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| Company type | GmbH |
|---|---|
| Industry |
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| Founded | 1996; 30 years ago (1996) inBerlin, Germany |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | , Germany |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
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| Products | |
| Revenue |
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Number of employees | 500 |
| Parent |
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| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [3][4] | |
Native Instruments is a German company that develops, manufactures, and suppliesmusic software and hardware formusic production,sound design, performance, andDJing. The company's corporate headquarters and main development facilities are located inBerlin, with additional offices inLos Angeles,Tokyo,London,Paris, andShenzhen.[5]
Native Instruments as a company was founded in 1999 inBerlin,Germany, where its headquarters are still located.[5] Founders Stephan Schmitt and Volker Hinz began using the name Native Instruments in 1996, when they developed Generator, amodular synth software package (which would later form the foundations for their ongoing product,Reaktor).[6]
Following the release of Generator, the company's employees expanded to include Bernd Roggendorf (later a founder ofAbleton) and Daniel Haver, who later became Native Instruments' CEO.[6]
In 1999, Native Instruments expanded its staff count and moved to its current building inBerlin'sKreuzberg district.[6]
In 2000, the company began creating products for theDJ community, beginning with the first version of theirTraktor software.[7] In 2002, they expanded further to includesoftware samplers, in the form of ongoing products Kontakt and Battery.[6]
In September 2004, the company began a partnership with theDJ hardware manufacturing companyStanton Magnetics and withonline music storeBeatport.[8] 2004 also saw the release of their guitaramplifier andeffects pedal emulationsoftware,Guitar Rig. In 2006, Native Instruments restructured into 3 divisions: instruments, DJ, and guitar.[6][9]
In March 2017, Native Instruments acquired remix-licensing startup MetaPop.[10]
In January 2020, aworks council was elected that represents the employees of the Berlin office.[11]
In January 2021, it was reported that private investment firm,Francisco Partners acquired a majority stake in Native Instruments.[12]
Aside from its German offices inBerlin andLangenfeld, Native Instruments now also has offices inLos Angeles,Tokyo,London,Paris, andShenzhen.[5]
In April 2022, Native instruments briefly became a subsidiary brand of Soundwide,[2] a parent company created with the backing of Francisco Partners and EMH Partners.
In January 2023, Soundwide laid off 8% of its workforce, citing "challenging market conditions" as the reason.[13] In June of the same year, the Soundwide name was retired and substituted with Native Instruments' own branding, citingfamiliarity concerns as what led to the change.[14]
On 27 January 2026 it was announced that Native Instruments had entered into preliminary administration proceedings, with the future of the company’s products being uncertain.[15]
Software produced by Native Instruments includes the following:
Native instruments also produce a number of othersample libraries,virtual instruments andeffects processingplug-ins, many of which function through the architecture of Reaktor or Kontakt. Some of these software items are also grouped together in their Komplete software bundle.[23]
The company also develops the Native Kontrol Standard (NKS), aplug-in extension which allows integration with Kontrol and Maschine products (both hardware and software).[24]
Native instruments also produce music hardware, such as:
