of the things that are suppose to work don't because those who offer those same bullshit solutions never walked in those shoes.

 It's like being an airline pilot because you watched a plane take off and land.

 

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2 hours ago, Wibbles said:

i.e. How to make the most money for the shareholders and bollocks to the workers.

So true.  My wife's father started a manufacturing company in the late '50's.   In the 70's when corporations started making their employees part time so that they wouldn't have to pay insurance and pensions her dad refused to do it because he felt like he had made a promise to his employees to take care of them.  During the Great Recession of 2008 when companies either fired or laid off people her dad refused to do it and kept all this people on full time.  He said he did because they were the ones who made the business what it was.    He lost money during those years, but he said taking care of this employees was the right thing to do.   He was remarkable guy who didn't think only about the bottom line.  The people who worked for him loved him and would have taken a bullet for him.  I wish more businesses would think like he did.

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