NI after NI: which brand is where, and who owns whom

Native Instruments, iZotope, Plugin Alliance, and Brainworx being part of inMusic? That was early May; now only NI remains at inMusic. 2026′ mergers and acquisitions have come so fast, you practically need a reference to keep up. So… let’s do just that. It’s part of a larger pattern of ownership changes and layoffs across every part of the music instrument business.

iZotope is now joining founder-owned AV software house Boris FX

iZotope is now coming to rest post-Native Instruments as the music software maker is acquired by Boris FX. And when they say founder-owned, they mean it: the guy’s name is actually Boris (Yamnitsky). The pairing frankly makes more sense than either NI/Soundwide or inMusic. It makes Boris FX the most interesting software house to watch right now. Here’s why.

Peter Kirn - July 2, 2026

Francisco Partners exits Muse Group (Audacity, Hal Leonard, MuseScore)

Francisco Partners, the private equity firm, is now exiting Muse Group amid 2026’s financial maneuvers. Muse Group is the Cyprus-based conglomerate that owns the publishing giant Hal Leonard, audio editor Audacity, notation software MuseScore and StaffPad, and the online platform Ultimate Guitar.

Peter Kirn - June 3, 2026

Elektron is the latest firm to be acquired by private investment capital

Peter Kirn - April 8, 2026

Native Instruments issues a statement; likely closer to acquisition

Peter Kirn - March 19, 2026

LANDR acquires Reason Studios; takeaways from that announcement

Peter Kirn - January 6, 2026

Lemur lives: iOS/Android app acquired by MIDI Kinetics

Peter Kirn - January 13, 2023

Soundwide = NI + iZotope + Brainworx + Plugin Alliance – what to know, what to grab for free

Peter Kirn - April 13, 2022

Epic Games just bought Bandcamp – so what does that mean?

Peter Kirn - March 2, 2022