inMusic acquires Native Instruments: under the same owner will be Moog, Akai, Kontakt, Traktor and iZotope
The American group inMusic, owner of the brands Moog Music, Akai Professional, Numark, Denon DJ, Rane and M-Audio, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Berlin-based company Native Instruments, one of the most important names in the world of software and hardware for music production. According to the official announcement by inMusic and Native Instruments on May 8, 2026, this is an acquisition that should bring together a strong portfolio of hardware devices on one side and a broad ecosystem of software, plug-ins and platforms for producers, DJs and sound professionals on the other. The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, and the companies state that the completion of the process is expected in the coming weeks, subject to customary closing conditions.
Native Instruments is known for the platforms Kontakt, Traktor, Maschine, Komplete, Reaktor and Massive, and in recent years iZotope, Plugin Alliance and Brainworx have also operated under its umbrella. This means that inMusic’s portfolio will also include tools widely used in mixing, mastering, sound design, DJ performances, film music, electronic production and work with virtual instruments. According to inMusic’s announcement, Native Instruments has a direct relationship with more than 25 million registered users, which shows the scale of the community affected by the acquisition.
The agreement comes after a months-long period of legal and financial uncertainty for Native Instruments. At the beginning of 2026, the company entered restructuring proceedings in Germany, that is, pre-insolvency and then, according to management statements, expected formal insolvency steps for certain German entities. During that process, Native Instruments repeatedly emphasized that products, downloads, services and customer support remain available, and CEO Nick Williams now describes the acquisition as the beginning of a new chapter for the company and its community.
What has been officially confirmed
According to inMusic’s official announcement, the company has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Native Instruments, a company headquartered in Berlin that has been present in the development of music production tools for more than three decades. In the same statement, inMusic says that the acquisition builds on the earlier cooperation between the two companies, especially the integration of the NKS standard into Akai Pro MPK controllers and M-Audio Oxygen controllers, as well as the arrival of Native Instruments sounds on the Akai MPC standalone platform. In that sense, the acquisition is presented not only as a financial operation, but also as a continuation of the technical connection between the two ecosystems.
inMusic CEO Jack O’Donnell said in an official statement that Native Instruments has the products, community and clear understanding of musicians’ needs that inMusic looks for in a partner. According to him, merging the platforms should enable faster development, deeper integration and better tools for creators. O’Donnell also stated that inMusic’s commitment is to continue investing in all brands and product lines and to develop innovations over the long term for users at different levels of experience.
Native Instruments confirmed in CEO Nick Williams’s announcement that the Native Instruments, iZotope, Plugin Alliance and Brainworx brands will continue under the acquisition. Williams said that the teams will continue to build, deliver and support products, and that business will proceed as usual until the transaction closes. According to him, finding the right partner was the goal during the restructuring process, and inMusic was presented as a company whose ambitions and values align with those of Native Instruments.
It is important, however, to distinguish the signing of the definitive agreement from the full completion of the acquisition. The official announcements state that the companies are working to close the transaction in the coming weeks, subject to customary conditions. This means that the direction of the deal has been confirmed, but the details of integration, organizational changes, possible operational moves and long-term plans for individual products have not yet been fully presented to the public.
Why Native Instruments matters in music technology
Native Instruments is one of the most recognizable producers of software for music production. Kontakt is often used in the industry as a platform for sampled instruments, from orchestral libraries to experimental sound packages. Traktor has for years been among the better-known DJ software solutions, Maschine connects a hardware controller and software workflow for beatmaking, while Reaktor played an important role in modular and experimental sound design. Komplete, meanwhile, became an umbrella package that brings together a large number of instruments, effects and sound libraries.
The company’s significance increased further after its connection with iZotope, Plugin Alliance and Brainworx. iZotope is recognizable for audio processing, restoration, mixing and mastering tools, including products used by music producers, podcasters, authors for film and television and audio engineers. Plugin Alliance and Brainworx brought a broad catalog of plug-ins, studio equipment emulations and tools intended for professional mixing. According to official announcements, these brands remain part of the wider whole that is now moving under the inMusic umbrella.
