Balanced, sensible, and well -presented as ever - thanks David!

Buying something that needs servicing from time to time or even on a regular basis is not the same at all as a subscription. I like to buy my plugins once and “service” them at my own pace whenever I feel I should instead of having to pay every month to use them or else I would lose access to them. So it’s not really the same thing

I think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned subscriptions tend to work for companies and businesses but not the individual. I am a music 'hobbyist' and I am happy to upgrade plug-ins and software whenever suits me. But as I have long spells of not doing any music then a subscription for me would not really be viable. But that is just me.

Good balance presentation ----- Reaper is a model of selling their DAW ---- Great price and free upgrades for years. Very fair and and as result their users are quite loyal.

I just run old versions of the plug-ins on an old version of a DAW on an old OS on old metal. No connexion to the internet. That works fine, and short of hardware issues developing with the machine itself, it'll keep on going forever. However, for some newer setups that I work with, their are so many free plug-ins now that totally rival the expensive stuff. LoudMax!

The point is, When I buy the software, I can "subscribe" (pay periodically) when I choose to Not when I'm forced to, repeatedly

This was a line in the sand moment for me. I've been using Waves plugins since around 2005 (give or take a year or so), and have upgraded gradually to a pair of Horizon bundles, plus a plethora of side collections (all the SSL, API, Abbey Road, etc..) and some one-offs. I have been guiding them both to Mercury + Analog Classics + AR. It takes some strategy, because the upgrade options can be.. uhh.. quirky... (can't use a collection and bundle to upgrade to a bigger bundle that includes one or two plugs from the collection, for e.g.), and the sales, of course, stretch your buying power considerably, so you have to plan carefully. And since WUP is basically throwing money away compared to upgrading (which includes WUP coverage), I've "done without" several times when I wanted to update to a newer version (particularly during the M1 transition), but couldn't justify the cost of an update, and couldn't afford (or justifiably afford) an upgrade yet. The real problem for me is that, I'm one of those aspirational ones. It's a hobby, and I love it, but it's a monetary sinkhole, so I have to spend wisely. Also, my "day job" and life in general can get in the way, and it might be days or weeks or months or years before I come back to a project. That makes subscriptions a lousy value, since I might have to pay for literally years where I don't use the product at all, just to ensure that it WILL work when/if I decide to use it. The other thing is, I can and have and will have computer systems I mothball as audio appliances. If I install v11 plugins on some random computer, I expect them to be there and functional if I decide to power it up in 15 years. If I can keep the hardware alive, the software should be willing and ready. I'm not asking anything of Waves to make that happen -- no free updates necessary. But I think it's fair that, if I'm not getting any value over a period of time, that I not have to pay during that time either. Foremost, it all comes back around to whether I can actually expect any of this software to even work in 10, 20 years. Will it run without "checking in" first? Will a phone home even work anymore, and if not, what then? If I'm required to reactivate for any reason, will there be anyone home to activate with? If they are still there, will the activation hosts even respect my old entitlement? It's so fragile and requires a ton of trust in the viability and commitment of a vendor. The move of software to some ephemeral, house-always-wins paradigm is a really shady trend. I don't like it, and it seems exceedingly unfair, all in the guise of ensuring that I, paying customer, honor my licensing agreement. In exchange, the software may or may not work when called upon, and will more than likely at some point just cease to function with no recourse. OTOH, if I wanted to go out of my way to circumvent all the protections and just get it all for free from some unsavory corner of the Internet, it would likely work perfectly today and forever. Who benefits from that mentality? Surely not me.

I enjoyed your editorial. Please make some more. Listening from my Dell bundled Waves.

In a way, with OS updates it kinda does "wear out", based on that. Just not the way you're thinking. The idea of using them wears out due to forced OS updates

Absolutely great to see this video a couple of days after I paid for Roon lifetime subscription, thank you very much (worried in distress emoji).

One of the top independent developers is Reimund Dratwa for sure. He used to work for Brainworx, was one of the main developers of Black Rooster Audio and now founded his own company Fuse Audio Labs. Additionally he is part of the team of Neold. At his company Fuse Audio Labs you can get the highest quality plugins for a fair price and without BS.

We've reached "peak plugin". With some rare exceptions, new plugin releases are re-skins and/or updated marketing of basically what has already been available. Also, stock plugins from today's DAWs have greatly improved from the early days to the point where most 3rd party plugins are completely redundant. Finally, with the rise of AI, it is conceivable that, in the future, more producers might be able to easily generate their own DIY plugins to their liking, cutting out 3rd party developers entirely. Knowing this, software developers feel compelled to move to subscription models to maintain the same revenue that they have enjoyed in the past.

Software developers are going to update their programs whether you pay 5hem to or not. They HAVE to, or else they got no product to sell. Charging clients to update is predatory. I've never had an app charge me for updating. That's just sleazy.

