Live 9 Pricing

[bhairav7]

I've tried to just read and not comment, but I feel that those of you who keep trying to say that this was an honest mistake are being somewhat disingenuous.

We're not talking about a single price being changed. If you've followed this enough you would have noticed that there have been many different initial prices posted depending on previously owned add-ons, and that all of these disparate prices were raised somewhere around $100. For me it was $105. I had the Suite 8 upgrade in my cart and had to run to work, and then when I got home and pulled out my credit card the price had close to doubled.

I might play along if there was a single price that had been input in error, but from all appearances these were carefully vetted launch prices of differing values. It seems Ableton made the mistake of not announcing or thinking through what the discount for existing Suite 8 owners would be, and once that uproar happened they subsequently scrambled to try and make the users who previously invested the most happy. In doing so they managed to upset the users who have spent a little less but still quite a lot over the years.

I just purchased my Live 8 upgrade less than three months ago. I certainly hope that I hear back from support that they are willing to honor the price that I put my Suite upgrade in my shopping cart at.

[Per Boysen]

Nice metaphor with the "early birds getting the worm". I was and early bird but I didn't pull out my credit card fast enough. When the prices suddenly doubled I held back and checked the forum to see what was going on... and jeez, what long discussion I found there! I followed the advice to "contact Ableton support" and they have not answered back yet, so I guess they are very busy right now. Not an urgent matter anyway, since I used that money for a GK3 pickup (more urgent need). I may buy the upgrade later, even though it means buying stuff I already have, if some more information on Push is gonna be published; just so I can decide if it will work well for me (need that kind of controller/instrument not only for Live but also for other apps). If it turns out Push is locked into some kind of propriety format I may have to skip over and in that scenario it seems to be natural to jump off the Live upgrade bandwagon that I have happily been following since version 3. From reading this thread I have found out that Live is now among the most expensive solutions for electronics live performance but I don't mind paying if the product justifies the price and matches my needs. So for me it all is about how good Push turns out to be. Still no MIDI specification chart published, so it's hard to tell. I'm fine just waiting until info is up. I think I can stop subscribing to this thread now. Thanks you everyone that put time into doing research on the matter!

[oddstep]

@bhairav7 - i think it was an honest mistake, one price - the base price of live 8 suite was wrong and then all the other automatically calculated prices which relied on that manually entered price were also wrong. its the sort of thing that happens to me all the time, I'm lucky that my work generally doesn't get into the public domain before I have a chance to check it.

[3dot...]

(ich bin hier und du bist mein sofa...)

oh wait a sec...
Gerard would never quote Frank Zappa...
that would be lame

[ttilberg]

Abelton reg to suite boxed: $309 OOPS, sorry mistake, now it's $469

This has been a common sentiment across the board -- but I don't get it. Comparing "this price" to that of a regular software update is not the same!

There is a HUGE difference between Standard Live 8 and Live 8 Suite. If you've been getting on with Live 8 just fine, without using Operator/etc -- then why are people comparing their Live 8 price upgrade to that of also bumping up to suite?

And for current Suite owners saying you are being forced into M4L -- that's just not true. Upgrade to Live 9 Standard. Anything you currently have licensed will continue to be licensed (like Operator, Analog, instrument packs, etc).

Standard 8 to Suite 8/9 is a much bigger update than just Live 8 > Live 9.

For me, the update to Live 9 is $159*. And it's probably similar for you too once you stop trying to sneak the Suite upgrade in there, along with a version update.

*EDIT: I originally wrote $149, but my upgrade from Suite to 9 Standard is $159

[stringtapper]

My price stayed the same. What's all the fuss?

[exper]

Abelton reg to suite boxed: $309 OOPS, sorry mistake, now it's $469

This has been a common sentiment across the board -- but I don't get it. Comparing "this price" to that of a regular software update is not the same!

There is a HUGE difference between Standard Live 8 and Live 8 Suite. If you've been getting on with Live 8 just fine, without using Operator/etc -- then why are people comparing their Live 8 price upgrade to that of also bumping up to suite?

And for current Suite owners saying you are being forced into M4L -- that's just not true. Upgrade to Live 9 Standard. Anything you currently have licensed will continue to be licensed (like Operator, Analog, instrument packs, etc).

Standard 8 to Suite 8/9 is a much bigger update than just Live 8 > Live 9.

For me, the update to Live 9 is $149. And it's probably similar for you too once you stop trying to sneak the Suite upgrade in there, along with a version update.

No, I WANT the suite upgrade, but when it was $309 for boxed. (with the 25% off.) However, they jacked up the price of Regular to Suite 8. So it should have been about $232. Now that they jacked it up to $469 (boxed) it's much higher isn't it.

Why does everyone's upgrade prices vary? Standard 8 - 9 upgrade for me will be $159. What's the difference between you and I?

