Published
Sun, Apr 2, 2023, 08:00
- The company will continue to support perpetual licenses.
Plug-in and audio software company Waves has cancelled plans to move to a subscription-only model.
On March 27th, the company announced that its plug-in collections would only be available to those who signed up to a monthly "Creative Access" subscription ($14.99), or a "Waves Ultimate" plan ($24.99). This meant software updates wouldn't be available for existing customers who had previously purchased Waves plug-ins.
The news was met with a storm of criticism from Waves users, who accused the company of reneging on the terms of previous sales. Users expressed alarm at the long-term costs of a subscription model and frustration that the plug-ins they'd already purchased would no longer be updated or receive technical support unless they signed up to a monthly plan.
On March 29th, the company's CTO and cofounder, Meir Shashoua, released a statement backing away from the subscription-only model and promising to reinstate the perpetual licenses to the site. Subscription plans will still be available, though alongside the previous pay-and-play model.
"I would like to start by apologising for the frustration we have caused many of you, our loyal customers," the statement read. "We understand that our move was sudden and disruptive, and did not sufficiently take into consideration your needs, wishes, and preferences... After respectfully listening to your concerns, I want to share with you that we're bringing back the perpetual plug-in license model, side by side with the new subscriptions. You will again be able to get plug-ins as perpetual licenses, just as before."
Founded in 1992, Waves is a market leader in analogue modelling plug-ins. It has achieved huge success selling bundles of plug-ins for discount prices and won a Technical GRAMMY Award in 2012 for contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording industry.
Read Shashoua's statement in full.