f you love LinkedMusicians and want to see the only non-toxic, transparent community that encourages members to and doesn’t permit manipulative and deceptive marketing practices pervasive in the music tech industry  (Google has referred to LM as “unique” and a “case study” in ethics in the music tech industry, LM can use your help in phase two of…Read More

On May 5, 2026 at 4:30 pm LinkedMusicians said
@kirean Wait, I own and love NI Komplete 15 Ultimate, which I bought last year. Have there been 11 version updates since last summer that I missed?

All joking aside regarding the branding scramble, I want to be very clear: I love NI Komplete Ultimate. I use Kontakt in virtually every project and…

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Requires the full version of Kontakt.

Captures the cimbalom stop from one of the rarest pianos in existence
Features the fully restored iron mechanism of a 1922 belgian luthéal
Offers the unique sound spectrum of a traditional hammered dulcimer
Includes over 2,000 individual samples for deep sonic…

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On May 8, 2026 at 7:06 pm MagicRuss said
Too many people whose songs I don’t know and a lot of people I disagree with.  But whether you agree or disagree with the songwriting choices, sometimes their choices of representative songs didn’t make the case.

They listed OutKast as a songwriter but their 5 best don’t include “Roses” or “Hey Ya”?…

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On May 8, 2026 at 9:09 pm MagicRuss said
And don’t forget Ben Folds.

Great add. I’m 100 percent with you. But I have to acknowledge, it didn’t hit me until you brought it up. I tended to think about writers like Billy Joel and Randy Newman from an even earlier generation. Folds is superb. He has the right combination of knowing how to write a g…Read More

On May 8, 2026 at 3:46 pm Brian said
Ohhh.  I am not so pleased.  In Music has orphaned a LOT of hardware over the years. and I own a NI S61 Mk3.  Wait and see I guess.  On the plus side, I really like my Akai MPC and Headrush hardware that is excellent mainly because of integrated software support, but I have also owned M-Audio and Alesis har…

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https://www.bestservice.com/en/deals/toontrack_ez_weekend_deal_7644.html?aid=ZBgL2roqVxRSujmR

On May 8, 2026 at 11:07 am GoncaloL said
Hope you’re right 😉

Me too! 🙂

Midnight Strings FOr SOUNDBOX
Midnight Strings is a gorgeous sounding ensemble string library for the free Soundbox sampler – no extra purchase necessary! It features violins, violas and cellos and comes with true con sordino as well as unmuted longs – you can even crossfade between the two, which is inc…

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On May 8, 2026 at 3:04 am Xandre said
I wonder if we’ll be seeing the 50% off on Komplete anymore, now that they’re clearly on a yearly schedule now as per the new naming convention.

Xandre
Chaos Scatterbrain with a plethora of 4 bar loop projects, and barely any songs

I just made a comment about that in another thread. My instincts tell me…Read More

On May 8, 2026 at 10:04 am GoncaloL said
I don’t know how they would pull that off timeline-wise with a yearly revision, and they are clearly changing things (hence the $100 reduction in upgrade pricing at launch)

Because they realize that the changes and uncertainty slow consumers from buying. It’s much harder to get people to buy during the i…Read More

Related thought, developers who decided to create an alternative sampler banking on Kontakt going under surely chose unwisely. The reason it was as close to a sure thing as it could be that Kontakt would survive was (1) the product is the crown jewel of NI, (2) NI’s debt wasn’t a problem of the product lines, it was due to the wild acquisitions…Read More

On May 8, 2026 at 8:40 am GoncaloL said
I would say that the Summer of Sound sale is gone for good, based on the fact that changing the name to Komplete 26 implies that it will now be updated annually (leaving no time for 50% deep discounts), and that they lowered the upgrade price by $100.

Maybe there will still be some kind of discount on…

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Well, now that inMusic has acquired all of NI, it’s now incredibly safer to buy Komplete, which, as I stated before, is a product I use and love.

As I’ve shared my background, which includes serving as a Fortune 500 business strategist, I thought this is the perfect story for me to add some value to the community and wrote a blog post that breaks…Read More

That statement and other articles appeared on the Native Instruments Insolvency Hub in real time. I want you guys to check it out. It’s not pretty but it took me a bit to come up with and put together and I plan on creating more stuff like that in the future. So I’d love to get everyone’s thoughts. This site will still be worked on after we move…Read More

Did any of you guys realize that it was announced on LinkedMusicians in real time? That we actually have NI management aboard LM due to my setting up the most thorough site watch on the Internet. Come on now! You could read all of that on LinkedMusicians. I’m just saying.

