Native Instruments Is Heading Into The Future With A New Leadership

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After 20 years of service, Daniel Haver (CEO) and Mate Galic of Native Instruments open the way for a new generation of leadership including the designation of Costantin Koehncke as a new CEO

Things are not going to be quiet at Native Instruments. After the recent numerous layoffs, major changes are now imminent on the executive floor.

Native Instruments Co-Founder (1997) and CEO Daniel Haver and Chief Innovation Officer/President Mate Galic have announced that they are handing over to a new generation of leaders, appointed from within the company. Both managed the business for over 20 years

Native Instruments leadership

“Mate and I believe now is the right time to hand over the company to a new generation of leaders. Native Instruments today is in a very strong place and it’s on this foundation that Constantin and Robert will bring fresh energy, continuing to deliver exceptional products. Their many years of leadership in Marketing and Products and countless successful contributions made them the perfect choice to lead Native Instruments into the future.

It’s been a privilege for us to lead Native Instruments for over 20 years and we’re immensely proud of what we have achieved as a company, as well as personally. Native Instruments will always be home to Mate and I, and we’re excited to support Constantin and Robert in writing the next successful chapter.”

That means Native Instruments gets a new leadership who lead the company and give new impulses. The new ones are not unknown: From October 1st, Costantin Koehncke currently Global Marketing Director and Head of the Los Angeles office becomes new CEO of NI. He’s already in charge so there is no interim role between the change. The second new person will be Robert Linke, currently, Director of Products for Instruments & Sound will be the new Chief Product Officer and President (CPO replacing CIO).

Native Instruments Leadership

NI’s new CEO, Constantin Koehncke, is currently Global Marketing Director and heads up the company’s Los Angeles office. Over his 10 years with Native Instruments, Constantin played a crucial role in positioning the company at the cutting edge of music creation. With a track record of building and managing high-performing teams – including NI’s Americas Marketing division in the company’s largest market – he’s created a multitude of high-profile campaigns and partnerships, leaning on his deep relationships with the global artist community and the wider music industry. Prior to NI, he worked as a publicist and journalist, and was an active DJ in London and Berlin.

Robert Linke joined NI in 2006 and is currently Director of Sound Products, encompassing the company’s virtual instruments, audio effects, and sound libraries as well as the flagship KOMPLETE bundles. He has proven to be a vital contributor in shaping Native Instruments’ outstanding product quality and variety in his 14 years at the company. Prior to NI, he worked for Mercedes Benz South Africa and was an active electronic music producer and DJ.

The new Native Instruments leadership will be effective as of October 1st. In addition to the above announcements, Tobias Baumbach, currently, Vice President of Engineering officially becomes Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and joins the new leadership team. He has served as interim CTO since January 2020, having already made major contributions for over a decade as a developer and senior manager in the company’s engineering department. Lars Kröger and Tom Kurth remain key pillars of the organization, having served over 15 years at NI, most recently in their roles as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer

Native Instruments Future

My Wishes

Native Instruments has significantly shaped the digital music tech world with its virtual instruments. In the last few years, however, NI began to feel like a large marketing group that invests a lot of money in social media and YouTube advertising. I would be happy if NI put the money back into the sustainability of their older products. Especially in updates, VST3 support but also long overdue new versions for classics virtual instruments like Absynth, FM8, etc. Absynth 5 is a brilliant, innovative Synthesizer but equipped with a GUI from the early 2000s. If you want to see that from a leader music tech company, to be honest, no.

When they get them back where they were strong (music products with innovative ideas), you can look forward to the future. Not the 100th sample library of a vintage drum machine, please. In October, the new management board will officially start work and then you will see in which direction the journey is going. I think that we’re seeing an Adobe-style subscription model of the Komplete Bundle like all the content for an amount per month. This gives them constant cash flows, and customers who keep paying until they stop.

I’m not a fan of it, but let’s what the change entails. I hope for the best and good luck to the new team especially Constantin Koehncke.

More information here: Native Instruments

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4 Comments

  1. Change had better not entail yet another company indulging in an “Adobe-style subscription model” or a lot of us will respond with an old-fashioned goodbye model, where the customer stops paying immediately and does not restart.

  2. i was a big fan of NI and kept seeing them make so many weird decisions..
    they had so much headway with kore and maschine and squandered it all.

    the impression i have gotten after a while is of a disfunctional company that has 0 long term vision. every once in a while they will do a letter informing us of great things to come, its kind of funny.

    pretty sure this will usher the subscription system, at which point they will be officially dead to me.
    i will probably upgrade the komplete software beforehand tbh…

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