[stringtapper]

Sonar Studio upgrade from any version: $149
Presonus Studio 1 Pro upgrade: $149
Reason (from any version) $169
Sonar Producer (from any previous): $199
Cubase upgrade from 4/5 $199
Abelton reg to suite boxed: $309 OOPS, sorry mistake, now it's $469
DP from previous version: $199

So, yes, the only other program matching Ableton's $300 for suite 8 download (with 25% discount, then back to the NEW $399 price) is Pro Tools. But without that $25 percent off, congratulations. We have the high cost winner.

As ttilberg said, you're comparing upgrades from equal packages (e.g. DP 6 to DP 7) to an upgrade from a lower package to a more expensive package (e.g. Live 8 Standard to Live 9 Suite).

Disingenuous at best, and logically incompetent at worst. Back to the (complaint) drawing board for you.

[exper]

And for current Suite owners saying you are being forced into M4L -- that's just not true. Upgrade to Live 9 Standard. Anything you currently have licensed will continue to be licensed (like Operator, Analog, instrument packs, etc).

That's worth knowing

How do you know that's the case? Is there an official page stating that? You would be downgrading your license, wouldn't you?

[gp23]

And for current Suite owners saying you are being forced into M4L -- that's just not true. Upgrade to Live 9 Standard. Anything you currently have licensed will continue to be licensed (like Operator, Analog, instrument packs, etc).

That's worth knowing

How do you know that's the case? Is there an official page stating that? You would be downgrading your license, wouldn't you?

viewtopic.php?p=1445364#p1445364

Yes, this is true - if you upgrade from Suite 8 to Live 9 Standard, you'll retain all Instruments and other extras that you had with Suite 8. You won't get any of the new content with Live 9 Suite that isn't in Live 9 Standard, however.

[exper]

Sonar Studio upgrade from any version: $149
Presonus Studio 1 Pro upgrade: $149
Reason (from any version) $169
Sonar Producer (from any previous): $199
Cubase upgrade from 4/5 $199
Abelton reg to suite boxed: $309 OOPS, sorry mistake, now it's $469
DP from previous version: $199

So, yes, the only other program matching Ableton's $300 for suite 8 download (with 25% discount, then back to the NEW $399 price) is Pro Tools. But without that $25 percent off, congratulations. We have the high cost winner.

As ttilberg said, you're comparing upgrades from equal packages (e.g. DP 6 to DP 7) to an upgrade from a lower package to a more expensive package (e.g. Live 8 Standard to Live 9 Suite).

Disingenuous at best, and logically incompetent at worst. Back to the (complaint) drawing board for you.

Actually, I'll totally own up to that. I was tired and correct, it's not a fair comparison. Please disregard that. However, I still stand by the fact that they jacked the upgrade prices from a week ago. The upgrade from standard 8 to suite 8 boxed has jumped by $160. So yes, you are forced to pay for the m4l addition whether you want it or not. The thing that is disingenuous, is that Ableton states it as being included. Well, it is, at a further, forced premium. They should have still left it as a separate add on, and none of this would have happened.

[exper]

viewtopic.php?p=1445364#p1445364

Yes, this is true - if you upgrade from Suite 8 to Live 9 Standard, you'll retain all Instruments and other extras that you had with Suite 8. You won't get any of the new content with Live 9 Suite that isn't in Live 9 Standard, however.

Cool, that's a nice perk for those who don't want m4l forced on them with the Suite 9 upgrade price.

[jonny72]

So yes, you are forced to pay for the m4l addition whether you want it or not. The thing that is disingenuous, is that Ableton states it as being included. Well, it is, at a further, forced premium. They should have still left it as a separate add on, and none of this would have happened.

If you look back at previous versions of Live Suite things are pretty much the same as before.

With each new release of Live they include additional content in the Suite bundle. Including M4L in the Suite hasn't pushed up the price, it's just one of the new components that Ableton decided to include in it. It's pretty much the same with all the additional components, when they first come out individually they are more expensive and eventually they end up in the Suite bundle.

The pricing hasn't changed much either, Live 8 to Live 9 Suite is pretty much the same as Live 7 to Live 8 Suite cost.

[ttilberg]

Why does everyone's upgrade prices vary? Standard 8 - 9 upgrade for me will be $159. What's the difference between you and I?

Sorry dude, my bad -- My price to upgrade to Live 9 Standard is $159.

I currently have Live 8 Suite.

[exper]

So yes, you are forced to pay for the m4l addition whether you want it or not. The thing that is disingenuous, is that Ableton states it as being included. Well, it is, at a further, forced premium. They should have still left it as a separate add on, and none of this would have happened.

If you look back at previous versions of Live Suite things are pretty much the same as before.

With each new release of Live they include additional content in the Suite bundle. Including M4L in the Suite hasn't pushed up the price, it's just one of the new components that Ableton decided to include in it. It's pretty much the same with all the additional components, when they first come out individually they are more expensive and eventually they end up in the Suite bundle.

The pricing hasn't changed much either, Live 8 to Live 9 Suite is pretty much the same as Live 7 to Live 8 Suite cost.

But that's just it. The pricing has gone up significantly. See my previous post. Before this week, Standard 8 to Suite 8 Boxed was $309. Now its $469.