Studio One pricing -- indicating what?

[CHA66]

I have become confused by Studio One's new pricing model for perpetual licenses. I've been content on v.6 as v.7 hasn't yet brought much to the table that interests me, and I'm just an occasional user (I use different DAWs for differing purposes; Mainly S1 for composing).

A new user (or coming from a competing DAW) can get a FULL Version of the pro S1 for just $140 (or with 10% discount available for $126) on the current special sale. Which means this is the current street "value" of the program. How can S1 continue to be developed at this pricing model? Is this (race to the bottom) being driven by the unique financial models of Reaper and Logic, perhaps S1's closest competitors by feature sets? Somehow, Cubase and Pro Tools (even Samplitude, realistic or not) are continue to charge professional prices for initial entry and upgrades.

Wondering what the model is communication about future development and user base.

 

[Trucky]

Welcome to the Forum!

The current pricing is related to extended Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Holiday pricing.
All the vendors are currently in this mode...

 

[Davey]

I have become confused by Studio One's new pricing model for perpetual licenses.

You're not alone!

But don't worry, they will probably change the model and the pricing again before too long, because they don't seem to know what they want.

 

[Jens]

And another "hasn't yet brought much to the table" and "race to the bottom" and "communication about future development" and "financial models" and "confused".

How about just buying something that you consider worth your money? Or using a DAW (or DAWs) that matches your preferences best?

 

[Davey]

And another "hasn't yet brought much to the table" and "race to the bottom" and "communication about future development" and "financial models" and "confused".

How about just buying something that you consider worth your money? Or using a DAW (or DAWs) that matches your preferences best?

Have you ever considered trying to be, you know, a bit nicer to folks?

 

[Crossinger]

And another "hasn't yet brought much to the table" and "race to the bottom" and "communication about future development" and "financial models" and "confused".

How about just buying something that you consider worth your money? Or using a DAW (or DAWs) that matches your preferences best?

If I were cynical, I would say that now is a very bad time for change, regardless of the direction. The competitors are all on the decline as well, either technically or in terms of their business model.

 

[Jens]

Have you ever considered trying to be, you know, a bit nicer to folks?

Being nice(r) is a two-way street. Instead of responding to my question you responded only with an insult. I do think it's a valid question and also a good way to look at things in general.

I read other forums as well and the vibe/mood everywhere has drastically changed since PreSonus introduced subscription and then Fender bought PreSonus. No other DAW (or company) gets this much abuse. I barely visited the old forum anymore because it was reduced to lengthy rants about evil subscription, evil Fender etc. Who wants to visit such places?

 

[TheBassBagwhan]

Presonus has only one thing in mind ... trying to find some kind of balance in its pricing that will continue to generate an income stream from the DAW. Really, for maybe a decade, DAWs have been treading water and reinventing the wheel, because seriously— what else do we need? Studio One has been fully featured for a long time and it's no surprise that many users are happy sticking with version 5 or 6. There will always be users asking for near-bespoke improvements and upgrades, or features that benefit their particular workflow, but in general DAWs are now incredibly powerful.
So, how does Presonus keep users paying more money, which in turn funds development and Support? It's a difficult challenge. I'm happy sitting on an S7 perpetual license. If we all do that, how does Presonus pay the bills?
The best answer is hardware. Monitors, interfaces, headphones, etc ... income from these sales underwrites the DAW.
The cost of S7 has little to do with the perceived value of the software itself as a standalone DAW, and is mostly about attracting new users and a user-base who will go all-in with the hardware to create a Presonus-centric studio.
Don't get me wrong, S1 is a great DAW and should be priced accordingly, but every DAW is painting itself into a developmental corner ... what can be introduced that will appeal to a majority of users enough to pay for an upgrade?
The business model for the software isn't a reflection of its professional appeal. Reaper and others don't have a hardware component that underwrites it. Pro Tools continues to hang its hat on the "industry standard" reputation, otherwise its been pretty messed up lately.
My idea would be a much cheaper subscription that provides ONLY fast Support and perhaps a few tasty plugins, rather than the S1 Pro + thing now that has little appeal to long-time and traditional studio users.
Wow ... didn't I tend to write so much. Sorry!

 

[Jeff]

As a hobbyist I could live with 7.2 for years, but if development continues, I am sure that on average I'd update every two years if the pricing was what I'd call reasonable (say $150-175) for a perpetual license. Every firm has to grow new customers as they will only retain a percentage of their current customers for various reasons. With AI's influence on the music industry, it will be very interesting to see how all DAW manufacturers react.

 

[Craig Anderton]

Really, for maybe a decade, DAWs have been treading water and reinventing the wheel, because seriously— what else do we need?

Current DAWs can satisfy current needs, but those needs will change:

• MIDI 2.0 continues to develop and all DAWs will need to integrate its capabilities within the next year or so. We are close to a tipping point where MIDI 2.0 features will creep into DAWs. This would also provide the motivation for Studio One to up its MIDI implementation game.
• Changes in MIDI will also mean changes in controllers. DAWs will need to integrate MIDI 2.0's bi-directional communication (MIDI Capability Inquiry) to make setting up hardware controllers, fader boxes, editing hardware synth parameters, etc. a no-brainer.
• Live performance is making a comeback after covid drove a stake through its heart. Furthermore, the "AI backlash" is starting to manifest itself. So far, live performance is one area where Suno can't suck all the soul out of the music. I believe people will want authenticity and live performance delivers that. About six months to a year from now would be a really good time to step on the acceleator for Studio One's Show Page.
• Cool accessories. For example, why not integrate a rhyming dictionary and thesaurus with the lyrics function? Right-click on a word, and choose "rhymes" or "synonyms." Or, integrate visualizers that sync with the music to generate instant videos. I assume visualizers are easy to program, because there are so many of them.
• More controller support. Having a clip launcher without APC controller support is a missed opportunity.

Those are just some ideas off the top of my head. I think the solution for DAWs is to worry less about adding features, and instead, make existing features more developed (I'm looking at you, Harmonic Editing) and easier to use. I believe if DAWs delivered enhanced ease of use and deeper feature development with updates, people would pay for those updates.

 

[BobF]

• Cool accessories. For example, why not integrate a rhyming dictionary and thesaurus with the lyrics function? Right-click on a word, and choose "rhymes" or "synonyms." Or, integrate visualizers that sync with the music to generate instant videos. I assume visualizers are easy to program, because there are so many of them.

Integration of idolumic's rhyme genie / tunesmith would VERY kool. Clunky to use as is ...
((https://www.rhymegenie.com/rhyme-genie.html))