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IK Multimedia getting sold?


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5 hours ago, Brian Walton said:

Unlikely since we all own everything they make.  

Seriously though, rarely do these things benefit the customer in a field where there is a rush to $0 (software side of the business) and the owner only cares about a return.   I'm sure they will take a look at the prices though, I have to imagine sales at "retail" prices are sparce.  And IK is big enough and been around long enough that having the investment for the sake of real expansion in the market is a bit unlikely.  

Will see, certainly want the company to thrive as they have good products with a fair authorization system.

It might benefit the consumer in the short term. Investment companies tend to want to drive up the user base and quickly bring in more users by offering stupidly low prices or insane deals (or long grace periods). The whole reason for this is to show future investors that the 'active' user base is large enough to justify whatever price they ask when they come to sell it on. It's all about activity. That's why Neil Young made his online archive free to all last year, just before selling out off. It's all about the numbers.

Yes, I know this sounds cynical, but, like many others in this forum, I've been in the rooms where these conversations take place. One of the companies I worked for was sold to the Discovery channel, and then sold on again when they realised they couldn't actually use the archive. Another company I worked for was sold to the Carlisle group. They aggressively built it up before selling it on in under 2 years. I've seen it happen enough times to know the pattern. 

However, I disagree with the comparison with  izotope and NI. I think that's a marriage made in heaven. On the other hand, an investment group buying a music company like IK only means one thing. Build quickly, sell quickly....but then again, I might be wrong.. ? only time will tell.

Unless it's all just fake news! ?

Edited by Philip G Hunt
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I suspected this might happen - companies want to maximise their value when trying to get investor buy-ins. There's nothing wrong with wanting to expand, and getting the cash to do it. Who knows, with more financial backing we might finally see

  • Sound downloads not expiring after 180 days (yes - the download period is very generous compared to some, but there are some companies who's downloads do not expire; even with larger libraries)
  • Installer binaries being digitally signed
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57 minutes ago, antler said:

I suspected this might happen - companies want to maximise their value when trying to get investor buy-ins. There's nothing wrong with wanting to expand, and getting the cash to do it. Who knows, with more financial backing we might finally see

  • Sound downloads not expiring after 180 days (yes - the download period is very generous compared to some, but there are some companies who's downloads do not expire; even with larger libraries)
  • Installer binaries being digitally signed
  • Free controller for InstrEd

Fixed for you

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Am I the only one who is starting to feel that *maybe* I got suckered into buying a lot of, what is to become, obsolete software instruments in this last Group Buy? Don't get me wrong, I do really enjoy using MODO Bass, Drums and the new SampleTank I really like to tinker with the drum samples and  effects in it. I just feel this might all become software that will ever get patched or updated and will just become trashed as the company changes ownership and loses direction? They did the big 25 group buy deal to heavily bump up the numbers of users who own their entire instruments, no?

Edited by telecode 101
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3 minutes ago, telecode 101 said:

Am I the only one who is starting to feel that *maybe* I got suckered into buying a lot of, what is to become, obsolete software instruments in this last Group Buy? Don't get me wrong, I do really enjoy using MODO Bass, Drums and the new SampleTank I really like to tinker with the drum samples and  effects in it. I just feel this might all become software that will ever get patched or updated and will just become trashed as the company changes ownership and loses direction? They did the big 25 group buy deal to heavily bump up the numbers of users who own their entire instruments, no?

THIS is always the "Crapshoot" in these events...you NEVER know what's going to happen.


 

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36 minutes ago, telecode 101 said:

Am I the only one who is starting to feel that *maybe* I got suckered into buying a lot of, what is to become, obsolete software instruments in this last Group Buy? Don't get me wrong, I do really enjoy using MODO Bass, Drums and the new SampleTank I really like to tinker with the drum samples and  effects in it. I just feel this might all become software that will ever get patched or updated and will just become trashed as the company changes ownership and loses direction?

Companies want to be bought in two circumstances - if they're trying to grow/expand; and if they're in financial trouble. If IK is in the former situation, that's good news: if they get more funding, they can hire new staff to expand their reach and fix/update their existing product range; they might also be able to justify non-expiring downloads, and a code signing certificate too. If they're in the latter circumstance, you might not get any further updates regardless of who owns the company.

45 minutes ago, telecode 101 said:

They did the big 25 group buy deal to heavily bump up the numbers of users who own their entire instruments, no?

I think it was to maximise their company's financial status in as little time as possible, rather than to give everyone a copy of their software. If it's a good deal, everyone will want a part of it, and spread the word so their friends can take advantage, and so on. The more purchases, the higher IK's value becomes.

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At the user end I doubt much will change. Everything will still work on your computer for a long time to come. If you are concerned image your disks. Most do this anyhow.  A buyout only means someone is still willing to take your money in the future for IK products and they like fear because it usually means more $$ for them. I dislike the companies who profit on it by telling us they are coming out with a new one and maybe they don't directly say this, but the idea is we had all better hurry up or everything will be obsolete.

What you have in your computer is what you can work with so enjoy it!  I wasn't happy to hear about Native Instruments either, but you know what? I never noticed anything on my end that changed how I did things. Yeah they always have small issues with the next generation until it's updated but I sort of expect that. If IK could come out with an 88 key controller like NI and make it a part of Total Studio MAX that would be a good thing in my book. For obvious reasons many don't go that way and NI had problems with their hardware early on. The customer needs to see stability before they sink a grand into a controller. I see a lot of potential in the future with IK in hardware. Stop making hardware for the weekend laptopper and make a real controller. :)

The entire world is consolidating and monopolizing. It's happening to many industries here including food and grocery distribution. Not many small players in most industry. It's all about financial world domination by only a handful of men. .....and you think I'm kidding. The consumer usually doesn't notice much.  The software and plug in industry is small potatoes compared to some.

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On 11/23/2021 at 2:48 PM, Philip G Hunt said:

However, I disagree with the comparison with  izotope and NI. I think that's a marriage made in heaven. On the other hand, an investment group buying a music company like IK only means one thing. Build quickly, sell quickly....but then again, I might be wrong.. ? only time will tell.

Well, I was not really thinking about a comparison, but more a observation... It's seem that the next big thing for these Venture Capital companies are the music related companies. BTW,  someone even created a post about this on KVR too, with some info that I was not aware.

By example, Aleksey from Voxengo reported receiving offers (and Voxengo doesn't seem to be a really big company...) , and Urs from U-he kinda confirmed that they are searching him too ( not so sure  because he was kinda joking).

But it's not always a bad thing: Arturia was bought in 2019, and honestly, Arturia is kicking asses in the last years, and V-Collection is getting better and better.

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1 hour ago, antler said:

they can hire new staff to expand their reach and fix/update their existing product range

I can see the ad now....

VACANCY: Salary Neg. + Benefits (100 Jam points) Exciting opportunity for upcoming UI designers with actual functioning eyes to work on IK's new Sampletank 5 project. No experience necessary. IK is an age inclusive organisation, so don't let only being 5yrs old and only used to working with finger painting  or wax crayons put you off applying. You literally can't make it worse....

 

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