Waves Creative Access moves plugins to subscription-only plans
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With Waves Creative Access, one of the most well-known plug-in collections will now be available exclusively via subscriber services starting at $14,99/month.
Waves has always been one of the market leaders when it comes to analogue modeling plug-ins. The bundles have always provided excellent value, while individual plug-ins were often available at discounted prices.
How does Waves Creative Access work?
All your waves plug-in licenses are still valid, but the Waves Update Plan is now only available to active subscribers. There are 2 basic plans, Essential and Ultimate, with various billing options to cater to everyone.
The Waves Essential plan includes a collection of 110 plugins like Waves Tune RT, Clarity Vx, Vocal Bender, and much more.
You can sign up for Waves Essential from Thomann with the following payment plans:
- 1-month subscription at $13.40
- 3-month subscription at $40
- 6-month subscription at $79
- 9-month subscription at $119
- Annual subscription at $133
The Waves Ultimate plan includes the entire collection with over 220 plug-ins.
You can sign up for Waves Ultimate from Thomann with the following payment plans:
- 1-month subscription at $22.30
- 3-month subscription at $66
- 6-month subscription at $133
- 9-month subscription at $199
- Annual subscription at $222
In addition, Waves has also introduced StudioVerse, which gives you access to plug-in chains created by a community of Waves users. With the AI-assisted StudioRack tool, you can quickly analyze a channel’s input and get recommendations on suitable channel strips.
As per usual, there has been some pushback over this move to subscription-based plans. However, if you consider how much the average user spends on individual plug-in licenses on an annual basis, the pricing of the Waves plans is actually very reasonable.
More about Waves Creative Access:
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10 responses to “Waves Creative Access moves plugins to subscription-only plans”
Some pushback?
🙂
“As per usual, there has been some pushback […]”
That’s putting it mildly and the pusbhback isn’t about the actual subscription. People are grabbing their pitchforks because Waves complete axed all perpetual licenses and 30 years of customers over night without any signs of warning!
Used Waves for decades. No longer. Bye Bye Waves 👋
you WILL own nothing and you WILL be happy : )
Mercury, SSL and Abbey Roads user here. Thankfully I just renewed my WUP last month. What a fiasco. This boneheaded move may sink the Waves ship, or at least throw all previous perpetual users overboard. Indeed the pushback has been of epic proportions on other forums and a mutiny en masse is surely at hand (and rightfully so). Everything about this move has been shady towards longtime users and it will leave lasting $¢@R$ that will not soon be forgotten. When I received their announcement email I immediately opened a Waves support ticket and left them a heated and angry message full of ire. What idiots they are. I hope they either do a 180 with their perpetual license future updates policy or else go belly up. Maybe a big class action suit will emerge from this?
Fully understandable, with new operating system version (I am looking at you Apple), and processor architectures (I am looking at you again here now…), and bunches of other updates to plugin SDKs etc. it does make sense to consolidate products to be able to keep them alive.
The alternative for them, as they have such a vast catalogue, whould have been to slaughter a big bunch of the plugins with EOL, and then focus on the stuff they are indeed selling enough volumes of still.
Though I think it’s unfair for existing customers to not continue providing WUP in the future. Ending the sales of perpetuals from now on, would be okay, but just throwing all current customers under the bus, especially those who only uses a smaller number of their plugins, with killing the WUP for current customers, feels a bit shit tbh!
Also the fact that they now only provide ONE single license, as when the WUP gave one extra, is really sneaky and cheap, most peeps do have their main workstation, and not seldom a laptop, or another workstation as backup, let’s hope this is being heard and that they at least fix this!
Years ago Waves sent spies into recording studios to sneak a look inside the computers to make sure the studio owners had legit copies of Waves plugins. It was ugly but musicians kept using Waves plugins. Then Waves came up with WUP and, although they complained a lot, musicians kept using Waves plugins. Now I see a lot of anger and upset, but the suits at Waves know that no matter how low they go musicians will keep using Waves plugins.
You teach people how to treat you.
I was on the cusp of buying Wave software. Thank god I didn’t. Anytime a software company switches to subscription service I dump them like yesterday’s news. ‘Software as a service’ is nothing but a crack dealer’s wet dream. I hold any software companies in the same contempt. I will never subscribe for software. EVER. Goodbye Waves. You treat your customers like marks in a con. Inherit the flatulent wind.
Honestly, for those who are not yet invested in a plugin collection, and who are about to find a good deal to supply their studio setup with the software tools to become their go to setup, this is an amazing offer! Hard to beat in all ways, both price wise and for what you get for your money.
The thing that is bad, as mentioned in my previous post, is the way they piss on current customers.
Just received an email from Waves CTO. They are going to continue making the perpetual license and updates available. I agree with the thought that Waves has too many products to profitably keep up with ever changing OS. I would understand if they retired some with a cross-grade option.
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