Ableton needs to be more transparent about it's updates

[docbot]

I think Ableton needs to be more transparent about it's future updates plan, I've tried asking support, but they simply didn't respond.
If I buy Ableton right now, I really have no idea for how long I will receive free upgrades for, since it's not clear when they will jump to Ableton Live 11.

Right now it's no given that their ever will be 10.2 they might jump to 10.5 or skip all point releases and go directly to 11 (payed upgrade). This is a bit messy, it would be better if they released more .x updates with smaller new features, there hasn't been a new feature release in a year and at this point it's really hard to convice mysefl to spend 700 bucks if you might have to pay for another new version in less than half a year.

I get that they want to suprise and wow everyone with a new version, but for new customers it's really an annoyance that there is no roadmap at all.

[Sean_Clarke]

You are assuming they have a roadmap!
Ableton development is currently very slow, I don't think you have to worry about Ableton 11 anytime soon....I would guess its 2-3 years away.

[docbot]

You are assuming they have a roadmap!
Ableton development is currently very slow, I don't think you have to worry about Ableton 11 anytime soon....I would guess its 2-3 years away.

I wouldn't be so sure, Ableton is quit a big company, but yeah maybe they're still reworking the whole codebase, but since they're not communicating at all about their future plans... who knows

[jonljacobi]

They don’t need to be, as they sell a lot of stuff without being forthcoming in the least. But I hear you. The no comment approach gets old in a hurry.

[pottering]

Multiple other companies already copy from Live all the time, imagine if Ableton showed what they have planned beforehand, those companies will obviously try to launch a copy of those features before Ableton.

[jestermgee]

Most companies don't offer roadmaps of their development because things can change in the industry of computer software very fast and people being the typical beings that they are sometimes take things a little too much as gospel and will have a bit of a meltdown if you decide a feature in the roadmap won't make it out after all or it doesn't release when the roadmap suggests it may. It's just far too much hassle to manage users fragile opinions around this stuff... just look at the Maschine forum on NI's site and people still moan about decisions made 3 years ago.

[yur2die4]

Support for future versions is basically a selling point. And it is fair to use that criteria to judge whether or not you find the value of the software justifiable.

Many daw companies to offer the free upgrade either for life, or for several versions. But yeah, they describe it as a feature that they offer uniquely. And it’s a great thing to offer in my opinion.

As for Ableton Live. This is not offered, what you are paying for is what is currently in existence. It’s nice to buy when a version is freshly released, or to wait until a good sale for purchasing the whole thing or an upgrade.

In some cases when Ableton do have a surprise announcement, if your purchase was really close to this announcement, you might be able to make your case to them and get bumped up (or so I’ve heard), and I think that’s a fair action, showing that they understand the investment and heartbreak one might feel otherwise.

But yeah. Consider it the cost of admission as-is, and for incremental updates. And consider the offerings of guaranteed upgrades from competitors as very strong features.

[ozinga]

Though they do not tell what is being added, one more or less knows when a Cubase or S1 update is. So one can adjust him/herself accordingly.
The problem with Live is development is very slow and in between big feature updates there is not much happening so it makes one cautious. If they instead were steadily releasing 1-2 small feature updates a year like S1 it would be much more foreseeable.
Currently there is no way to guess if 10.2 or 10.5 coming and when, or its been 2,5 years maybe nothing and we will have 11 next year etc.
It feels like Live is stuck at 10.1 forever. We are at 10.1.15 maybe like Reaper we have to wait until 10.1.99

[docbot]

I don't need to know what is coming, but they could at least communicate if the next release is 10.5 or 10.2 or how many .x releases one can inspect in one version (10.x).

Just not giving out any info for over a year after no updates is a bit absurd. If the next version is 10.5 or 10.2 and it's released sometime within the next 6 to 12 months, I would gladly hit the buy button, knowing that it will be at least another full year before a new version (that might be a paid upgrade) shows up after that.

It's a music software after all, there really is no reason for this uber secrecy, where they can't even foreshadow that a new version might be coming this year or next or in 5.

[yur2die4]

I guess something that also throws a wrench into the whole equation is the upcoming Apple OS update. I can see wanting to ensure that at least the current version of Live will be supported through to the Pooh that it functions reliably on the upcoming OS.

On Windows though, it stands as it is. And as mentioned, it is ‘for making music’. The current version with its price isn’t really going to prevent you from making music. Only distraction from thinking too much about whether you do or don’t get whatever update is coming next.

[jlgrimes]

Hardly any company is very transparent in the DAW world except maybe like Reaper.


That said Ableton has been on version 10 since 2017, so I'm fairly sure they are either finishing up on 11 or right in the middle of the upgrade. I'm pretty sure they would update more frequently if they could.

That said Ableton upgrades are fairly expensive so I actually appreciate the slower paced upgrade cycles (makes me feel like I'm getting my money's worth).

[pottering]

10.2 taking more time than they expected is exactly why they will never release a roadmap, won't promise future features and won't set release times beforehand.

[[erm]]

Nah, we just like watching people talk about how we're not doing anything so we can REALLY surprise you on a Tuesday.

[docbot]

Nah, we just like watching people talk about how we're not doing anything so we can REALLY surprise you on a Tuesday.

finally !

[jestermgee]

finally !

It's a long standing joke man, wouldn't get your hopes too high there.