Reports have surfaced suggesting that inMusic has shut down Native Instruments’ UK office, putting a number of jobs under threat following extensive layoffs across the company rumoured to have taken place in July.
News of the office’s alleged closure arrived in a Reddit post shared on August 5, titled “The layoffs continue: InMusic just fired the whole Native Instruments UK office”.
While it’s unclear how many Native Instruments employees have been affected, a representative for inMusic told MusicRadar that the company is "simplifying its organizational and legal structure, including Native Instruments UK" as part of the “ongoing integration" of the company into the "inMusic family of brands".
Native Instruments CEO Nick Williams and Chief Product & Technology Officer Simon Cross have also been removed from their posts, according to reports from MusicTech, who reviewed company filings from July. inMusic Europe’s CEO Richard Seymour has since been appointed as a director of Native Instruments UK, suggesting that he has replaced Williams as CEO.
inMusic is the parent company that owns Moog Music, Akai Professional, Rane, Denon DJ, Numark, Alesis and M-Audio, among others. inMusic announced its acquisition of Native Instruments in May, several months after the company entered preliminary insolvency.
Since then, it’s been reported that layoffs across “nearly all departments” have taken place at Native Instruments, with “around 100 individuals” affected. inMusic has declined to comment on the extent of the layoffs.
Following its acquisition of Native Instruments, inMusic shared a video in which CEO Jack O'Donnell and Akai Professional Director Andy Mac discussed O'Donnell's plans for the company. During the conversation, the inMusic CEO said that the future for Native Instruments would be "very exciting, very bright and very secure", and that the acquisition was the highlight of his career.
MusicTech also reports that several new positions have recently appeared in inMusic’s directory of career opportunities, including Content Development Engineer, Engineering Manager and Data Product Developer. A number of these roles are based in Cambridge, where inMusic has its UK headquarters.
A representative for inMusic provided us with the following statement:
"As part of the ongoing integration of Native Instruments into the inMusic family of brands, we are simplifying our organizational and legal structure, including Native Instruments UK. This includes removing layers that were established to support a private equity ownership model, as well as streamlining other areas of the business to create a faster, more efficient organization focused on innovation, customers, and long-term growth.
“We recognize the impact these changes have on affected employees and are committed to supporting them throughout the transition.
“Native Instruments remains a strategically important part of inMusic, and our commitment to the brand is unchanged. Product development continues at a strong pace, with major new hardware and software initiatives already underway for 2027 and beyond."
