If you had to stick to one DAW, which one would it be?

[machinesworking]

But Google Trends are just search stat, right? It's not the usage or purchase statistics. So, how is that useful?

It's just a way to show why some people are confused by the results of this thread.
Mostly people don't get that the target audience matters. I would guess that most people in KVR fall into the category of mostly in the box with some live instruments, mostly towards some kind of experimental prog, maybe some dance music of some kind.

The crowd here isn't in the box home producers doing dance music, like all the FL Studio and Live numbers would say, and not many recording studio owners where Pro Tools numbers would be much higher.

Taking only the recording studio, film composing heavy DAWs into consideration it's not like there's some major trend away from Cubase. Though it points to Reaper being ridiculously popular. https://trends.google.com/trends/explor ... One,Reaper

This search with Live and Reaper makes it look like Live isn't popular, but that's simply not true. https://trends.google.com/trends/explor ... dio,Reaper

So if you put in Ableton instead of Ableton Live, you get significantly better numbers.
https://trends.google.com/trends/explor ... dio,Reaper

So in a way using this at all as an indicator is kinda not a good idea.

[elxsound]

As far as relevancy of trending searches on Google go, I wonder how many searches are made in SnapChat, Tik Tok and Instagram.

If that doesn’t account for anything then I better suck up the limitation of working on an IPad because desktops don’t seem to have a bright future.

That’s a crazy thought because as much as people argue about DAWs, we’ve all benefited from new features that narrowed many gaps between DAWs making it easier to finally work in just one.

[machinesworking]

That’s a crazy thought because as much as people argue about DAWs, we’ve all benefited from new features that narrowed many gaps between DAWs making it easier to finally work in just one.

Exactly. I'm pretty much only using DP these days, and for years it was DP or Logic, and Live. The differences are tiny at this point, but I still think there's a workflow difference between the sampler sequencer "Producer" DAWs like Bitwig, Live, Reason, FL Studio, and the recording studio, home composer DAWs like DP, Logic, Cubase, Studio One, and Reaper.

[EnGee]

Actually, I think KVR is a good place to make polls. There are many different users and genres, especially the popular ones. So, I think it is a good sample of the society.

I think it's not strictly this or that DAW is mostly for this genre of music. Maybe, FL Studio users are mostly hip hop or dance music, but Cubase or Logic can be anything. So, if a DAW is popular, maybe it is indication of its success among KVR users? The important thing is why it matters? Are numbers could affect your choice?

[machinesworking]

Actually, I think KVR is a good place to make polls. There are many different users and genres, especially the popular ones. So, I think it is a good sample of the society.

I think it's not strictly this or that DAW is mostly for this genre of music. Maybe, FL Studio users are mostly hip hop or dance music, but Cubase or Logic can be anything. So, if a DAW is popular, maybe it is indication of its success among KVR users? The important thing is why it matters? Are numbers could affect your choice?

Considering I use Digital Performer I'm of course not affected by what people use.

I think it's pretty obvious that the crowd here is mostly men in their late 30's to 60's, mostly PC users, mostly not doing dance music. So no, I don't think it's a good indicator of what DAWs are popular. Bitwig for example has it's main forum here, so that DAW scores much higher than any Google survey will do. Logic scores a bit lower because the forum skews PC a little more than the general music making audience is. Same with Pro Tools, it's not a recording studio forum, it's a forum started on VST plug ins, mostly smaller developers who do not all offer AAX versions.

[EnGee]

So it is mostly generation X! The poor of them! Can't complain! It is my generation

[Double Tap]

I just posted this in ... another thread and I'm not sure which one, but it was relevant. I think it's more relevant here though

Really cool.

I use Google Trends myself for other purposes, and it's a powerful tool. Here, it's interesting to see the giant fall of Cubase, so it makes sense they run discounts now and that they finally change their copy protection.

And ProTools: just about obliterated! Of course, a lot of people today perhaps just type PT.

