Last edited: Feb 10, 2026 at 12:19 AM

Yeah, but we have to keep one thing in mind: This is a music enthusiast producer to an music enthusiast audience (maybe with music and/or instrument knowledge).
The majority is not like us or the people he talks to. The majority wouldn't care if most of the stuff they listen to was made by AI as long as it is music they enjoy.
The people who switch on top40 radios while driving or have 'something on' in the gym would not care about the spaces he is about to create for artists. And I'm just not sure these spaces or labels or whatever will survive with the enthusiasts only. I consider AI not just as an threat to my job opportunities, but also a threat to the survival of the artists I like. If the bands I love have to work at Walmart and won't make music because they loose 70% of their audience to AI that is a cultural loss in my personal live that would just hit as hard as the financial impact on my own job.

 

I can promise you that critical thinking is the single-most frowned upon thing a student can do. Both in lower and higher education. In fact, ESPECIALLY in higher education. But that is a different topic altogether and I don't to derail the thread, but it's worth mentioning in passing.

 

When he says now we won't be "stacking legacy plugins", it sounds like Plugin Alliance had turned into that for him; a big graveyard of unused plugins to continue hosting and supporting with none of them selling in worthwhile numbers. The company didn't turn into Sweetwater; it turned into Kmart. Some people would probably be hesitant to do some AI related startup right now, but "Legacy plugins" seems to imply that.

 

You're right I don't disagree with that, I was just saying it as a general rule of thumb, not particularly about Dirk's statement for things to come.

 

Sure. My point is a continuation of it, because sometimes a company founder will have a clear "mission" they got into the business for; but then it morphs into feeling like what you are pointing out in the quote. You can't be selling 500 or 1000 plugins and care about even a small minority of them.

If it sounds like his post written by others, that is for good reason also. When he sold to NI, surely he has signed some kind of non-compete agreement with them. So for him to be putting out info like that; he's smart enough to have his attorney check it over. That is just being careful. "Legacy plugins" is doing a lot of work there for only two words.

 

Pavlovian bells between classes at schools elicit a defined and purposeful call and response.

 

I mean, he is still a big shareholder of NI if i´m correct, he said it one of the interviews how he´s not happy how things went after the sale.

 

Native Instruments GmbH is not a public limited company and therefore does not issue shares.

Dirk Ulrich has left Native Instruments
https://synthanatomy.com/2024/03/dirk-ulrich-has-left-native-instruments.html

EDIT: Please skip my statement; Google Translate didn't translate your sentence correctly.

 

Last edited: Feb 11, 2026 at 8:34 AM

Nope, a GmbH absolutely does issue shares so has shareholders. They cannot be publicly traded. Ownership usually restricted and not available to the public. If Ulrich was a principle of that corporation it means that he sold his shares and is no longer a member of that corporation. By definition every corporation issues shares as far as I know.

 

Only a public limited company (AG) issues shares, i.e., stocks. These shares then represent ownership in the company.

Shareholders are individuals who own shares in a company and are therefore shareholders.
The term originally comes from English and translates to shareholder. By definition, a shareholder is therefore an owner of a share in a public limited company.

In the case of limited liability companies (GmbH) (§ 5 para. 2 GmbHG) and cooperatives (§ 7 para. 1 GenG), the law refers to the business share. In a broader sense, the term "share certificate" is also used colloquially to refer to securities ("share certificates") that embody membership rights in corporations (such as stocks).[4] The term "share certificate" is also used for interim certificates issued to shareholders before the shares are issued (§ 8 para. 6 AktG).

The limited liability company (GmbH), abbreviated as Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung or Gesellschaft mbH, is a legal form under German law for a private legal entity belonging to the category of corporations. The German GmbH was one of the world's first forms of limited liability corporations. Similar corporate forms now exist in most countries worldwide. The GmbH is by far the most common corporate form for corporations in Germany. As of January 1, 2016, there were approximately 15,500 public limited companies (AGs) and over 1.15 million GmbHs.

Since 2008, the Unternehmergesellschaft (haftungsbeschränkt) (UG), or entrepreneurial company (limited liability), has existed. Its key characteristic is that the minimum share capital is only €1 instead of €25,000. Legally and for tax purposes, it is a GmbH, but special regulations apply regarding share capital, company name, and the use of net profit (§ 5a GmbHG).

 

Last edited: Feb 10, 2026 at 3:49 PM

Dude...A GmbH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) is a common type of private limited liability company used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, similar to an LLC in the US or Ltd. in the UK. It is a legal entity where shareholder liability is restricted to the company's assets, offering protection for personal assets, with mandatory capital requirements and registration in the commercial register.

 

Thanks @Lois Lane for your comment and I learned something new again.

I've summarized it again clearly:

What was Dirk Ulrich's business relationship with Native Instruments?
What was his financial stake in the company?

Financial Stake

- Largest Private Minority Shareholder
- After selling his companies to the Native Instruments Group, Dirk Ulrich remained one of the largest private shareholders within the group – even after a large portion of the company was sold to investors.
- In his public statement, Ulrich emphasized that he had reinvested a "truly substantial sum" and remained the largest single private shareholder of the combined company, even after his operational influence and advisory board position ended.

Business Relationship with Native Instruments

- Integration of his companies into NI/Soundwide
- In 2021, Dirk Ulrich's companies Plugin Alliance and Brainworx, along with iZotope, were merged under the umbrella of Native Instruments. This conglomerate was temporarily referred to as Soundwide – a unified group of several brands in the music technology sector.
- As part of this merger, Ulrich relinquished control of his companies and reinvested a portion of the proceeds and capital from the sale back into the new group.

 

Last edited: Feb 11, 2026 at 8:18 AM

That's a shallow speech ... is he running for president?

 

A presidential speech is characterized by promises that cannot later be kept.
He talks a lot, but the actual content of what he intends is nonexistent!
He's simply saying, I'm still here, you won't get rid of me!

 

Exactly.