Purchasing options....

[earthboundboy]

Hi

I am new to Ableton Live, despite having threatened to abandon my beloved Acid for a while now. I got the demo version and am loving it.

I am frustrated though, as my finances do not permit me to shell out the £250 for the full version. Admittedly it is a bargain, but it's not a sum I am likely to have for a while.

I wondered if the developers have ever considered alternative ways for people to purchase their software. I am specifically thinking of something like a low-cost monthly subscription - you could use the software while you are paying the monthly amount and it would offer a route in to using the full software for those of us (and let's face it, i can't be alone here) poor struggling artists who have mortgages and families to consider. Instead of having a demo version that is frustratingly save disabled, you could subscribe to a one month trial period. Ableton would have a customer base it would be in regular direct contact with. I would wager it would remove some of the temptation people might have to try and obtain cracked versions - the initial outlay would be low. (Note - cracked software not an option *I* would consider, for the record)

The administrative costs of setting something like this up would probably be an issue but surely the benefits would outweigh this in the long run? Income would be steadier and more evenly distributed throughout the periods between new versions of the software, making financial planning easier. Upgrades would arguably be easier to roll out. I think it would encourage loyalty as well (though Live itself is good enough not to need to offer us any additional incentives, of course)

I'm sure there are issues I haven't considered here, so if anyone has any feedback or comments I'd be interested to hear 'em!

For now, I'm stuck with putting stuff together in the demo version, recording it out onto my minidisc and reassembling it in Acid again.

[Machinate]

For now, I'm stuck with putting stuff together in the demo version, recording it out onto my minidisc and reassembling it in Acid again.

hi, the demo version lets you load vst plugins right?

Tape It (pc only) lets you record from inside the host, I ímagine there are mac alternatives as well?
http://www.silverspike.com/Download/TapeIt.zip

[earthboundboy]

I haven't tried, actually. Still getting my head round the basics. I'll try that out though, thanks. I'm a PC-er so thumbs aloft there.