inMusic Acquires Native Instruments: What It Means for Music Makers

inMusic Brands has agreed to buy Native Instruments, the Berlin-based company known for music production software. The deal brings Native Instruments — makers of the Kontakt sampler, Reaktor synthesis tool, and Traktor DJ software — into the same company that owns hardware brands like Akai Professional, Moog Music, Denon DJ, and Rane. Both companies announced the acquisition April 30.

What inMusic has done here is combine two different ways of making music: Native Instruments' strength in software tools, and inMusic's portfolio of physical hardware devices that musicians use to control and shape sound. Native Instruments CEO Nick Williams and inMusic CEO Jack O'Donnell confirmed the deal and said they plan to integrate their product lines more closely.

Why This Deal Makes Sense

Native Instruments has focused primarily on software since 1996, building tools that let musicians create sounds, record samples, and perform live as a DJ. The company has always paired its software with dedicated hardware controllers — think of a specialized keyboard or pad device designed to work seamlessly with a particular piece of software.

inMusic, by contrast, owns many hardware brands that have gradually added software to their offerings. The Akai MPC, for example, started as a hardware beat-making machine and now works alongside software. Moog makes analog synthesizers (hardware that produces sound using circuits and knobs) and has created software versions of those instruments too.

By combining these two approaches, inMusic creates a company that can serve music makers who think in different ways. Some prefer to start in software and use hardware to control it; others want a standalone hardware device that does everything without a computer. With Native Instruments under the same roof, inMusic can now build tighter connections between software and hardware across its entire product range.

A Pattern in Music Technology

This is not the first time a large company has acquired a smaller, specialized music tech company to fill gaps in its product portfolio. When Avid bought M-Audio in 2004, when Yamaha acquired Steinberg in 2005, and more recently when Gibson bought TASCAM's parent company in 2020, the same logic applied: bring software expertise together with hardware manufacturing and distribution to offer customers more complete solutions.

The music production industry has been moving toward this consolidation for years. As the line between software and hardware has blurred, music makers have come to expect their tools to work together smoothly — the synthesizer software to talk to the controller hardware to talk to the audio interface, all without friction. Standalone point products, no matter how good, increasingly feel incomplete without that integration. The pressure to offer comprehensive ecosystems rather than just one tool at a time has become a real competitive force.

Hardware, Software, and Control

There is a competitive dimension worth flagging here. inMusic has publicly opposed AlphaTheta Corporation's plan to acquire Serato, a popular DJ software platform, because Serato is used by musicians who own DJ controllers made by inMusic brands like Denon DJ and Rane. If AlphaTheta (which owns Pioneer DJ) takes control of Serato, it could prioritize compatibility with Pioneer hardware over competitors' gear, potentially leaving inMusic's hardware at a disadvantage.

By acquiring Native Instruments, inMusic now owns Traktor, which competes in the same DJ software space as Serato. This ownership gives inMusic more flexibility in how it develops DJ tools and ensures it has software under its own control rather than relying on another company's priorities.

What Could Happen Next

Merging these companies opens doors for deeper integration between Native Instruments' software tools and inMusic's hardware devices. Imagine Kontakt — the popular sampler software — working more tightly with an Akai MPC, or Reaktor's synthesis tools feeding into Moog's hardware in new ways. Native Instruments' software expertise could also help streamline inMusic's current approach, where different hardware brands often require their own separate software environments.

On the other side, Moog Music's deep knowledge of analog synthesis (creating sound from circuits rather than calculations) could influence how Native Instruments models synthesizers in software, making them sound and behave more authentically.

The two companies have not yet published a detailed integration roadmap, but they have said existing products will continue development alongside new collaborative efforts.

What This Means for Users

Practically speaking, music makers who use both Native Instruments and inMusic hardware may find it easier to get everything working together in their studios. Someone using Kontakt with an Akai controller, or Traktor with Denon DJ equipment, might see fewer compatibility headaches and faster development of new joint features.

The combined company is now one of the largest providers of music production tools, spanning software instruments, analog synthesizers, DJ gear, and production controllers. That breadth puts it in a position to serve everyone from beginners looking for an all-in-one solution to professionals who need specialized tools across the entire creative workflow.

The broader market context here is that software-based music production has become increasingly accessible. More people can make music on a laptop than ever before, and companies are racing to provide the complete ecosystems those creators expect. With this acquisition, inMusic has significantly expanded its ability to do that.