Native Instruments has had one seriously rough 2026. The company behind Kontakt, Komplete, Maschine, Traktor, Massive, Reaktor, and plenty of plugins sitting inside our sessions entered restructuring proceedings early this year.
A few months later, inMusic stepped in to acquire the company. Now we have layoffs, leadership changes, and reports surrounding the restructuring of Native Instruments UK.
From the outside, that can look like somebody bought NI and immediately started tearing the place apart.
Native Instruments Was Already in Trouble
It’s easy to look at the recent layoffs and point directly at inMusic, but NI’s problems didn’t suddenly appear out of nowhere.
Back in 2019, Native Instruments confirmed roughly 100 layoffs as part of a major restructuring that cut around 20 percent of its workforce.
Then came more corporate changes. Investment firm Francisco Partners took a majority stake in Native Instruments in 2021. NI later joined forces with iZotope, Plugin Alliance and Brainworx under the Soundwide name before those companies were eventually brought back under the Native Instruments umbrella.
By January 2026, it was confirmed that Native Instruments GmbH had entered a restructuring process and filed applications to open preliminary insolvency proceedings.
March 2026, Nick Williams (NI CEO) was actively searching for new shareholders and trying to secure a financially sustainable future for the company.
Then inMusic Walked Through the Door
On May 8, inMusic announced an agreement to acquire Native Instruments.
That created one heck of a music production family. inMusic already owns Akai Professional, Moog, Alesis, M-Audio, RANE, Denon DJ, Numark and several other music tech brands.
inMusic CEO Jack O’Donnell said the company planned continued investment across Native Instruments brands and product lines.
He also said current products would keep working while new products were already being developed. (inmusicbrands.com)
Sounds pretty good right?
Out With the Old, In With inMusic
Reports emerged in July that inMusic had laid off around 100 Native Instruments employees across multiple departments.
Former Native Instruments CEO Nick Williams and Chief Product and Technology Officer Simon Cross have also been removed, with Richard Seymour (inMusic) stepping up to bat.
This makes users nervous, and rightfully so. Some users see the cuts as proof that inMusic is dismantling NI. Others argue that consolidation was inevitable after the acquisition.
inMusic’s explanation is less dramatic. The company says it is simplifying Native Instruments’ organizational and legal structure and removing layers created during the company’s private equity ownership period.
That doesn’t make losing jobs any less painful. But there’s a difference between Native Instruments being restructured and Native Instruments being killed.
Right now, we only have evidence for the first one.
We’ve Seen This With Moog
A little suspicious? Fair.
inMusic acquired Moog in June 2023. A few months later, significant layoffs hit Moog’s Asheville operation, including many employees involved with building instruments.
That caused many of the same concerns we’re hearing around Native Instruments now.
But Moog didn’t disappear. The company continued developing instruments after the restructuring, including major modern synthesizer releases.
When inMusic acquires a company, the company gets reorganized. Jobs and operations get consolidated.
Then product development continues.
Layoffs alone don’t prove Kontakt, Maschine, or any parts of NI are headed for the dumpster.
It’s unfortunate, but this is part of rebuilding.
Akai Might Show Us What’s Coming
This is where things might look interesting. Take a look at what inMusic has been doing with Akai.
Akai has been on an MPC hardware tear. The current lineup includes newer machines such as the MPC Live III, MPC One G2, MPC Key 37 G2, and flagship MPC XL.
And these aren’t tiny cosmetic refreshes. The MPC XL packs an 8 core processor, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of internal storage, a 10 inch multi-touch display, next-generation MPCe pads and support for up to 32 instrument plugin instances in standalone mode.
MPC Live III combines standalone production with an internal battery, speakers, and a microphone, while the MPC Key 37 G2 wraps the MPC workflow around a 37 key keyboard, pads, sampling, and sequencing.
Akai clearly isn’t afraid to build hardware.
The NI And Akai Connection Already Exists
In 2025, Native Instruments and inMusic announced NKS integration for Akai MPK controllers, letting producers browse and control compatible Native Instruments software from Akai hardware with pre mapped controls.
They also started bringing Native Instruments sounds directly to standalone MPC hardware.
Let that sink in for a bit…
inMusic now owns the company that makes MPC and the company behind Kontakt, Maschine, and NKS.
Beat Makers Waiting For The Maschine Update…?
Me too, but right now, it’s all speculation.
I’ve heard plenty of users say inMusic could eventually push Maschine aside for Akai’s MPC platform. I understand the concern, but inMusic generally lets brands maintain their own identities.
AIR Music Technology is a good example of how those brands can still share technology. AIR plugins like Fabric, Flex Beat, and Stage Piano already run directly on standalone MPC hardware.
I’d love to see that same thinking applied to Maschine and other NI hardware (controllers), especially with Maschine still having such a loyal user base.
Native Instruments + inMusic: What Producers Need to Know
I wouldn’t panic or start dumping your Native Instruments setup. This, unfortunately is how business works.
If Kontakt, Komplete, Maschine, or your NI libraries are working, keep using them. Just be smart about protecting the sessions you depend on.
Back up your installers, libraries, presets, serial information, and important project files. If you have older sessions built around NI plugins, consider bouncing important parts to audio so you’re not relying on one plugin version forever.
I’d also avoid unnecessary software or operating system updates in the middle of important projects until you know your NI setup is compatible.
The move right now is simple: keep creating, protect your workflow, and watch what inMusic does next with Native Instruments.
Native Instruments Is Still Moving Forward?
There’s no question Native Instruments looks different today than it did a year ago.
There’s a level of uncertainty and optimism in the air for many of us. I just hope there are no interruptions with support, especially for producers who already have years invested in Kontakt libraries, Maschine expansions, Komplete, and other NI products.
At the same time, there’s still plenty to be curious about. With inMusic now connecting brands like Akai, AIR Music Technology, and Native Instruments under one roof, we could end up seeing some interesting hardware and software ideas come out of all this.
For now, I’m staying cautiously optimistic and waiting to see what Native Instruments does next.
What do you think? Are you excited about what could come next for Native Instruments?
