[Fixed in 4.4] Weird bug: latest "Spectral Suite" update not included in upgrade plan

[sbmongoose]

so as you see above they will do nothing
the will not listening to all of us

so we must eat it or switch

maybe we can get a refund , i will write tem again

Just stop claiming to have responses from them. Even if that is totally genuine, you cried wolf already. We can't trust or believe anything you claim.

[foosnark]

After a day of this, this is what I think:

- The update plan itself is unusual and can be a bit confusing. I don't think it's all bad, but it does have flaws.

- The biggest flaw IMHO is that the update plan does not and cannot possibly make promises about what you will get in the next 12 months -- how many updates or what will be in them.

- If the company wants to put their effort into something other than Bitwig Studio updates, they have every right to do so.

- Nothing about the update plan has ever promised that Bitwig won't have optional add-ons that are not included in the core package.

But until yesterday they never communicated that optional add-ons are a possibility -- and that's where they tripped over their own feet here. I do think it's valid to make a distinction between "update" and "add-on" but they should have made it clear in advance that this was coming, given some justification, and a teaser for what's planned for future updates.

- The suite itself is pretty amazing. It's not something with universal appeal, but for people of a certain mindset these tools unlock a LOT of doors. I've been wanting something like this for years.

At the very damn least, can they remove the "Some installed packages can be updated" nag. I'd like to have some chance of putting this behind me.

Agreed 100%, that has always been an annoying nag. I don't care about any of their preset content but was forced to download it to shut up that stupid popup. It must be doubly frustrating to get that about the suite stuff.

[musikarldererste]

my english is not so good , so i cant write like that
this response its not a fake , i think many gets a similar message

[don_looney]

"Future-proof: All Bitwig Studio updates in the following 12 months are FREE."

I think this is still the case if you can install the version 4.3.9 without purchasing the add-on.

[SLiC]

Give them a chance ffs.

They have a massive chance to redeem themselves by releasing the next update BETA ASAP - 4.4 or whatever it is- as long as it's a good one and obviously not wreaked the time developing these devices (or maybe they developed these for the next update and then decided last minute they could sell them separately; in which case the next update will be delayed or contain less than normal)

Next 'normal' free update is make or break for many users I feel...

[PieBerger]

Instead I just feel like I want to dump this DAW and use Ableton ( I already use both ) exclusively instead. They've just become another Adobe overnight here, the US and THEM mentality i.e. they do something, we get pissed off, they don't ever listen. This will no doubt continue to get worse.

C'mon - you are jumping to a huge conclusion here...

Yhey are no Adobe locking in an entire industry and buying up all the competition. They are just a small company trying to make good music software - and doing a great job if you ask me.

They have always replied to my emails to them. They are almost certainly lovely people active in their music tech community (i.e. supporting CLAP).

Give them a chance ffs.

Being nice people is separate from being able to run a successful business. If they keep making bad commercial decisions, that upset customers, they will be nice people without jobs soon enough

[pdxindy]

"Future-proof: All Bitwig Studio updates in the following 12 months are FREE."

My music sucks and I don't need this add-on, but I could buy it if I wanted to. Now that's out of the way, the problem isn't that it exists and can be bought or not, the problem is that the above statement, which is still on their website, no longer holds true. The Bitwig Upgrade plan is no longer future-proof, because some (i.e. not all) updates to Bitwig Studio are no longer free in the following 12 months after activating an upgrade license.

The money is insignificant for me. Hell, I just bought the 3rd Wave synth and that piece of gear alone would cover something like 25 years of Bitwig updates.

I do find it disappointing that I purchased the annual Bitwig plan with the understanding that I would receive all updates for free and now, from my perspective, they reneged on that in the middle of my current plan.

I'm not annoyed anymore today. Life's too short to spend much time being annoyed by others. And I'm not going to stop using Bitwig because there is nothing else quite like it. As of now, I do feel less enthusiasm for the company and I don't know if that will come back.

[giacometti777]

Give them a chance ffs.

They have a massive chance to redeem themselves by releasing the next update BETA ASAP - 4.4 or whatever it is- as long as it's a good one and obviously not wreaked the time developing these devices (or maybe they developed these for the next update and then decided last minute they could sell them separately; in which case the next update will be delayed or contain less than normal)

Next 'normal' free update is make or break for many users I feel...

They HAVE to fix this and give everyone the Spectral devices immediately as well as deliver on 4.4. Otherwise, Bitwig is pretty obviously doomed. They were built on the back of evangelists whose influence will now turn rabidly negative. This isn't something they can survive in their current form.

[aproject]

After a day of this, this is what I think:

- The update plan itself is unusual and can be a bit confusing. I don't think it's all bad, but it does have flaws.

- The biggest flaw IMHO is that the update plan does not and cannot possibly make promises about what you will get in the next 12 months -- how many updates or what will be in them.

- If the company wants to put their effort into something other than Bitwig Studio updates, they have every right to do so.

- Nothing about the update plan has ever promised that Bitwig won't have optional add-ons that are not included in the core package.

But until yesterday they never communicated that optional add-ons are a possibility -- and that's where they tripped over their own feet here. I do think it's valid to make a distinction between "update" and "add-on" but they should have made it clear in advance that this was coming, given some justification, and a teaser for what's planned for future updates.

- The suite itself is pretty amazing. It's not something with universal appeal, but for people of a certain mindset these tools unlock a LOT of doors. I've been wanting something like this for years.

At the very damn least, can they remove the "Some installed packages can be updated" nag. I'd like to have some chance of putting this behind me.

