The big post-NAMM news was Native Instruments teetering toward insolvency, thanks to a major debt load with insufficient income. During the time between writing this month’s column and when it’s published, who knows how the finances will play out.
But having seen this movie before, I doubt the script will differ much, ending in either acquisition, a sell-off of the profitable part or liquidation.
That wasn’t the only shakeup. After 26 years, the PreSonus Studio One brand has been replaced with Fender Studio Pro. Granted, Fender is a much bigger brand, but producers/ engineers/musicians are known for a near-obsessive loyalty to their preferred tools. Compared to Yamaha’s hands-off approach in maintaining the Steinberg/Cubase/Nuendo identity, some found Fender’s appropriation off-putting.
Meanwhile, LANDR acquired Reason Studios. Over the past 25 years, Reason had gone from jaw-dropping, paradigm-shattering software to an ever-smaller piece of the DAW pie. (Or, maybe it was the plug-in pie, as Reason developed a split personality sometime around 2019.) To top it all off, a visual effects software company, Boris FX, bought Magix’s flagship audio programs—Sequoia, Samplitude and Music Studio.
What the hell is happening?
AI‑native DAWs are becoming acquisition targets (Suno/WavTool), cross‑discipline consolidation is accelerating and companies with financial backing are repositioning legacy DAWs. Yes, acquisitions can save companies, but sometimes the big companies with the big brains stumble for one or more of the following reasons:
Takeovers motivated by numbers, not knowledge. Some big companies acquired smaller companies for top dollar during the Covid “sugar high” of people getting into music during lockdown. Furthermore, some smaller companies overexpanded. Then consumers found that (surprise!) getting good at any artform takes effort. Industry veterans suspected the sugar high wouldn’t last. It didn’t. Then, of course, along came Generative AI, stomping the buzz altogether. Become a rock star! No effort required!
De-prioritizing user experience for user extraction. People hated it when Adobe went subscription-only because it felt like extortion—you had to pay every month just to edit your work—but Adobe’s broad user base made it easier to extract money from existing customers than to find new ones. Even if companies didn’t convince users to subscribe, extracting paid updates became another option. Speaking of which…
Misreading the consumer. Sometimes updates seem more about being “different” than “better.” NI’s Kontakt was innovative software that pushed boundaries, but recently, it seemed that NI just kept adding features and sound libraries to see what would stick. The irony is that many users don’t realize Kontakt can do sampling, not just sample playback, yet this feature is somewhat hidden and not workflow-optimized. Perhaps elevating Kontakt’s sampling capabilities would have created more excitement than adding more content. At least for me, Kontakt’s updates occasionally made the program more confusing, not more streamlined.
Minimizing the importance of a company’s community. Big companies sometimes don’t realize that users are intensely loyal to the tools with which they express themselves. Forced, unannounced changes make users feel they have no input into the product they’ve supported for years with their money and allegiance. Think of it this way: Your neighbor decides to paint your house while you’re away on vacation. Uh…okay. Maybe he should have let you know he was going to do that, and that his favorite color is orange. Ignoring those who supported a company through thick and thin is an arrogant business practice that erodes trust.
Not understanding that DAWs are a niche market. Even though DAW users continue to request more features, DAW progress could be frozen tomorrow and people would still be able to make music. Enlisting new users is not easy, particularly with generative AI programs gaining traction and public school systems gutting music curriculums. Furthermore, companies sometimes forget that music is about art, not technology.
Programs may sprawl into areas that may be technically impressive, but don’t make it any easier to enhance the music’s emotional impact.
• Craig Anderton’s Open Channel: And So the Backlash Begins…
As to where all this is going, I’d like to imagine a positive future ahead, but we’re not out of the turmoil yet. Political and economic events (e.g., tariffs) contribute to a background noise that doesn’t help. I assume (hope?) that eventually all this will shake out. People will still want to make and record music; eventually they’ll figure out that the difference between generative AI-made music and human-made music is analogous to the difference between having sex v. making love—they may appear similar, yet the causes, processes, and outcomes can be very different.
Who knows? Maybe streaming services will implode, and fans will want to support their favorite artists instead of throwing their support into a big pool where the rich get richer and the poor get drowned out by sheer volume. Maybe the music scene will become more like it is in South Korea. Or maybe we’ll end up like the movie Idiocracy, with people glued to their TVs as they watch shows named Ow! My Balls!
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As we navigate this landscape, let’s reflect on how the Buddha thought: Suffering is unavoidable when people attach themselves to what they think will be permanent. All life, and all events, are temporary. Those who can cope with chaos pivot as needed, realize that what was true a few years ago may no longer be relevant, and, most importantly, see reality as it is rather than how they wish it to be. These people have the best chance of surviving and even thriving.
Meanwhile, for those who expect business as usual, the world has changed to…business unusual.