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

[SLiC]

Bitwig don’t make any money at all from people using the DAW, only from new users or people buying update plans. I suspect both have slowed down.

I’m not sure what they can do about it….it may be the saturated market and high maturity (features) of other DAWs that stop people trying Bitwig or just that most of the people who while the ‘Bitwig type of thing’ have Bitwig already and as Bitwig matures there is less need to update so frequently…

[pdxindy]

I think the reality is they are in a tenuous situation financially (substantiated by earnings reports linked elsewhere) and they are in no position to stop growing (let alone take losses). So whether the exodus is massive or not may not matter. I’m not switching to another DAW but I’m not going to pay them anything till they make this right.

Of course you are free to make whatever choice you wish.

Assuming that you don't just want them to fail as a company, you are betting that you (and others thinking like you) can impact their finances enough to force an action you want without putting them out of business.

If they are in a tenuous financial situation, the very last thing I want is for them to go out of business. So I'm not willing to risk that because it is no benefit for any user including myself. That is why I purchased the Spectral Suite today, even though it is not something I find a must have.

I'll have my discussion with them in another manner...

[Alchemedia]

Perhaps Bitwig is planning to sell-out and this was a desperate attempt to demonstrate ways to enhance profitability in order to entice Francisco Partners, etc.

[andypryce]

Bitwig don’t make any money at all from people using the DAW, only from new users or people buying update plans. I suspect both have slowed down.

I’m not sure what they can do about it….it may be the saturated market and high maturity (features) of other DAWs that stop people trying Bitwig or just that most of the people who while the ‘Bitwig type of thing’ have Bitwig already and as Bitwig matures there is less need to update so frequently…

They ignored the standart DAW features for so long in favor of geeky stuff.
That might be the reason for slow down, if there is any that is.

[liquidsound]

Perhaps Bitwig is planning to sell-out and this was a desperate attempt to demonstrate ways to enhance profitability in order to entice Francisco Partners, etc.

That thought did enter my mind but if it is, that failed miserably

[musikarldererste]

the free plugins you will get when you buy an updateplan sometimes
cost much for bitwig leave those out,

[hyperdeath666]

If they are in a tenuous financial situation, the very last thing I want is for them to go out of business. So I'm not willing to risk that because it is no benefit for any user including myself. That is why I purchased the Spectral Suite today, even though it is not something I find a must have.

If this was actually a product of tenuous finances then they should come out and say so. Maybe they will. I would happily throw them $80 if they need it to stay afloat and are forthright about the situation. As it stands, though, their silence is deafening.

[pekbro]

Once you stop paying for upgrades and the last version you paid for becomes unusable due to the many bugs contained in it.

There are not a lot of bugs in the recent versions of Bitwig.

My last version was ver 3 something, right after they introduced the grid. Pretty much
unusable for me. *shrug

[Phil B]

I’m not sure bitwig even has thousands of users, but it’s pretty unfathomable to think that they will not lose meaningful revenue from their breach of the EULA and lack of mea culpa.

I'm not convinced of that because it is not immediate.

Who knows. It's all conjecture right now especially when trying to project what's in the mind of an unknown number of strangers. I can only speak for myself and that this all inspired me to open up Ableton 11.2 / Max for Live and have very much enjoyed the last 24 hours with it. It's been a while and some great updates - and it reminds me how much easier the flat gray is on my eyes, personally. The MIDI Comping works great too!! And I finally spent a few minutes learning how the MFL modulation system works -- a bit more clunky, but obviously some very unique devices there, very flexible and an active community sharing new devices. We'll see - I can't guarantee what I'll think in 11 months though, that's true. But, I can pretty much make due with any DAW

[Phil B]

Perhaps Bitwig is planning to sell-out and this was a desperate attempt to demonstrate ways to enhance profitability in order to entice Francisco Partners, etc.

Definitely could have been a condition for a bridge loan or preferred stock investment too. Bitwig may've had to just hold their nose and do it if they are having cash flow issues. Certainly that's all (interesting) conjecture though

[dlandis]

I think the reality is they are in a tenuous situation financially (substantiated by earnings reports linked elsewhere) and they are in no position to stop growing (let alone take losses). So whether the exodus is massive or not may not matter. I’m not switching to another DAW but I’m not going to pay them anything till they make this right.

Of course you are free to make whatever choice you wish.

Assuming that you don't just want them to fail as a company, you are betting that you (and others thinking like you) can impact their finances enough to force an action you want without putting them out of business.

If they are in a tenuous financial situation, the very last thing I want is for them to go out of business. So I'm not willing to risk that because it is no benefit for any user including myself. That is why I purchased the Spectral Suite today, even though it is not something I find a must have.

I'll have my discussion with them in another manner...

Well-stated.

Some have raised the issue of trust and seem to only want to have a business relationship with a company that operates in what they consider to be a totally ethical manner. This is a fair paradigm to entertain. I do think, however, that it may be begging the question: are there any companies that have enough integrity to trust perfectly? I have trouble thinking of any. the second question that immediately comes to mind is this: if one is satisfied with the products being offered, is it necessary, helpful or feasible to analyze the situation from the standpoint of occasional lapses in the integrity of business practices?

Most likely, I will purchase Spectral Suite as well, though I am not pleased at the way Bitwig has handled this. I surely will not be leaving Bitwig. The length of the license precludes any knee-jerk reaction to this downturn and I'm sure Bitwig will continue to innovate its path as it evolves.

[Benutzername]

Just seen in a comment on Youtube:

What they could have done is: "Hello customers. We have created a collection of spectral devices that we are really proud of. We had planned to add these devices to 4.4 but our financial situation is really bad at the moment because of the overall situation. Please support us by buying these devices as an add on. You will gain early access and it will help us a lot to keep the dream of Bitwig alive. Don't worry, we will add these device later in another update for all of our users as a small thank you for staying with us in these strange days. Nobody will be left behind. Sincerely your Bitwig team".

If tight money really is the issue then I think that something like this would have been a very honest way to ask the users for help. A kind of "early access" system to support the team sounds like a very good idea to me to raise some money and I might have bought the devices just to support them.

[simmo75]

Money=>sense

[drewfx]

For those who don't want Bitwig to disappear:

You might want to consider whether constantly speculating on their financial situation without really knowing much about it is helping.

And people who suggest that if they are in trouble they should have communicated that might want to consider whether making that info public would cause people to rush out and renew or for new customers to buy in.

IMO, given the global economy and the direction it seems to be going, if they are in trouble already they had better have a really major update up their sleeve in the near term.

My hope is that they both make this right for those of us who were affected and also have something compelling coming soon. Or that they are perfectly OK and this was just a really bad and unnecessary decision (and again, they make it right).

[0degree]

Just seen in a comment on Youtube:

What they could have done is: "Hello customers. We have created a collection of spectral devices that we are really proud of. We had planned to add these devices to 4.4 but our financial situation is really bad at the moment because of the overall situation. Please support us by buying these devices as an add on. You will gain early access and it will help us a lot to keep the dream of Bitwig alive. Don't worry, we will add these device later in another update for all of our users as a small thank you for staying with us in these strange days. Nobody will be left behind. Sincerely your Bitwig team".

If tight money really is the issue then I think that something like this would have been a very honest way to ask the users for help. A kind of "early access" system to support the team sounds like a very good idea to me to raise some money and I might have bought the devices just to support them.

If they put statement like this I'd happily help them out. Pretty sure a lot of people would do the same