With license prices according to use (personal, non-profit, commercial) the drawbridge is open and the software is not underpriced for those who get much more value out of it. The only trouble is this relies on people's honesty as this is not easy to enforce. Another common practice is to offer different tiers of features/capabilities at different prices. As to recurring income for the developer, a nice balance to subscriptions is to only charge for update plans spanning a year at a time for features and new OS versions, otherwise old versions work in perpetuity on their original setups. This keeps the developer busy making sure they are on top of new OS versions and architecture and/or developing compelling new features, even bug fixes and polish.

the answer for me is more hardware, less plugins - I’m handy with a soldering iron and most hardware I’d invest in has an excellent track record of reliability, so I thank Waves for speeding along a decision I’d already been leaning towards 🤷🏻‍♂️

I'm a professional "amateur" user. I use the software intensively for several months, then not much at all for several years. I use audio software for a while, then move on to software development for a while, then on to hardware development, then I'm helping customers. I can keep using the software for a very long time, so I like to just own it outright. I don't need updates. The software outlasts my computers, and that's where my problem is. I can't just move the software to a new computer. There are license keys. I can understand that the companies don't want to waste time helping me to move obsolete software to a new machine, but that leaves me having to buy the latest version when I'm perfectly happy with and proficient on the obsolete version.

In a professional and business investment point of view ,It don't really matters, as long as the plugs are worth it, Since waves start introduce noise as a feature in some of their vintage lines, I am sorry, I don't use them much until not at all. Beside they don't have much thing that are really not replaceable. After all these years they slowly became just a fancy good looking GUI drawing company.😔 Thanks for the video.

Good discussion.

Absolutely agree. Even if Waves allowed individual updates, instead of their ridiculous WUP @ £300! I might have considered continuing but alas, that ship has now sailed into the distant horizon...

Waves shot itself on the foot. I bought a bundle and some plugins i needed to build up the system i needed. Never had to buy the updates, so i didn't, worst case scenario, my machine stays as it is for a long time. OR in that unlikely case that i feel the urgent need to upgrade the sys, waves won't come up as a choice, as there are PLENTY of other manufacturers with great options, no need to have these subscription models.

For Waves, Update plan was already a(n expansive) way to reward the developers.

Great example is MCDSP

1. If you have to update a plug-in to keep it current because of changes in an operating system, you really should do it for free. You'd have to update the plug-in for NEW users. 2. Free OS related updates is a selling point. If you make free updates a policy and MARKET that difference to me, I will prefer your product. 3. I won't mind paying for UPGRADES if they are counter balanced with free updates. Again, marketing. All version 3.x releases are free while version 4.x costs to cross-grade to. 4. Factor in compatibility releases into the initial cost. Yes. Now that we are familiar with how often plug-ins will NEED to be updated, that can be factored. Build it into the upfront costs. Then the true cost is fair. See point #2.

Please investigaste Airwindows (from Chris Johnson) - it is something different

Do you "own" youre guitar by subscripton???

Waves has been the leading plugin company and the first to invent the digital eq with its Q range. I'm sure thousands of audio engineers have used all sorts of waves plugins, so it surprises me that all of a sudden people are saying they only use one or two plugins from the pack. That cannot be the case, because the outrage comes from those who did spend a lot of money on waves plugins, with the update plan costing upwards of 300 dollars or more, per update. I say good riddance to their update plan. It will be cheaper for those who no longer need to do that plan. If anything they were paying for a very expensive subscription plan to start with.

Airwindows 😍

I don’t want do subscription, my machine is offline as much as possible, just the way I like it. I don’t like the WUP system, I prefer companies that calculate the costs of maintenance in the price they charge and don’t charge per maintenance update, that’s how most companies are doing it, just the way I like it. I do like it when they have subscription models as an option, it’s not for me but it’s great to give people options. The option to buy a perpetual licence should always be there in my opinion.

Plugin companies should; Grade their plugins value "A" "B" "C" etc.. Allow Bundle "1" to pick 5 "A" grade plugins, 20 "B" grade plugins and so on.

Adobe would have you pay every time their software is being used.

This is a false argument... Cost is based on neccery labour. Once you write the code there is no more labour involved with reproduction of the product. But they still sell the product at hyper inflated prices. The only time more labour is required is when the code needs to be updated. But the cost for that labour has already been achieved in the hyper inflated original cost. All that is needed is a delivery system. Which is a direct download. But since reproduction costs are zero as its a digital asset. So tje capithad to figure out a way to control access. Hrnce putting a licence fee on it and various other convoluted access systems.

25 a month is Netflix subscription. But Waves was the real victim in this situation.

To be honest, its okay if they greedy. The market wil regulate itself in some weeks, byitself. There will be free and open alternatives, soon - Waves is done and will not recover from this - Even if this was a "mistaken" april fool, this is not aceptable and EVERY SING EMPLOYE AT WAVES SHOULD SAY THANK YOU - To there CEO

Just stop buying their products. They will learn the hard way.

Waves plugins have seen little improvement in their brains behind the interface. Software developers have been pushing updates that users don't want. A decade-old copy of Microsoft Office, Sonic Foundry Sound Forge, Izotope RX or Adobe Photoshop satisfies me, works much faster and has a more readable non-flat GUI. I think that asking an upgrade price for a new platform _is_ fair. Your washing machine has built-in planned obsolescence too. The main bearing is made out of aluminum alloy that gets corroded. And on top of that manufacturs encourage us to buy new appliances that more stylish, more energy efficient or powerful before the end of life of the hardware we already own.

Same reason cars don't have chain timing belts anymore. And all those good cars end up trash

Capitalism...