Native Instruments and iZotope's parent company Soundwide lays off 8% of staff

Soundwide, the parent company that owns Native Instruments, iZotope, Plugin Aliiance, Brainworx and SoundStacks, has laid off eight percent of its workforce. 

Resident Advisor reports that the news was broken at a company-wide meeting on January 25th. In that meeting, Soundwide CEO Rob Singer explained that the challenging economic climate was the main reason for the company's decision. Soundwide's sales and marketing departments are said to be more heavily affected than their engineering team. While we don't have specific numbers, considering that Soundwide's workforce is made up of more than 600 staff, up to 50 people could have been let go.

Soundwide shared a statement with MusicRadar today that outlines the reasons for the layoffs and states that ongoing product development will be unaffected by the changes.

"We did have headcount reductions last week across Soundwide – roughly 8% of our staff. As with any reduction, it was an incredibly difficult choice to make, and our focus right now is on making the transition as human and respectful as possible for our departing teammates.

"Alongside many companies in the tech sector, who are facing the same challenging market conditions, we’re making tough decisions to scale back and reprioritize our investments.

"For any customers concerned about what this might mean for their products, our reductions were not made through a product line lens – the development of our products will be unaffected by these changes. Instead, we assessed business functions where we could reprioritize and be more nimble and efficient in our operations. 

"While these losses are painful – especially for those departing, and also for those remaining who will miss their colleagues and friends – there will be minimal impact to the customer experience."

Soundwide's decision comes amid a wave of layoffs among tech companies globally. Meta, Microsoft, Twitter and Google have all announced cuts, while last week, Spotify made the decision to lay off 6% of its global workforce.

Soundwide was formed in 2022 following the merger of Native Instruments and iZotope. The parent company also owns software platform Plugin Alliance and developers Brainworx and Sound Stacks.