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Waves Discontinues Perpetual Licenses (UPDATE: They have gone Subscription Only)


Martin H.

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3 hours ago, Lionel said:

We can all thank Adobe for the surge in software and app subscriptions being offered by other companies.  The amount of profit Adobe makes quarter after quarter is just ridiculous.  They are the subscription standard and they're just riding this billion dollar cash cow.  Not until they all start losing money will those companies stop offering subscriptions.

So yeah, we need to hit 'em where it hurts... their wallets.

Please don't subscribe, folks.

When you subscribe, you're just validating the whole software subscription business model.

So, cancel those subscriptions from Adobe, Avid, Capture One, PA, Reason+, Roland, Slate, Mobile Apps, etc.

There are alternatives.  

 Photoshop/Lightroom was $10.  There are probably more people in your neighborhood who use that than a DAW.  Stuffed shirts thought "hey let's try that".  I could see if Waves did a $29 a month sub to access everything some would go for it.  

 Who knows maybe the rent to own is the nest frontier.  BTW that's done with our credit cards anyway.  Splice offered rent to own.    

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31 minutes ago, Bapu said:

I wonder how many anti-sub users have a Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Hulu etc account? 😉 

People here are anti music production software subscriptions which is very different.

I have an Office 365 sub because it gives me OneDrive, plus I can install it on 5 devices and share it with up to 5 other people.
I pay about £35-40 per year and share it with 3 other people and use 3TB of OneDrive.
If Waves do a £40 a year deal which can be shared amongst six people, with five activations each, I think some people would put the pitchforks down! :)

 

 

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Frankly, my instinct is that if Waves moves exclusively to a subscription model, they'll eventually find it doesn't generate the desired revenue and move back to perpetual licenses (and continue to offer subscriptions as an option).  I completely get why software companies love the idea of the subscription model, it's steady revenue. But not all consumer audiences share that affection for subscriptions. If Waves is going subscription only -- and it's still an IF at this point -- I don't think it will last two years before they return to perpetual licenses. 

In any event,  there's been multiple threads about this and pages of speculation, so Waves has gotten a lot of attention for this. I am very interested in how it resolves. I own easily 30+ Waves plugins and the only ones I really would hate to leave behind are the Abbey Road series. 

Edited by PavlovsCat
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1 hour ago, kitekrazy said:

Who knows maybe the rent to own is the nest frontier.

I actually like rent-to-own models. Only thing with that model, is that you’re paying full price most of the time.  Companies don’t usually give you the sale price on top of a rent-to-own product.

With that said, I much prefer RTO over subscription.  At least you get to keep a product that allows us to open our previous sessions.

Software/App subscriptions are at the very bottom of the totem pole… yes, below WUP.

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46 minutes ago, PavlovsCat said:

Frankly, my instinct is that if Waves moves exclusively to a subscription model, they'll eventually find it doesn't generate the desired revenue and move back to perpetual licenses.  I completely get why software companies love the idea of the subscription model, it's steady revenue. But not all consumer audiences share that affection for susubscriptions. If Waves is going subscription only -- and it's still an IF at this point -- I don't think it will last two years before they return to perpetual licenses.  

I view this a lot like I do Pro Tools going subscription. I've been paying my yearly support fees for many, many years on my perpetual licenses. Each year I update to the current versions after others have smoke tested them, and consider whether I can be content with the latest updates and freeze my system. Each year I renew. But at least I have the option.

I checked this morning and found I was nearly two years expired on my Horizons bundle. WUP was $187. But I checked my upgrade offers and there was a bundle that included the Restoration bundle and Horizons -- $86. I upgraded and saved $101 on WUP and got the Restoration bundle free. And in one year (if WUP still exists, and I'll roll the dice it will) I'll have the same conversation in my head that I have about Pro Tools. 

If Waves goes subscription model exclusively, I will not participate; I'll be satisfied with the versions I'll have at the end of this WUP cycle and call it a day.