Agreed 100%, that has always been an annoying nag. I don't care about any of their preset content but was forced to download it to shut up that stupid popup. It must be doubly frustrating to get that about the suite stuff.

I wrote to them about it:
Hello, I'm glad that you created an interesting update in the form of Spectral Suite but I have a small problem, I already have a lot of similar plugins and I will not use this update, so how can I disable notifications about this update? because every time I run Bitwig a notification pops up. I know you can turn them off with the little dot in the right corner, but that doesn't solve the problem.

Answer from Bitwig support:
yes, this will be solved in the next update.

Best regards,
Bitwig Technical Support Team

[PieBerger]

"Future-proof: All Bitwig Studio updates in the following 12 months are FREE."

I think this is still the case if you can install the version 4.3.9 without purchasing the add-on.

they pulled a dirty trick, deciding without any warning, that they can arbitrarily decide that device X counts as an Add-on, where in the past no distinction was made between which devices are considered part of the base program. For example all of the latest '+' FX devices and Convolution Reverb were devices, same as Spectral Suite, but they weren't classed as Add-ons, nor was the Grid, which one could argue is a "specialized" device, a distinction they are attempting to make for Add-on products.

The fact that so many people feel cheated is testimony to the fact that most people believed the above statement was properly inclusive of any and all devices developed by Bitwig for Bitwig Studio.

I'm sure they've had legal teams go over this to have them confirm that it is suitably open for legal interpretation, to avoid being sued, but to the layman i.e. most users it, reads as free updates to the function of the DAW including native devices, for 12 months after upgrading.

If we were idiots for believing this to the case, maybe it's on us for being so naive, but we'll learn our lesson and be less trusting in the future, which in all likelihood will mean less frequent upgrades and ultimately less revenue for future development, short to medium term at least. "12 months free updates" has lost its meaning and therefore value; maybe there will be a nice update or two within 12 months or maybe just some more Add-ons that aren't wanted.

[billcarroll]

Instead I just feel like I want to dump this DAW and use Ableton ( I already use both ) exclusively instead. They've just become another Adobe overnight here, the US and THEM mentality i.e. they do something, we get pissed off, they don't ever listen. This will no doubt continue to get worse.

C'mon - you are jumping to a huge conclusion here...

Yhey are no Adobe locking in an entire industry and buying up all the competition. They are just a small company trying to make good music software - and doing a great job if you ask me.

They have always replied to my emails to them. They are almost certainly lovely people active in their music tech community (i.e. supporting CLAP).

Give them a chance ffs.

Being nice people is separate from being able to run a successful business. If they keep making bad commercial decisions, that upset customers, they will be nice people without jobs soon enough

Let's break down "Being nice."

Nice - Middle English (in the sense ‘stupid’): from Old French, from Latin nescius ‘ignorant’, from nescire ‘not know’.

Actions are what matter, and nobody actually cares about intentions or how you feel on the inside. Mountains do not move for feelings, only for actions.

Act nice = you are nice.

[operator]

Customers be like: "The Pandora´s Box has been opened! I am worried a lot about the future..."

Devs be like: "Money´rain, Money`rain, Money´rain."

[0degree]

Interestingly somebody on Reddit pointed out they have changed the wording on their "buy" page:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitwig/comment ... &context=3

If you go to web archive https://web.archive.org/web/20220923055 ... g.com/buy/ at the bottom of the page we have:
"12 Months of Free Upgrades
Future-proof: All software updates in the following 12 months are FREE."

Now when you go to https://www.bitwig.com/buy/ you have:
"12 Months of Free Upgrades
Future-proof: All Bitwig Studio updates in the following 12 months are FREE."

[PieBerger]

"Future-proof: All Bitwig Studio updates in the following 12 months are FREE."

My music sucks and I don't need this add-on, but I could buy it if I wanted to. Now that's out of the way, the problem isn't that it exists and can be bought or not, the problem is that the above statement, which is still on their website, no longer holds true. The Bitwig Upgrade plan is no longer future-proof, because some (i.e. not all) updates to Bitwig Studio are no longer free in the following 12 months after activating an upgrade license.

The money is insignificant for me. Hell, I just bought the 3rd Wave synth and that piece of gear alone would cover something like 25 years of Bitwig updates.

I do find it disappointing that I purchased the annual Bitwig plan with the understanding that I would receive all updates for free and now, from my perspective, they reneged on that in the middle of my current plan.

I'm not annoyed anymore today. Life's too short to spend much time being annoyed by others. And I'm not going to stop using Bitwig because there is nothing else quite like it. As of now, I do feel less enthusiasm for the company and I don't know if that will come back.

I'm still riding the drama train a bit and I'm sure my disappointment will fade soon enough, but I share your similar deflation of enthusiasm for the Bitwig project. I'm a long time observer, fairly late adopter and I have since convinced quite a few of my producer friends to take the plunge too and that drive to encourage disgruntled users of other DAWs over to the green grass of Bitwig is all but gone now. It's still the best option for my needs, but it will hard to be able to sing its praise to others and be generally excited about it, if this current move sticks and continues as a ongoing trend. The hype train will become more like the hungover sunday morning stroll

[operator]

Interestingly somebody on Reddit pointed out they have changed the wording on their "buy" page:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitwig/comment ... &context=3

Hahahahaha... I love the internet!!! Thx for pointing that out...

Isn´t that fraud??? If so, I think I got scammed too... I bought an upgrade a few months back.