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NI Restructure


cclarry

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It's like a company that makes 62 billion different instruments might have spread themselves thin or something? And of course the answer is to become thinner...😬

Also is it just me or does that article read like "subscription imminent!"

Edited by Royal Yaksman
Fat fingwrs
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NI has had update subscriptions before actually, long long ago.  But they only did it for a year or so.  You basically pre-paid for the a year of upgrades to Komplete.  I don't think they are going subscriptions on software anytime soon.  The Loop Loft stuff (sounds.com) maybe, the Machine expansions, maybe, but not the rest.  In past things like this (NI has done this a few times actually) what usually happens is they kill off a bunch of amazing and great products in favor of some stuff you have no interest in.  Most likely this means more hardware/mobile phone nonsense and less improve Kontakt so it doesn't suck.

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32 minutes ago, Matthew Sorrels said:

NI has had update subscriptions before actually, long long ago.  But they only did it for a year or so.  You basically pre-paid for the a year of upgrades to Komplete.  I don't think they are going subscriptions on software anytime soon.  The Loop Loft stuff (sounds.com) maybe, the Machine expansions, maybe, but not the rest.  In past things like this (NI has done this a few times actually) what usually happens is they kill off a bunch of amazing and great products in favor of some stuff you have no interest in.  Most likely this means more hardware/mobile phone nonsense and less improve Kontakt so it doesn't suck.

The big question is which instrument or lineup is about to go the way of Kore?

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6 hours ago, Syphus said:

NI by Bandlab . . .

They need to be bought by Gibson and gutted first. 

(Not trying to be glib about what the NI and CW devs went through. Hang in there guys - it sucks to be downsized.)

Edited by mibby
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Company Official Statement:

 

Responding to many rumors swirling around the ether, Native Instruments has issued an official statement regarding their business. Here is that statement:

Berlin, August 29, 2019 – Native Instruments, the world's leading provider of software and hardware for computer-based music production, announced today a plan to centralize their global business operations, which includes a headcount reduction of 20% across all locations.

The key reason for this difficult decision is to create the right organizational setup to focus on the development of a new, unified and fully integrated platform on which the company's entire portfolio of products and services will be available next year. This change comes despite growing revenues in 2018 and the first half of 2019, but as a response to an increasing cost structure due to the company's previous divisional setup and multi-brand approach.

"Today is a very emotional day for the Native community. We've been driving innovation in music creation since the 1990s. First through software instruments, then by expanding to an integrated ecosystem with complementing hardware and now by creating a unified platform experience for the modern music producer," said Daniel Haver, the company's CEO and co-founder.

"To make this transformation successful, we needed to adapt our strategy, including a centralized functional setup that can support our vision of 'One Native'. Unfortunately, this also means we had to make some tough decisions and part ways with a number of employees. This has been the hardest part of this transformation," he added.

Global headcount reduction of 20%.

As a consequence of the company's newly centralized organization to focus on its future strategy, Native Instruments had to make the difficult decision to reduce its workforce by around 100 employees across all sites. With most of the affected employees located at the company's headquarters in Berlin, the departments that were impacted by the consolidation include Sales & Distribution, Marketing & Product Management, Administration and Engineering.

All employees were informed about these changes on Thursday, August 29, 2019. The company regrets the impact this has on their employees, their families and the community.

In addition to severance packages and outplacement services, Native Instruments has also established contacts with other Berlin-based companies that are currently looking for highly qualified personnel.

"This was the most difficult decision we had to make in our entire history, as our past successes have been enabled by the work of some of the best and most passionate people in the music industry. We thank all employees for their commitment, hard work, and their high degree of loyalty to Native Instruments. We are fully committed to doing all we can to take care of our employees impacted during this difficult time," said Daniel Haver.

New platform starting in 2020.

Recognizing changing customer behaviors worldwide, the aim of focusing on a unified platform strategy is to create an expandable commercial and technological basis for future growth in the digital music production area. For that, a new platform is currently being developed with the goal of offering new ways of accessing the company's core products and services, as well as complementary ones from third-parties. The centralized platform will also include the company's expanded portfolio of loops and samples, which is currently part of sounds.com, and will launch in 2020.

The company's previous divisional structure, functional and brand silos, did not allow for a successful implementation of this strategy up until this point.

"Customers today are expecting a seamlessly integrated experience when consuming and accessing creative goods and services. We are confident that we can offer music producers worldwide a unique and premium experience by connecting our existing ecosystem of award-winning software and hardware to a centralized online service," said Mate Galic, Native Instruments' Chief Innovation Officer and President.

"In the past, we expanded in different product lines, which was also reflected in our organizational structure. Our platform vision, however, requires a much more collaborative approach, having all parts of the company work together towards one common goal."

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23 minutes ago, cclarry said:

"...by connecting our existing ecosystem of award-winning software and hardware to a centralized online service"

reads like a cloud based subscription system, East-West alike

Edited by chris.r
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NI is the perfect exemple of what SUB gonna do to brands : the need to fullfill the bundles at no price or lose it .... Slate have to get other brands , wanted to call Fabrice to see what's going , for real .... other brands gonna taste this soon , period !!!

 

I wanted Massive X but you know what ? my update to Komplete ultimate is 199 when sale ....massive X is 149 ...you see what i mean this means veruy few sales during year on individulal stuff and sales on bundle when someone decide to update witch for exemple i do every 3 version !!!

 

That said i own their hardware (3 maschines and a keyboard) , but anyway i'm confodent for the futuire , NI is waht Neve or Roland is to music industry , the most impacting brand in what todayz music is ...so imma keep supporting them and wish them all the best !!

Edited by Zo
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On 9/7/2019 at 8:15 AM, Zo said:

NI is waht Neve or Roland is to music industry , the most impacting brand in what todayz music is ...so imma keep supporting them and wish them all the best !!

Whilst I agree to some extent, I also think that they (NI) have been caught napping. They certainly were leaders. But to be completely honest, I feel that they are now just another company that makes sounds. If they really want to keep their spot in the scheme of all things, by all that is deal like, they need to innovate and push the envelope like it is the oxygen they need to continue breathing!

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The statement is as opaque a collection of inane business jargon as I have read in a long time. Perhaps they are heading toward online subscriptions but if that is what "the development of a new, unified and fully integrated platform on which the company's entire portfolio of products and services will be available next year,"  means the Delphic oracle could have said it with more clarity. Not that they do not plan to do that--everyone else apparently does. Could just as well mean they are developing a DAW or have invented a direct link to the temporal lobe bypassing the ears entirely. 

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4 hours ago, slartabartfast said:

Could just as well mean they are developing a DAW or have invented a direct link to the temporal lobe bypassing the ears entirely. 

You may be on to something here.

 

But honestly, I think it reads like "Subscription Time!"

On 9/6/2019 at 5:28 PM, chris.r said:

reads like a cloud based subscription system

That's what I read too. 

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I hope they are not going 100% subscription like Adobe did.

I will never give another penny to any company that refuses to offer me a perpetual license to the version of their product that I have paid for!

If you stop paying for an Adobe subscription, your product reverts to demo mode.

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11 hours ago, abacab said:

I hope they are not going 100% subscription like Adobe did.

I will never give another penny to any company that refuses to offer me a perpetual license to the version of their product that I have paid for!

If you stop paying for an Adobe subscription, your product reverts to demo mode.

I doubt they will.  Adobe is so different that far more people edit photos than people use DAWs.   I wonder if the cuts are more towards library developers since they are not regarded as high quality instruments compared to 3rd party developers. The only way they can unload these libraries is to package them in Komplete.

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