Once every 2 years or so I forget how much I despise Native Instruments and reinstall their shit, only to be reminded of why I despise it and uninstall it right after.
And the part I despise the most is that they are absolutely unable to do anything user friendly.
I once had a "Komplete Now" trial, so all the shit that was included in it was then added to my library.
About 4 years later it's up to me to remember which are the products in my account that I really own and which ones are bogus shit from their trial.
That rental program doesn't even exist anymore since 2023 (was superseded by the uber-expensive 360 subscription), but my account is forever ruined with shitty trial software I have no intention of using.
And then after I remember why I abandoned it, comes the second slap to my face: uninstalling it is never an easy process... You think you can just remove it via the installer who put it there, like a sane person? NI products are not meant for sane people, because to remove Massive X you have to hunt its pieces in 9 different folders across your OS and delete them manually.
Once you installed their shit, it's like mold in the bathroom: you're never 100% sure you actually got rid of it or if you'll spot it again in a few months. I wish every single developer and product manager in that company had to uninstall all their catalog once a week to see how fun it is, until someone decides to improve even a bit. Ideally? Add an "uninstall all" to Native Access.
Honestly, I am fed up with them to the point where I'd trade my Maschine Mikro MK3 for just about anything else... if someone offers me a half-decent ukulele and a pack of Smarties I'd take it.
And I don't even like Smarties. Or play ukulele.
And about the NI 360 subscription... 50 bucks a month and they don't even add a DAW to it or give you some cashback to actually buy for life the stuff you like? Who's the shitty-MBA-for-brains of a manager who thought that's a good idea?
TL;DR: Fuck Native Instruments, and fuck every brand associated with it because they will all go the same shitty path sooner or later.
#NativeInstruments #MusicProduction #MusicTech