For users, the key issue is therefore continuity. In professional audio production, software tools are not just a one-time purchase, but part of a long-term working environment. Projects are often opened years after they were created, and license stability, plug-in compatibility, installation availability and customer support are important for producers, studios and educational institutions. That is why the companies’ statements about the continued operation of products, platforms and support are among the most important messages in the official announcements.
The acquisition is also important for the development of hardware-software connections. inMusic already has a strong hardware portfolio, from Akai MPC systems and MIDI controllers to DJ equipment, synthesizers and audio devices. Native Instruments brings a deep software catalog, the NKS standard, its own controllers and a huge user base. If the integration is carried out carefully, users could see tighter connections between instruments, sound libraries, effects and controllers, although the companies have not yet published such concrete plans in detail.
inMusic expands its portfolio after acquiring Moog
inMusic was founded in 1992 and today presents itself as one of the more experienced companies in the field of music technology. According to the company’s official profile, its portfolio includes Akai Professional, Alesis, Alto Professional, Denon DJ, Denon Professional, ION Audio, M-Audio, Moog Music, Numark and Rane. This gives inMusic coverage of a wide range of markets, from DJ controllers and turntable equipment to studio controllers, electronic drums, synthesizers, sound reinforcement and production tools.
The acquisition of Moog Music in 2023 attracted particular attention in the industry. Moog is one of the most famous historic brands in the world of analog synthesizers, and its acquisition by inMusic was an important signal of continuing consolidation in the music equipment sector. After that move, discussions followed about preserving the identity of legendary brands within larger corporate systems, about production locations and about how much product development can be accelerated or changed when it comes under the umbrella of a larger owner.
Native Instruments entering the same portfolio makes inMusic significantly stronger in the software part of the market. Akai Professional and M-Audio are already present among MIDI controller users, while Denon DJ, Numark and Rane have an important position in the DJ segment. With Traktor, Kontakt, Maschine, iZotope and Plugin Alliance, inMusic gains a direct presence in areas where Native Instruments long held a recognizable place. Such a combination could change the balance in the part of the market where controllers, DJ platforms, software instruments and effects overlap.
At the same time, consolidation also brings questions. Specialist media focused on music technology warn that bringing a large number of brands under one owner can raise user concerns about prices, innovation and long-term support for older products. Such concerns are not unusual in technology acquisitions, especially when users depend on the compatibility of existing projects and licenses. For now, the official announcements indicate that business will proceed normally, but the details of integration still need to be presented.
Native Instruments’ restructuring preceded the agreement
The acquisition is taking place after a period in which Native Instruments was going through restructuring in Germany. According to earlier company announcements and reports by specialist media, Native Instruments GmbH and several German holding companies entered a pre-insolvency restructuring process at the beginning of 2026. In March, Nick Williams stated that, as part of expected legal steps, Native Instruments GmbH and some German entities would move from the preliminary phase into formal insolvency proceedings where applicable.
In the same communications, management sought to reassure users, partners and employees. According to Williams’s announcements, products, platforms, services, downloads and customer support remained available, and the operations of Native Instruments, iZotope, Plugin Alliance and Brainworx continued as usual. The company also emphasized that the goal of the process was to ensure a financially sustainable future, not a sudden shutdown of operations or abandonment of products.
The context is important because it shows that the acquisition is not an isolated business move, but a response to a broader financial and organizational situation. In recent years, Native Instruments has gone through changes in ownership structure and branding. According to industry reports, since 2021 the company had been majority-linked to the investment firm Francisco Partners, and iZotope, Plugin Alliance and Brainworx were part of a wider group that for a time operated under the name Soundwide. Later, that umbrella identity was abandoned, and the brands were again more strongly connected with Native Instruments.
