Native Instruments issues official statement regarding the state of its business

No, tell us how you REALLY feel.

 

Well gee, EvilDragon, I'm so glad you asked!

I really feel we need full MIDI learn as basically every other company out there does it like @#$%ing yesterday.

No hard feelings, mate. I know you're doing your best and have been for years. I'm just pissed at NI because I've spent thousands on this company and feel like it just cannot get its damn act together to save its life. Or business. Hope that's not the case, but I'm at the end of my rope and I get angrier with each new update that does not address this gaping flaw.

This is a big part of why crackers still exist, unfortunately. There is a major trust deficit forming with audio software companies, and it has been for a while. Certain of them are particularly egregious offenders. NI is among the worst, if not the worst. It's very taxing. Reading through all the GlassDoor reviews, it makes perfect sense, too.

Something needs to change. NI is clearly on the ropes, and you know what? They deserve it. The Komplete 13 announcement made me spontaneously laugh, because it's a joke. No way in hell am I going to pay for that upgrade.

 

Some strong words for not having a regular Midi Learn in Massive X

 

Hey Matt,

I don’t mean to back the rage that’s aimed at you there, but he’s kind of got a point (if you ignore the anger!). I posted on a thread on here about not being able to use two KK keyboards at the same time, asked if you could let us know if compatibility is planned or not… radio silence. Every other thread on here is asking for clarification on some problem that’s been present for years, but you choose to ignore them, and then write comments like this to someone who is obviously at their wits end with how your company treats us, the people that pay you money. I can remember early on, with the release of absynth, then massive etc (certified old fart), you were leaps and bounds beyond everyone else, and if there was a problem we knew it would be fixed in no time. Now, people are becoming very hesitant to even use your products because of the bugs / lack of development, and the way you display this mindset that you’re untouchable, and we as the customers just have to deal with it. Again, not aiming any hate at you, but your seniors there need to realise how people are starting to view your company, and not just go off all the glowing comments on Youtube / yes men / investors etc. It’s like you’ve taken nothing from the downfall of others in the past, who literally did the same in ignoring requests, not addressing problems, and thinking that it could never go wrong. I hope not just for the sake of us, but also the future of NI that you start to listen a little more, and don't just keep banging out products with a whole new set of problems, before addressing the pre-existing ones. Hope that doesn’t come across as moody, not my intention at all.

 

All I'm saying is that the answer is a bit over the top for not prioritizing a feature request. I understand the disappointment not having a certain option on a software but again, maybe the language is just a little too much for me.

We can't mix up everything here though. We are not talking about bug fixes but new features. Being Midi learn in Massive X or using 2 Komplete Kontrol at the same time with the KK software, they are requests and fall under a prioritization process. Making a distinction here is very important and we can't always be transparent and open about what is coming next on our road-map. You may not read everything but for instance our Komplete Kontrol team is super attentive about what is being discussed and try to share as much information as possible. Will this always be what you want to hear? Maybe not but keep in mind that it might satisfy another portion of users interested in something else (perhaps not as vocal as you guys).

I understand you are passionate users and I certainly respect that - still a bit of a stretch to say "you are not listening to users" or "the company is falling" because of the two examples you pointed out. I also personally wish we'd be able to have a better and more transparent process for feature request. We certainly have a lot to do!

 

Of course it's easiest to look at things from the armchair at home not backed with any of the financial or revenue stats and claim something like this.

That seems quite a non-sequitur? What has this have to do with anything? Crackers will always exist because some people just like to hack stuff for fun and games, or "prestige".

You might not, but thousands of others most definitely will. Especially if they already skipped one or two Kompletes. And that is how the cookie crumbles, and that is why Komplete is NI's most successful product...


Also I think Matt's reply makes a ton of sense. There's always a prioritization process amongst hundreds of feature requests...

 

Matt, I wasn't just talking about bug fixes and new features. It's the way you treat your customers at the moment. I wasn't saying we want total transparency, just a bit of decency. I wasn't saying your company is failing, I said it's like you're not taking the lessons from others demise...

If we take the problem I and others faced for example, not being able to use two KK keyboards at the same time. This should be made clear before we buy them. I and I imagine others now have to sell one of the keyboards and lose money in the process. We're not asking for transparency here in your development process or roadmap, we're just asking for honesty and to not to be left out of pocket. It's not just something that would be 'nice to hear'.

Again, if you read my previous post, you'll realise I wasn't talking about only two distinct problems, I was talking about the path your company and customer service seems to be taking. Again, no hate, I'm gutted I've got to sell the M32, beautiful thing, but I just wanted to highlight your response seems overly defensive and actually backs up the point I put across. We aren't all angry idiots, some of us just want you to sort it out a bit.

 

How do we treat customers exactly? What path are we taking? This is not me being defensive btw but genuinely interested and I'd like to understand a little bit more. You are critical of the way we approach this topic and I think this is super valuable but it would be even better if you could be more specific.

We can take this particular topic if you want. Your assumption is that using two keyboards in KK is critical for a majority of our users. What make you think that ? I can't speak for the product team but I personally work closely with every support team and I can say that this was not mentioned as a concerns in terms of product offering or even a cause for returns. I get that it would be pretty neat feature but your individual need might not reflect the one of the majority of users. For example, if you search on the forum, you'll notice that it doesn't come up very often at all as opposed to other requests.

 

Jeez man. Again, not just talking about my problem, but seeing as you keep trying to single it out, a simple 'yeah we know, trying to fix. Shits hard. Bear with us' would suffice. And to the second point, you wouldn't expect them not to work together. When has there ever been two products from the same company that you can't plug in at the same time? A simple note somewhere that lets people know is all that's needed until it's sorted. There's posts on here dating back four years, so it's something you're obviously aware of. Gui scaling?

I get that you're trying to make me look a fool in your reply, I know how much stress you must get aimed at you on here, so it's no worries, completely understand. I'm just trying to suggest something that will stop others from being burned in the same way I have. Just a bit of decency, that's all. Again, not just relating to my problem that I mentioned but wish I hadn't now that I have...

I think if you re-read tomorrow how you've responded to me for trying to point something out, you'll see how you treat your customers. I wasn't looking for an argument in the slightest, life is too short. Peace.

 

I think you are getting the wrong impression here but my PM are open if you feel like discussing this further

 

Where is the new platform? 2020 is about to close out.

New platform starting in 2020.

Recognizing changing customer behaviors worldwide, the aim of focusing on a unified platform strategy is to create an expandable commercial and technological basis for future growth in the digital music production area. For that, a new platform is currently being developed with the goal of offering new ways of accessing the company's core products and services, as well as complementary ones from third-parties. The centralized platform will also include the company's expanded portfolio of loops and samples, which is currently part of sounds.com, and will launch in 2020.

 

Looks like its the same story all over again! A lot of hype and a lot of broken promises. Maschine’s song layer anyone? How about HID mode for the XDJ 1000MK2? Just to name a couple of recent ones!

Honestly if the new leadership can’t get NI back on track in the next couple of years we might look at the end of this company as we know it..

 

Expect some delay like Maschine+... it was stated as discarded by ex-employee then it come later... there should be a gap where some decission were taken but that hiatus probably put deadlines a bit further and reorganitzing priorities could even made some of them more far than anyone will want/expect.

Just wondering, not any insider info at all... aside my gut.