Today, Waves announced that they have moved across to a subscription model of pricing. Certainly, fans of Waves Audio plugins will have much to talk about following the plugin giant’s shift away from their previous pricing; here we detail the changes and what they mean for you.
Update
As of 15:45 BST on Wednesday 29th March 2023, Waves has announced the reinstatement of perpetual licenses and Waves upgrade plans alongside their Creative Access Subscription Plans
In the ever-shifting studio landscape, the way that engineers hand over their hard-earned cash for audio plugins is no more immune to change than any other commodity. Disliked by some, and hailed by others as a ticket to flexible usage, many studios are familiar with the idea of paying for software as they go. The all-important DAW is frequently offered using subscription models of payment, and increasingly, audio plugin developers are following suit as well.
Following Waves’ recent announcement, we have the answers to some of the questions Waves users will have to help them navigate the changes.
Are Waves Stopping Perpetual Licences?
Waves have confirmed to Production Expert that they are stopping perpetual licencing and moving to a subscription model of pricing. They state:
Starting March 27th Waves Creative Access will be the exclusive way to get Waves plugins. We won’t be selling perpetual licenses anymore.
What Is Waves Creative Access?
Waves Creative Access is the new collective name for subscription plans to access Waves Audio plugins.
How Much Does A Waves Creative Access Subscription Cost?
Waves describe Creative Access as an all-in-one subscription, including two levels to choose from: Waves Ultimate and Waves Essential .
Waves Ultimate
$24.99 month / $249 year .
Access to all Waves audio plugins comprising of over 220 products.
All plugin updates.
New plugins added regularly.
Access to StudioVerse AI-powered preset-sharing community.
Waves Essentials
$14.99 month / $149 year.
110 audio plugins.
All plugin updates.
New plugins added regularly .
Access to StudioVerse AI-powered preset-sharing community.
What Is Waves StudioVerse?
Waves StudioVerse is a preset-sharing community, accessible directly from the DAW. StudioVerse opens from the Waves StudioRack plugin chainer. It is billed as an AI-powered palette of mixing and production sounds.
I Already Have A WUP And Own Lots Of Waves Plugins. What Happens Now?
Waves have retired the Waves Upgrade Plan (WUP). For those that wish to access new products, Waves will offer a crossgrade option to users who own bundles or multiple Waves plugins. The offering will change depending on the Waves plugins each costumer has and the date they have been purchased. Some Waves users who own bundles will be able to get between 1-2 months for free.
I Have Recently Bought Waves Plugins For The First Time. What Happens Now?
Those who have purchased Waves plugins recently (timescale TBC at time of writing) will have access to the same crossgrade path as long standing users. Again, the offering will change depending on the Waves plugins each costumer has and the date they have been purchased. Some Waves users who own bundles will be able to get between 1-2 months for free.
Will Installing Waves Creative Access Deactivate My Perpetual Licences?
Waves users who have purchased perpetually licenced plugins are still theirs to use indefinitely. Users who want to continue using perpetual licences for purchased products should consult with Waves support pages before upgrading to Waves Creative Access.
Waves On StudioVerse
Connect to the world’s largest, AI-Powered palette of mixing and production sounds: Waves StudioVerse is a preset-sharing community, accessible directly from your DAW. With the StudioVerse community, you can finally take full advantage of the vast catalog. Use the chains as presets, or open them up to learn what each plugin is doing. Either way, you finally have the key to limitless production power.
StudioVerse opens from the Waves StudioRack plugin chainer, instantly allowing you to use:
Thousands of Mixing Chains in a Click From Grammy-winners like Young Guru, Chris Lord-Alge, and Jacquire King, plus hundreds of top pros. New chains are added regularly.
Chains are created by everyone StudioVerse is an open online system where everyone can share their own chains with a growing community
Delivered by Musically-Trained AI in your DAW Just hit the ‘Scan Audio’ button: StudioVerse’s musical machine learning engine will learn your track’s “Audio ID” and instantly recommends mixing chains matching your unique sonic fingerprint.
Shape Your Sound Instantly Each chain has up to 8 macros for easy tweakability. Go under the hood, learn how the pros created their chains, tweak or replace the plugins they used.
All of this is directly accessible from inside your sessions You can connect to this massive wealth of content/people without ever leaving your DAW.
To find out more on how the introduction of Waves Creative Access affects you, follow the link to their site below.
As of 15:45 BST, Waves has announced the reinstatement of perpetual licenses and Waves upgrade plans alongside their Creative Access Subscription Plans.