Get an extra 5% off instantly: Just enter promo-code KOMPLETE at checkout. Valid through May 12 – including upgrades, crossgrades, and updates from €/$149.

https://www.bestservice.com/en/native_instruments.html?aid=ZBgL2roqVxRSujmR

It’s amazing how low 8Dio is selling this for. I know that I paid a lot more for this and thought it was a great deal and it was. This is ridiculously low. If you’re doing cinematic work, this is absolutely worth a serious look.

Introducing Lacrimosa Pro, the Lacrimosa you know and love, now with Mix, Decca, Wide, Far, Spot 1, and Spot 2…

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The developer just released this new soft synth for free but plans to charge $59 or at least it lists $59.

deFORM

Ends May 10

https://www.uvi.net/synth-anthology-4

I’ll be candid: the turnout so far is lower than these developers deserve. These are two beloved developers who make great products. I’m making a call to extend the current contest deadline by 5 days. We’re moving the cutoff from May 8th to Wednesday, May 13th.

I realize that announcing the transition to a subreddit during the giveaway was a dis…Read More

On May 6, 2026 at 7:31 am swijaya said
“Reddit is pretty notorious for its toxicity,” says the guy.

Well, not in Peter’s subreddit, am I right?

Absolutely, you’re right. The same rules apply to the subreddit that apply to this site.

Reddit is one of the biggest sites on the web, so there are groups with no real moderation that are extre…Read More

On May 5, 2026 at 4:03 pm Blacque Jacque Shellacque said

On May 4, 2026 at 10:15 am LinkedMusicians said
If you guys are interested, on the non-public part of the site, I’ll share the horror story of what led to me finally closing the forum and OPEN MIC and candidly, it may mean that I won’t be posting anymore beyond the blog and keeping up the…

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To the LinkedMusicians Community,

I’ve spent the last week stepping back to reflect on the direction of this site and my role in it. One of the core values I’ve pushed for here is transparency. I believe that in an industry often clouded by opaque interests and deceptive marketing, knowing exactly who is behind the curtain matters.

However, tra…Read More

@kirean As a marketer, I found the complete (no pun intended, I think), out of nowhere, change in naming convention a bit jarring. I own Komplete Ultimate 15, which I purchased last year and now they’re calling this Komplete 26?

Don’t get me wrong. For anyone who has any doubts, I love Native Instruments products. I use them with every project. I…Read More

Hey Ronnie! I’m glad you created a thread. I need to find a good place to put this helpful video on understanding Reddit.

With the code CINCO10

Ends May 7.

https://audioplugin.deals/ref/384/

Key Benefits

Get a collection of the most iconic analog signal processors in recording history
Experience the world-famous sound of UA’s 6176 and LA-610 MkII hardware channel strips
Dial-in tube compression for vocals, bass, drums, and more with three classic variations of the Teletronix LA‚Äë2A
Tap into three Pultec EQ’s to add analog magic on…

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MeldaProduction MTurboReverb, MTurboReverbLE, MGranularMB, MDynamicsMB Eternal Madness Sale – 50% OFF
04 May – May 10, 2026
Save 50% on four of MeldaProduction’s finest instruments and effects – MTurboReverb, MTurboReverbLE, MGranularMB, and MDynamicsMB in our Eternal Madness sale!

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PETER’S TAKE: I use EZmix3 on nearly every project. I love it. Do have expert effect chains ready to go and AI to tweak things for your sound, it’s a really find product, IMO. I strong recommend it to music creators looking for ready-to-go effects chains that sound great. I just bought a new preset pack last Friday and really enjoy it. I’m not…Read More

UNLOCK YOUR CREATIVE POTENTIAL

Staccato is an AI MIDI co-writer that works directly inside your DAW as a VST/AU plugin or standalone app. You give it a text prompt, upload a reference track, or both, and it generates MIDI in seconds, complete with all instrument parts and personalized sound design suggestions based on your instrument…

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PETER’S TAKE: I really find this developer’s work to be high quality and very creative. I don’t know him, but I think he makes some very nice Kontakt sample libraries.

All Untamed libraries
14 solo instruments
• Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass
• Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba
• Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Baritone Sax, Basso…

Read More

On May 5, 2026 at 3:28 am swijaya said
@linkedmusicians I found out that the above AI analysis is quite spot on (within my very limited knowledge & time involved on those forums). That’s the reason my remark about AI.

Also, after seeing an announcement from a notational software that it now supports an AI synthesis plugin (which the creator h…

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On a lighter note, “Boomer Energy” — that gave me a laugh.

