inMusic has agreed to acquire Native Instruments. Financial details have not been disclosed. The move isn’t a surprise to industry watchers with inMusic having partnered with NI on implementing the NKS technology in Akai and M-Audio products. However, the move adds four major brands to inMusic’s portfolio that already includes, Akai Pro, Alesis, Alto Professional, Denon DJ, Denon Professional, ION Audio, M-Audio, Moog Music, Numark and Rane.
inMusic Acquires Native Instruments
With a direct relationship with over 25 million registered users, Native Instruments has built a formidable foundation for musicians worldwide. inMusic founder and CEO Jack O’Donnell, who began his career at Stanton, launched the conglomerate in 1992 when he purchased Numark. Under his guidance Numark grew and in 2001 O’Donnell acquired Alesis. In 2002, he launched the ION Audio brand, focused on entry-level and consumer electronics products. In 2005, O’Donnell purchased the Akai Professional Musical Instrument division (spun off from Akai Electronics), which led to some controversy when Roger Linn, the seminal inventor of the MPC platform, accused inMusic of stopping all royalty payments owed to him.
Even worse, Linn stated that O’Donnell sent legal threats warning him away from attempting to collect further royalties. Since Linn was unable to spend the money to litigate with a huge enterprise like inMusic, he decided to publicize the bullying and let users decide whether or not to support the company.
The easiest way for electronic musicians to get their music onto Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon Music, Tidal, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pandora, Twitch & much more! Click the banner above or the Go Button to save 7% off of your signup! GO!
The acquisition builds on a strong and established relationship between the two companies. In 2025, inMusic and Native Instruments announced a collaboration bringing NKS integration to Akai Pro’s MPK controllers, M-Audio’s Oxygen controllers, and Native Instruments’ sounds to the MPC standalone platform.
Will the Traktor platform survive?
“Our commitment is simple,” states O’Donnell in the joint press release, “continued investment across all brands and product lines, and a long-term focus on innovation that serves creators at every level. The tools you rely on today will keep working, and the tools you will rely on tomorrow are actively being built.” But the real question for users of Traktor, is will the platform survive?
Native Instruments Absynth 6 Review
Native Instruments has successfully rebooted Absynth in many positive ways and laid the foundation for the next generation of users. Native Instruments Absynth 6 Review
While Native Instruments development of Traktor has “progressed” throughout the years, it has fallen behind in several areas against its competitors. It’s a terrific platform, but DJs must ask themselves if the writing is on the wall. In addition, Native Instruments public relations department is world-class and its presentations of new products and upgrades have set a very high standard that outsourced PR firms have yet to match. We sincerely hope that inMusic is savvy enough to standby its “commitment.”
