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

[SLiC]

I can understand the way a lot of you feel but I guess it just doesn't bother me. I feel like I get what I paid for. I certainly don't take it personally when a company makes a business decision I don't like.
With all that said, they could stop adding features and I'd be fine with it. Bitwig does what I need it to do. I understand that I'm an outlier in that regard. I can't speak for anyone else.

I am not upset I don't get the devices despite having a new upgrade plan, I don't particularly want them. However, I don't like deceit or false advertising and at best this is cynical (especially just after an upgrade plan offer/push).

Mostly, however, I am genuinely worried for the future of Bigwig after this debacle, their creativity is unquestionable, but it seems so is their business sense.

[n9research]

I, like many others here have, year on year, dutifully handed over our upgrade plan fees and kept our purchase up to date.

Why on earth did you do this? Why would you buy future features blindly?

Partly, with the idea of it being an "investment"; It's a small company but producing outstanding technology on a, no doubt, lean business plan, and going year-on-year was my small way of adding to the stability of income streams which, I would guess, is particularly important here.

I approve of the licensing model, which I consider fair and flexible and also wanted, by continuously subscribing, to contribute to the success of that model.

But also, I treat DAWs as a toy more than a tool - and so, more than anything else, I just like to play with shiny new things. Getting those in a trickle, from release, and also in Beta, is a nice way to do it.

There is no duty here. If you felt a duty to blindly give a company money once per year regardless of what you get, then that’s on you.

Perhaps "dutifully" was too pointed a word - I didn't intend for it to be taken quite so literally. "Happily" would be a much better choice.

[machinesworking]

This is way beyond repair. Why?
Once they get away with this, who knows what's next.

Maybe they hired (unknowingly) a new marketing specialist from Ableton

No, I can't brand Ableton with this, it's someone from In Music or Avid.

[sircuit]

At this point I have a single curiosity: the backlash is overwhelmingly negative across every outlet I read today (here, GS, reddit, twitter, facebook). I'm curious how or if the Bitwig marketing will react in a way. They have actual numbers and I'm pretty sure they took the decision based on those numbers (past and they will observe the future as well). If nothing changes, then the online communities (and general online activity) are way smaller than (we) expected (compared to the actual user database)

[liquidsound]

This is way beyond repair. Why?
Once they get away with this, who knows what's next.

Maybe they hired (unknowingly) a new marketing specialist from Ableton

No, I can't brand Ableton with this, it's someone from In Music or Avid.

[aMUSEd]

I would like to know more about the ‘Suite’ upgrade though because although this addon is interesting I don’t want to buy it now then find there’s a cheaper option to upgrade Bitwig + addons in one go. They could at least be open about that.

[Greenstorm33]

It's been said but what pisses me off the most is that as far as we know these were developed in house by the same devs who work on the DAW. The upgrade plan is paying for a year's worth of those devs' efforts. Now suddenly they are developing things that aren't covered by the plan, meaning that with no advance warning it's worth less than it was. The upgrade plan was already kind of a lousy deal and made Bitwig one of the most expensive DAWs to stay on the leading edge, but I rationalized it as supporting a small dev team doing innovative work. Now they have made the deal even worse. Did they honestly think people would be okay with this? The original scheme was pushing it but this is just insulting.

[ralfrobert]

If the second hand prices drop even more, I am tempted to buy.

[catamorphism]

If the second hand prices drop even more, I am tempted to buy.

Hard same

[aMUSEd]

No doubt Bitwigs brand has been (irreversibly?) damaged, such a shame,...I hope they take action, it's not too late to salvage this...but it will be soon.

Actually what they could do is to stop this nonsensical "upgrade plan" and move back towards regular releases + suite version (if they really must) just like Ableton. Problem solved

I think that’s the plan but they need to be clearer about that.

[Cyoon]

The DAW is still the best for it's purpose of sound design and creating imo, so I'm sure I will renew my plan nevertheless. They will most likely justify the value with their next releases to keep up with renewals. So, I don't mind them doing their special thing to earn a few more bucks.

[0degree]

No doubt Bitwigs brand has been (irreversibly?) damaged, such a shame,...I hope they take action, it's not too late to salvage this...but it will be soon.

Actually what they could do is to stop this nonsensical "upgrade plan" and move back towards regular releases + suite version (if they really must) just like Ableton. Problem solved

I think that’s the plan but they need to be clearer about that.

That's just my speculation and IMO it's quite a good solution to this debacle.

But I think there's one more thing they could do to ruin their reputation even more now - introduce full subscription which blocks the ability to use the DAW when it expires

OMG, WTF Bitwig

[SLiC]

No doubt Bitwigs brand has been (irreversibly?) damaged, such a shame,...I hope they take action, it's not too late to salvage this...but it will be soon.

Actually what they could do is to stop this nonsensical "upgrade plan" and move back towards regular releases + suite version (if they really must) just like Ableton. Problem solved

I think that’s the plan but they need to be clearer about that.

I was thinking more just add these devices to the next upgrade and refund anyone who bought them (has anyone?) - then we will all just pretend it didn't happen!

Ableton Live has a suite version 'and' sells devices in its shop (3rd party and their own). This model is perfectly workable, but you can't have this model and an 'all inclusive' upgrade plan.

[pekbro]

Currently there are too many ways for people to avoid paying them regularly, waiting for features, sales etc. They are working hard to eliminate all of those things no doubt.

[krazzmann]

I don't like their move either but honestly I don't get all these "I'll go back to ____" reactions. I mean Bitwig rocks and the we all love its features. Going back to DAWs with stock plugin UIs that may date back to the early 2000s? DAWs that crash because of a plugin went crazy? Back to the grey tristesse? Life without Moss's scripts? No f*cking way.

For me it all depends on how they further develop their product policy. If this change ends up with two product lines: a standard version that continues to receive great updates and a premium product with added devices that are also available as add-ons then I can live with that. I really don't know if I would like a move towards a pay-for-the-new-major-version model. I really love to receive new cool features every couple of months. With Ableton this happens only on every major release, means every couple of years, right?

Believe me, I was also shocked today, but I really can't stand this whining about Bitwig being expensive and that the company is greedy. If your yearly bill for hardware and plugins is similar to mine (and most musicians I know) then I don't get the point.