For the market, the key issue now is whether inMusic will succeed in stabilizing the software portfolio while also retaining users’ trust. In music software, trust is built not only through new features, but also through the reliability of authorization systems, clear migrations, predictable operating system support and transparent communication about products that will continue to be developed or gradually phased out. These are precisely the areas likely to be under the community’s scrutiny after the transaction is closed.
Possible consequences for producers, DJs and the audio software market
For existing users, the most important message is that, according to official information, products and services will continue. Native Instruments states that Native Instruments, iZotope, Plugin Alliance and Brainworx will continue to be developed and supported, while inMusic claims that investments will cover all brands and product lines. This is especially important for users who depend on Kontakt libraries, Traktor setups, Maschine projects, iZotope mastering tools or Plugin Alliance plug-ins in professional workflows.
The possible technological direction of the acquisition can be read from the previous cooperation between the two companies. NKS integration with Akai and M-Audio controllers and the connection of NI sounds with the Akai MPC platform show that the goal had already been to make work between software instruments and physical controllers easier. If that approach expands, users could gain a tighter connection between sound libraries, effects and standalone hardware platforms. Still, concrete plans for new products, prices, subscriptions, licenses or changes in applications have not been officially published.
In the DJ segment, Traktor’s entry into a portfolio that already includes Denon DJ, Numark and Rane could be particularly interesting. Denon DJ has in recent years positioned itself as an important competitor in professional DJ equipment, while Rane and Numark cover different market segments. Traktor is a software brand with a long tradition and a loyal user base. Connecting these products could open space for new integrations, but also for a reassessment of strategy in relation to competitors in the DJ industry.
In the production segment, the combination of the MPC ecosystem, Akai controllers, Maschine, Kontakt and iZotope’s tools could bring a stronger chain from beatmaking and arrangement to mixing and mastering. But users will probably watch carefully to see whether overlapping lines will be developed in parallel or whether some products will be rationalized over time. Such decisions have not been announced, so for now they should be viewed as open questions, not as confirmed consequences of the acquisition.
What is still unknown
Although the agreement has been officially confirmed, a number of important details are still unknown. The companies have not announced the value of the transaction, a detailed timeline for integration, a plan for employees, the organizational structure after the deal closes, or long-term production priorities. It has also not been announced whether licensing models, subscription offers, prices of individual packages or the way software is distributed will change.
According to inMusic’s official announcement, additional information about integration plans will be shared as the process progresses. Until then, it remains confirmed that the business of Native Instruments’ brands and territories continues normally and that products, services, platforms and customer support are available. Such wording gives users short-term certainty, but it does not answer all questions about how the large portfolio will develop over the coming years.
For the music technology industry, this is one of the most significant acquisitions of 2026 because it brings together a large part of the contemporary production and DJ ecosystem. Under the same owner, after the transaction closes, there should now be Moog synthesizers, Akai MPC and MPK lines, Denon DJ and Rane equipment, Native Instruments instruments and platforms, iZotope audio processing tools, and the Plugin Alliance and Brainworx catalog of plug-ins. The outcome will depend on whether inMusic manages to use technical synergies without undermining the identities of the brands on which user trust is based.
Sources:
- inMusic Brands – official announcement on the signing of the definitive agreement to acquire Native Instruments and basic information on the companies’ portfolios (link)
- Native Instruments Blog – statement by CEO Nick Williams on the acquisition, the continuation of brand operations and the expected closing of the transaction (link)
- Native Instruments Blog – earlier statement by Nick Williams on restructuring and the passage of certain German entities through expected legal steps (link)
- Create Digital Music – analysis of the industrial significance of the acquisition, including the products Kontakt, Traktor, iZotope, Plugin Alliance and Brainworx, and issues of market consolidation (link)
- Music Inc. Magazine – report on Native Instruments entering preliminary insolvency proceedings in Germany and the continuation of operations during restructuring (link)