A decade ago Adobe launched its Creative Cloud subscription model to mixed reactions. On March 27th, the audio plug-in developer Waves once again raised the ire of the creative community by switching to a subscription model. Let’s dig deeper into the topic.
Prior to the digital era, when a company built a recording studio or a post facility, they invested in physical hardware – mixing desks, switchers, edit controllers, etc. These were assets on the ledger that had value if the company decided to sell. Once the industry moved to software tools, those no longer functioned as assets with any value. You could sell the building and furnishings, but no one wanted the old software. That’s assuming you could easily transfer licenses. Instead of an asset, software became an ongoing operational expense.
In response to this shift, many software companies have introduced a SaaS (software as a service) subscription model and dropped perpetual licensing options. To understand this, first take a look as any of your EULAs and you’ll quickly see that you never really own software and the company can make changes to the agreement as they see fit.
“I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.” – Darth Vader
To be fair, a company has the right to offer their products in any way they like. But, users are also free to accept or reject the company’s business model. The tougher part is how to correctly transition from one model to the next without alienating established users. SaaS models typically benefit both the developer and active, professional users.
Stepping aside from the subscription issue for a moment, there is a huge advantage to staying within a single ecosystem. That’s the big plus for Adobe users, but it is also an advantage for Mac users who purchase products through the Mac App Store. It’s easier to keep track of updates and make sure things are compatible, as opposed to a hodgepodge of unrelated third-party products.
When a company “sells” products with perpetual licenses, it becomes an act of juggling development costs and trying to estimate how many new sales will be generated. When you shift to a SaaS model, development and revenue projections become more predictable. According to Adobe, subscriptions also help combat software piracy. Obviously, companies like the model and many are shifting to it – Microsoft, Filmic, Avid, and many other plug-in developers. In fact, Waves is coming late to the idea of subscriptions.
In the case of media, Adobe Creative Cloud covers many applications used on a daily basis by working designers, editors, photographers, etc. Likewise, Waves (or other plug-ins) are used on a daily basis by professional mixers and recording engineers. However, the landscape of potential users has shifted over the past decade. Thanks to social media outlets, there are many more hobbyists and part-time content creators who are also using these tools. They are often not using the tools on a daily basis, so SaaS doesn’t work for them. There’s no incoming revenue to offset the expense. This group of users is far more interested in free and cheap tools, which thanks to software development, are bountiful. These users far surpass the professionals in whatever way you define that.
Waves has traditionally had a weird business model. While their plug-ins are usually quite good, the company has been selling them like they are the “Kmart blue light special” of the audio world. Plug-ins are listed with a retail price of several hundred bucks, but almost always are “on sale” in the range of $30-$50. As a casual user, I appreciate the low cost, but I can’t help but think this undervalues Waves.
The Waves product mix includes a lot of simple variations to what are more or less the same plug-ins, which tends to make the portfolio look larger than it is. You have to routinely pay for updates, which are priced proportionally to the number of plug-ins you have. The truth of the matter is that you can go for a few years and never need to pay for the upgrade. But, due to an OS change or a move to Apple Silicon, you can’t avoid it and may get hit with a surprisingly large invoice.
When Waves shifted to subscription, they made two huge mistakes. First, it was done overnight with no advance warning. Second, all perpetual licenses were frozen without the ability to update. They’d continue to work, but at some future date might not work any longer. The Waves Creative Access subscription plan itself includes two tiers: Waves Essential (110 plug-ins for $14.99/mo) and Waves Ultimate (all 220 plug-ins for $24.99/mo). But there are some important details. The Essential plan is not just any 110 plug-ins, but rather a curated group. You might find that certain key plug-ins that you need require the Ultimate plan.
Needless to say the nature of the change and the lack of advanced communication caused an uproar in the online audio community, with plenty of negative posts by YouTube influencers. Anyone familiar with how Apple handled the transition from Final Cut Pro 7 to Final Cut Pro X should have seen this coming. Learning from the past can head off a lot of embarrassment.
The Waves Creative Access plan doesn’t seem to me to be one that really has professional users in mind either. Seriously, what pro studio uses 220 Waves plug-ins? I think the company is trying to entice casual users to pick up more Waves plug-ins than they are now using. And to experiment with some that they might not have otherwise thought about using. That’s good, but it opens Waves up to a world that’s different than Adobe faced a decade ago.
Product promotion is often pushed through social media influencers, including many YouTube channels devoted to certain product types, such as audio. They usually are an affiliate with the company and earn revenue through affiliate links. Therefore, influencers are quite sensitive to the blowback that comes from angry comments on their channel. And so, having a formerly favorable influencer trash your product or company policies does impact sales.
I’m purely speculating now, but in the case of Waves, this may have also been coupled with back-channel feedback from other partners. For example, famous mixers and studios like Abbey Road, who have lent their names to branded products. Or large retailers, like B&H Photo, Thomann Music, or Sweetwater.
But wait! There’s a silver lining. On March 29th, Meir Shashoua, Waves CTO and Co-Founder, issued an open letter acknowledging the concerns and backtracking on the decision. According to the letter, plug-ins will once again continue to be available with perpetual licensing and updates, in addition to the Waves Creative Access subscription plans. At least at the time of this post, all Waves plug-ins are listed at $29.99. If they are sincere and continue with both models, then it’s a win-win for both professional users and hobbyists alike. After all, do you really need 220 plug-ins? It’s refreshing to see when the user voice actually has a positive impact. Hopefully trust isn’t violated again.
©2023 Oliver Peters
digitalfilms 
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