Also interesting to see all of them decreasing over time. I thought there would have been more interest during lockdown last year, but apparently not. Maybe simple beatbox software got attention instead, and newcomers prefer easier and faster ways to express themselves.

Yeah I sort of buried my point - I think the most interesting thing about this is the decline in interest in general across these DAWs. It indicates to me that global interest in music production has actually been declining over the past 10 years, whichever DAW you select. And I can think of reasons why that might be the case. I don't think you can necessarily count on the reliability of relative popularity, although it does sort of follow other measures like the number of Facebook likes etc

But Google Trends are just search stat, right? It's not the usage or purchase statistics. So, how is that useful?

It's useful because it shows levels of interest. It may not be useful for investors or for figuring out which DAW to use or anything like that, but I think it's useful for showing the overall trend of interest in a subject. For example:

https://trends.google.com/trends/explor ... %20Holland

You might speculate that people searching for ableton or fl studio or pro tools could be people who are either using the software and need help, or are looking to buy it - I reckon it's probably more related to usage and learning than purchasing.

It's just a way to show why some people are confused by the results of this thread.
Mostly people don't get that the target audience matters. I would guess that most people in KVR fall into the category of mostly in the box with some live instruments, mostly towards some kind of experimental prog, maybe some dance music of some kind.

The crowd here isn't in the box home producers doing dance music, like all the FL Studio and Live numbers would say, and not many recording studio owners where Pro Tools numbers would be much higher.

Taking only the recording studio, film composing heavy DAWs into consideration it's not like there's some major trend away from Cubase. Though it points to Reaper being ridiculously popular. https://trends.google.com/trends/explor ... One,Reaper

This search with Live and Reaper makes it look like Live isn't popular, but that's simply not true. https://trends.google.com/trends/explor ... dio,Reaper

So if you put in Ableton instead of Ableton Live, you get significantly better numbers.
https://trends.google.com/trends/explor ... dio,Reaper

So in a way using this at all as an indicator is kinda not a good idea.

The thing is that you've got to consider whether a search term is unique or if it might be confused with something else. With Reaper, there was a TV series in 2007 to 2009 with the same name and a movie in 2014, plus there's an Overwatch character called Reaper, and I think they confuse the issue. Ableton, Cubase, Bitwig, Tracktion - these are unlikely to be confused with other things. Studio One, Reaper, and Logic (there's a vape pen called Logic Pro!) are all a bit problematic because of the number of alternative uses. I figure FL Studio is probably safe too, because if you do a search for [fl studio -image-line] most results are still about the DAW.

Actually, ProTools is a bit problematic - there's quite a few other things that come up if you -Avid.

It's not clear how Google divides 'search term' from other types of search. For example https://trends.google.com/trends/explor ... m%2F0cqt90

[pixel85]

The "online decline" of Cubase is showing mostly how last cracked Cubase become obsolete over time If you check social media, you'll see that cracked software is bringing a lot of traffic. Every little Johnny and Staszek age 11 and 12, can get it then post thousands of questions about it because they want to gain knowledge as easy as they got new software, without (oh my gosh!) reading the manual. I see the same few basic questions about Live and FL asked every single day.
After that, it's quite easy to demo almost any DAW while (if I'm not mistaken) Cubase require dongle to try it? People don't bother about software that they can't easily get or even try. Steinberg did it to Cubase at they own wish.

[machinesworking]

The thing is that you've got to consider whether a search term is unique or if it might be confused with something else. With Reaper, there was a TV series in 2007 to 2009 with the same name and a movie in 2014, plus there's an Overwatch character called Reaper, and I think they confuse the issue. Ableton, Cubase, Bitwig, Tracktion - these are unlikely to be confused with other things. Studio One, Reaper, and Logic (there's a vape pen called Logic Pro!) are all a bit problematic because of the number of alternative uses. I figure FL Studio is probably safe too, because if you do a search for [fl studio -image-line] most results are still about the DAW.

