s.balm wrote:A lot of you have been making music for sometime now. This likely means that many of you own some plug-in instruments already. Many of the instruments you own you may be quite happy with. Why should you have to pay for something you don't need?
Simply put; Not everyone needs a multisampler/synthesizer/sound library, so why should they have to pay for it.
I think that having the option is a positive thing. Perhaps you even decide that you really want them later (ahem..., after trying them).
Hopefully this makes sense to some of you.
BTW, I CAN see the other side of the argument as well...
Best,
s.
Hi. I agree with your point that people should not have to pay for bits they don't need. This is obviously a fair and decent point. However, it is not so clearly so when you consider that it is Ableton, not the customer, who is deciding which parts they need, and which they don't. For example, I need multicore support, but I don't need video support. For some that may be the other way around. I like the idea of the Racks, will probably pay the extra for the Essential Instruments, but I'm not yet sure about the Sampler (really depends on the upgrade bundle deal you offer, although note I have already paid for Operator anyway
).
My point is that you are making these decisions for us, which somewhat undermines your previous post.
To use an analogy, when Reason 3 appeared, Propellerhead could have said to us that the Combinator comes as part of the core programme and would be included in the (cheaper than yours) upgrade price... but that the M-Class Mastering effects were so good (comparable to T-Racks, etc) that they would charge users an extra $150 for them. Really, they
could have done that. Thank goodness they didn't, because they would have been really hated for it, though, and not just by users - the press would have had a field day condemning them for their treatment of the loyal customers. and given Reason a low score for value for money.
As a writer and very occasional magazine reviewer myself (for music educational press, plus a soon-to-be-launched music education website where I WILL be reviewing Live), I know that if Sampler came my way to review as a $199 product that ONLY works natively within Live 6 (
so not even for existing Live 5 customers who choose not to upgrade!!) I would be scratching my head. However good Sampler is - and I have no reason to doubt it will be absolutely brilliant! - I would still have to compare this against Directwave, Shortcircuit, etc. For value for money the score would have to be lowered already...
A related point is the base-line price of Live 6 itself, which I see will be $100 higher than Live 5. When I personally bought Ableton Live - version 2 - it was head-to-head with Acid 4 and Project 5 (v1) at the time. They were not such good products, very clearly, and the success Live has enjoyed is well earned.
But since then, Acid and P5 have both improved considerably.... AND lowered their prices!
The new price for Live puts it in the same region as Sonar 5 Producer, which includes many 100s of dollars of professional top-drawer instruments and effects included. I'm thinking that if Ableton could include the Roland Variphrase technology, you would be charging a hefty extra fee, correct?
Please understand that I really LOVE Live, and am very excited about the contents of the upgrade. Good work fellas! But I am concerned both as a user and as a potential reviewer that the costings are now out of step with the market. Perhaps you have consciously decided to reposition Live? Even so, I am concerned about that decision.
So my plea is that in the next few weeks prior to the launch you might at least address this by coming forward with some REALLY attractive bundles and offers.
