Reply To: Question: Will You Hold Off Buying NI Products and Kontakt Libraries?

[Peter DeLegge]

On jude77 said

I guess it depends.  If someone like OTS had a big sale I would be all over that.  Likewise if it was an obscure instrument I had always been looking for I’d be in (“Oh wow! Look here’s a model of a 1966 Farfisa organ with a dead middle C note just like John Lennon once kicked over”).  Otherwise I’ll hold off.  One the other hand I’ll probably still keep trawling places like Pianobook for free instruments.

As for Izotope and Brainworx, I’ll probably lay low until the smoke clears.

I thought I’d switch to my Peter username for this, as ideally, I want to use the LM account to share information and more official positions and put posts more in the realm of opinion with my name, especially for non members sake. After delving into the financial situation with NI and seeing the incredible amount of debt that they have, I think it’s fair to say that there are many scenarios that are possible.

My instinct and experience lead me to suspect that creditors will want to sell of all of the non-core business that NI has, encompassing their acquisitions like Plugin Alliance and Brainworx and their DJ line and let NI focus on Kontakt, sample libraries, and the Kontakt ecosystem. Now that doesn’t mean that will happen, but I think that’s a likely scenario. I think it makes sense because creditors — and they really are the ones calling ths shots now — are going to want to maximize how much money they can get back, and a fire sale is going to mean a very small fraction of what’s owed, whereas selling off non-core business and having NI focus on the core business can potentially give them the most return. However, there’s also the possibility that the administrator finds a very attractive offer for Kontakt and creditors decide it’s the best option.

But as for iZotope, Plugin Alliance and Brainworx, I suspect those companies or their products are almost certainly going to be sold off, so, personally, I would not buy any new licenses from these companies at the moment. The product could be eliminated in 2026 or be sold to a company that goes in a different direction, or subscription only.  It also could be sold as assets, the way Cakewalk was sold to BandLab, where the buyer has no obligation to honor existing customer contracts. Things are in limbo right now for every product affiliated with NI. My take is that the least risk of everything NI touches are Kontakt libraries and the most risk are every other NI product — especially hardware products — plus iZotope, Plugin Alliance, and Brainworx products.

Now, I would be less concerned about third-party Kontakt libraries from trusted developers like Orange Tree Samples (and disclosure, but I think most of you know it; I have done paid consulting to Orange Tree Samples and am friends with its founder). I’m 100 percent confident that OTS will remain dedicated to their customer base regardless of what happens with NI. I’ve also consulted and am friends with the leadership over at 8Dio / SoundPaint, and I think they’re very well positioned to handle this situation for their customers. If the worst case scenario happened and Kontakt ceased to exist — which I seriously doubt would ever happen because it’s a very successful and profitable product — 8Dio is in the position — like Cinesamples — of having their own sampler that their 8Dio customers can transition over to.

I think the more realistic concern is that if creditors (and that would mean the administrator) decide to sell of Kontakt, it could  be bought by a company that only offers it subscription only, like Apple or BandLab. That to me, would be a scenario I, as a longtime Kontakt user, would  not like.

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