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I think somebody is spreading disinformation.  Nothing on Waves website.  They are promoting and selling and having specials of all kinds there.  We'll find out in a few short hours but it looks to me like a disinformation campaign.  Somebody's trying to get you guys riled up for some reason.

I'll believe it when I see it.  But if it is true I'm done with Waves FOREVER.

SMH

John B

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2 hours ago, Fleer said:

Done. Oops. Sent to someone else. For $155 :)

Seriously, I'm glad you were finally able to sell it! I love the Abbey Road stuff, but I completely understand and relate to why you really don't want to deal with Waves anymore. If I could do it over again, the only Waves plugins I would have bought are the Abbey Road stuff and I wish Abbey Road would do a deal with another developer for those plugins in the near future, as I would greatly prefer if they were Softube, Izotope, Sonible, Eventide, etc. over Waves. I don't like Waves marketing strategies, I'm not a fan of WUP and, while none of us really knows what's going on, it's less than ideal to not know the future of the plugins you've used on projects for years. As someone else pointed out, if you've used a plugin on a project and Waves no longer offers support for that and goes subscription only and the plugin stops working, you're SOL. I'd prefer buying from developers that are more reliable and upfront -- and there are a wealth of great alternatives these days. 

Edited by PavlovsCat
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16 minutes ago, Johnbee58 said:

I think somebody is spreading disinformation.  Nothing on Waves website.  They are promoting and selling and having specials of all kinds there.  We'll find out in a few short hours but it looks to me like a disinformation campaign.  Somebody's trying to get you guys riled up for some reason.

I'll believe it when I see it.  But if it is true I'm done with Waves FOREVER.

SMH

John B


I can't imagine those 3rd party resellers are spreading disinformation. There must have been communication between Waves and Resellers. 

It all began (over a month ago)  when Waves sended out a very vaque newsletter to their subscribers about ''Changing our License System''. Whatever that means.... 

Waves had plenty of time to make it clear... But they chose to remain completely silent about it.
There is nothing to find about this on their Website, Terms and Conditions, or in their FAQ. 

At some point it is even questionable, whether it is legal to ''disable'' licenses that are bought.

Why should i buy/use any of their products again if they are silent about such important matters to their customers?

I don't do subscriptions. Period. Enough alternatives.

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1 hour ago, PavlovsCat said:

Seriously, I'm glad you were finally able to sell it! I love the Abbey Road stuff, but I completely understand and relate to why you really don't want to deal with Waves anymore. If I could do it over again, the only Waves plugins I would have bought are the Abbey Road stuff and I wish Abbey Road would do a deal with another developer for those plugins in the near future, as I would greatly prefer if they were Softube, Izotope, Sonible, Eventide, etc. over Waves. I don't like Waves marketing strategies, I'm not a fan of WUP and, while none of us really knows what's going on, it's less than ideal to not know the future of the plugins you've used on projects for years. As someone else pointed out, if you've used a plugin on a project and Waves no longer offers support for that and goes subscription only and the plugin stops working, you're SOL. I'd prefer buying from developers that are more reliable and upfront -- and there are a wealth of great alternatives these days. 

Indeed. 
Still got to get rid of my Pianos & Keys Bundle serial now. One more day. 

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26 minutes ago, Martin H. said:


Waves had plenty of time to make it clear... But they chose to remain completely silent about it.
There is nothing to find about this on their Website, Terms and Conditions, or in their FAQ. 

At some point it is even questionable, whether it is legal to ''disable'' licenses that are bought.
 

Days ago I chatted with online support, who suggested I write to Sales using their form; I got substantially the same response as everyone else.

I own Waves perpetual licenses. Waves' Terms and Conditions page defines what is a perpetual license and what are the terms. https://www.waves.com/legal/terms-and-conditions

Occam's razor suggests the "change in licensing" is more likely to be a change in the license manager/backend. Third-party sellers currently hold activation codes that were previously generated by the current licensing server. Changing the license management system would, necessarily, invalidate any existing codes generated from the previous system -- they would not validate in the new system. So, redeem codes in time for the changeover.

 

 

 

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