On May 5, 2026 at 12:22 am swijaya said
It even recognizes LM as “target of external trolls” LOL

There’s no escape from AI, no matter how hard some people resists. Sure, it needs to be regulated, and there isn’t enough regulation (yet?). Really “all & everything AI is bad & evil” movement isn’t going to succeed. In fact, instead of “ban all AI,”…

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@mrkindness Welcome! We’re glad to have you here. And, I think, you’ve arrived at the most exciting time to be part of the LM community with our twist to the subreddit. I have a bunch of really useful things that I think you’ll love planned for the site — that include making the free sample library and other free lists even more useful — and…Read More

I think I’ll add this to the blog post in an update. I ran a marketing sentiment analysis (it is what marketing strategists do to better understand how people think instead of guessing!). These are the unedited results:

Market Sentiment Analysis: Legacy Forums vs. Modern Alternatives

VI-Control

Positive Sentiment: Professional, Expert,…Read More

For the next 40 hours, you can absolutely get 40% off anything in the store! Just use the code IAMYOURFATHER when you check out.

Many Bothans died to bring us these deals, but they’re only around for 40 hours. Then the dude’s hand gets cut off, he finds out his true lineage, it’s a whole saga (yes, I am a massive nerd)…

Everything Bundl…

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Use the code MAYTHE4TH to get an extra $4 off any purchase you make today.

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On May 4, 2026 at 11:55 am mira said
Thank you so so much dear Peter for all, im on reddit too and write comment after year on subreddit forum 🙂 hope we all meet here..

 

To be honest i absolutely understand why you do this, for all what happend during year… spend energy, time, money…. better be with family more…   but im really sad, because…

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I mainly wrote about Native Instruments because (1) I love their products and use them regularly, (2) I would guess that more than 80 percent of my sample libraries are in the Kontakt format, and (3) there was/is so much misinformation being put out by bloggers and YouTubers that I finally said, here’s an opportunity to really be useful to the LM…Read More

If you guys are interested, on the non-public part of the site, I’ll share the horror story of what led to me finally closing the forum and OPEN MIC and candidly, it may mean that I won’t be posting anymore beyond the blog and keeping up the lists.

On May 4, 2026 at 9:26 am fretman said

On May 3, 2026 at 11:22 am Brian said
….  I like seeing all the deals in one place, sure, but there are other places you can do that…..

Come on. I just poured my heart into this place, time and money and the first thing you’re doing is using LinkedMusicians to ask about where to replace the site? Ther…Read More

On May 4, 2026 at 2:57 am swijaya said
I, for one, am interested to learn a little about business & marketing, especially your qualified & honest (ethical) takes on things happened in our niche world (music production tools & industries). Of course, keep it digestible & not too deep (i.e.: not overly too long).

Haha, yeah, I know, when I get…Read More

On May 4, 2026 at 3:29 am swijaya said

Still, on a relative basis, out of all of the forums included in this analysis that aren’t LinkedMusicians, KVR would rank as the one I like the best.

So, your toxicity leveling is actually the opposite of Gemini’s?

Btw, I like the blog post, and this is exactly why you should keep blogging.

Well, I def…Read More

On May 4, 2026 at 3:12 am Vst0nE said
Peter, my thought, that will be the end as no one really goes to reddit for deals, that interface is not really suitable for it, back to kvr, rekkerd or cakewalk then i guess, shame it did not survive. just my couple of cents.

I respect that. Despite our beta group coming from the Cakewalk Deals subforum, I…Read More

I’m working on a logo for the LinkedMusicians subreddit — following Reddit’s standards. But I realize that it won’t be ideal with our dark and light feature on the site. By the way, this site will be redesigned without the social media / forum functionality, maintaining all of the free resources, plus I’m looking at adding a section that allows…Read More

Instead of being us both being overwhelmed by tons of deal posts, LinkedMusicians 2.0 is going to focus only on GREAT deals. I’m going to spend less time on curating deals and depend on our community for posts. I’m going to hold developers to only posting deals that meet specific discount percentage criteria. There’s too much noise with developers…Read More

Requires the full version of Kontakt.

Riffendium Bass by Audiofier

PETER’S TAKE: My favorite free synth on the planet, Vital, just had an update that should result in greater stability. I’m very happy to see Matt continue with this amazing synth with Vital 1.6.4.  If you’re not already using Vital, I strongly recommend you pick it up. I use it regularly.

If you’ve moved to Ableton 12 or are experimenting with th…Read More