http://cdm.link/2017/03/mean-ni-bought-startup-monetizes-remixes/


So for those that cant be bothered to read the article, here are the cliff notes:

NI just bought a startup named MetaPop in order to better leverage their STEMS format in the marketplace. The author makes some really good points regarding the use of stems and the lack of support from both user base and the very company who created the standard in the first place, NI. So this acquisition makes total sense. Whats interesting, however, is this quote:

"This market has gone back to selling, buying, and playing vinyl records. That’s how devoted it is to reliability, tradition, and physical hardware."

I no longer dj and haven't in over a decade so I have input or opinions on the matter. But what I find interesting is that if in fact this is the case, why would NI continue to move forward with the acquisition? NI has always seemed to me as a very astute company and extremely methodical with their business decisions. That's not to say I agree with everything they do, but from a business standpoint, they're doing alright. But I wonder if this is a case of "going all in" simply based on stems investment, particularly when the market seems to be shifting away from it.

I'd be curious to hear from anyone currently djing who is also a stem user. Is it a format you currently incorporate into your live sets or productions? Whats your take?

 

stems has alot of potential, you have to try them, i agreen there are not many artists that sells stems, afterall its a cost for the artist but stems format are very useful in dj-ing world, you never make two mixes with the same tracks that sounds the same as last one if you get what i mean ...im saving for a S8 controller right now ...vinyls yes are makeing a come back but for the future i see a two separate roads

 

Who knows. Maybe they saw potential of the startup cuttng into thoer business. Maybe the risk outweighed the potential loss? Either way I still HATE hate NI.

 

Why?

 

Horrible customer support.

 

I don't see it. Yes, vinyl is on an all-time-high, or close to it, but that's not happening in the genres relevant to djing. The recent boost in vinyl sales happened mostly in rock and indie music.

I tried and I don't like it. Because it's very hard to use stems in a rewarding way if you don't prepare your set meticulously beforehand, I feel it takes a lot of spontaneity out of the set and that somehow kills it for me. I started out on vinyl and for me, DJing is still about mixing two records in way that creates something that's never been there before and will not be there again, a new musical entity - the third record.
In my workflow, stems are mostly useless. The only scenario where I can see a benefit from them would be to mix a small snippet into my set, from a song that everybody will instantly recognise. Felix "don't you want me", or strings of life, or paperclip people, or usura "open your mind"... you get the picture. And in those songs, the key elements are almost always solo at some part so no need for stems either.

On the business move: considering the history of traktor it's not so out of the ordinary as you might think.

 

It's a logical step if you think the whole drag and drop mentality of music production through in terms of music output and copyright holders on the other end.

It's just another branch in the music production industry looking for furtehr monetization of music on the consumer level. Instead of Plugins you sell people the idea of them being "cretaive" and "talented" and they don't even have to know shit about production. Instand gratification.

 

I am not quite sure if NI audio samples are watermarked. With the newly aquired company NI can check everything for unlicensed samples.