Actually, ProTools is a bit problematic - there's quite a few other things that come up if you -Avid.

It's not clear how Google divides 'search term' from other types of search. For example https://trends.google.com/trends/explor ... m%2F0cqt90

This is why it's not that useful really, there's different search results for Ableton, and Ableton Live, Logic Pro and Logic X, besides Traction spelled without a k is also going to show up in Tracktion searches, Pro Tools is too generic, and people will search for Avid Pro Tools as well. Cubase might have low results simply because it's a unique word that will not result in misfires, unlike pretty much everything but Bitwig and Ableton, but all of those have alternative search terms you could use that change the results.

We all know that FL Studio, Pro Tools, Logic and Live are incredibly popular, with Cubase, Studio One, and Reaper not far behind. Reason, Sonar, Tracktion, Bitwig, DP, and Samplitude being on the lowest tier. None of that colors my choice of DAW at all though.

[EnochLight]

The "online decline" of Cubase is showing mostly how last cracked Cubase become obsolete over time If you check social media, you'll see that cracked software is bringing a lot of traffic. Every little Johnny and Staszek age 11 and 12, can get it then post thousands of questions about it because they want to gain knowledge as easy as they got new software, without (oh my gosh!) reading the manual. I see the same few basic questions about Live and FL asked every single day.
After that, it's quite easy to demo almost any DAW while (if I'm not mistaken) Cubase require dongle to try it? People don't bother about software that they can't easily get or even try. Steinberg did it to Cubase at they own wish.

By that logic, Reaper should be the most popular DAW in the world since you can use it forever for 100% free if you click past the nag screen, without any need to pirate or crack. Also, 11 and 12 year olds? Come on man - clearly you don’t have kids.

[pixel85]

The "online decline" of Cubase is showing mostly how last cracked Cubase become obsolete over time If you check social media, you'll see that cracked software is bringing a lot of traffic. Every little Johnny and Staszek age 11 and 12, can get it then post thousands of questions about it because they want to gain knowledge as easy as they got new software, without (oh my gosh!) reading the manual. I see the same few basic questions about Live and FL asked every single day.
After that, it's quite easy to demo almost any DAW while (if I'm not mistaken) Cubase require dongle to try it? People don't bother about software that they can't easily get or even try. Steinberg did it to Cubase at they own wish.

By that logic, Reaper should be the most popular DAW in the world since you can use it forever for 100% free if you click past the nag screen, without any need to pirate or crack. Also, 11 and 12 year olds? Come on man - clearly you don’t have kids.

Nah I have internet and social media. That's enough
And about Reaper... cmon it's ugly as f***. Ugly stuff is never popular.

[Spencer Maddox]

The global interest in music making is not declining, if anything the pandemic created a new wave of hobbyists. Take the success recently of Splice as an example of that.

[Spencer Maddox]

The Cubase Argument isint Actually a bad argument and it’s a point I’ve thought of before, but Logic is also impossible to pirate by design, yet it remains very popular in more EDM focused crowds.

In my eyes it could tell part of Cubase’s story but not the entire story.

I think the dongle has been off putting to a lot of people, which is why it will likely be a welcomed change in V12. I know there’s people here who liked the dongle and that’s perfectly valid but it seems that typically was a major turnoff for many consumers. like You just brought a 600$ program and now your telling them they need to buy a USB stick?

[sQeetz]

I hate Logic. Can't get anything done with it. I dunno why....
The day Cubase goes dongle-less is the day I'll demo it and decide if it's something for me or if I'll switch over to Renoise only.

[machinesworking]

Nah I have internet and social media. That's enough
And about Reaper... cmon it's ugly as f***. Ugly stuff is never popular.

Yeah you couldn't be more wrong. It's cheaper, to free even if you can deal with the nagware pop up, which is nothing. It's not popular among maybe the electronic music crowd, but most people who do other forms of music just need something that can record audio and let them mix tracks.