Pro Tools 12

The site says this:

If you do not currently have Pro Tools, it will cost $899 if you want to buy Pro Tools outright and not use the subscription model. This is about $200 more than what it costs to start with Pro Tools 11 right now but includes one year of use and service."

I think this statement is incorrect, or at a minimum poorly worded. My understanding is that for $899 you get a "perpetual license". Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Here is what Avid have to say about this:

"Q. Will my Pro Tools license expire at the end of the one-year support period?
A. No, you can continue to use Pro Tools after your upgrade/support period expires since you will own a 'perpetual' license. If you want to continue receiving upgrades, you will need to renew your upgrade/support plan. Pro Tools 11 owners will have through the end of 2015 to get on an upgrade/support plan."

So, it' still expensive to buy into Pro Tools, and it appears to me that only users who sign up for the subscription service will lose the ability to use PT if they opt out.

I find it interesting and a bit odd that there is so much confusion surrounding Pro Tools. Sure, some of the problem comes from Avid's failure to communicate, but users themselves contribute to the madness, IMHO. It's nutty, I tell ya.

So - since I own PT 10 & 11, I already own a perpetual license, correct? So, now I just have to pay the $199 a year for updates, right?

BleeHD also says this:

"whenever you upgrade to 12, you surrender your previous licenses"

Yes, I think this is true. And has been for years. When I upgraded from PT 9 to 11, I surrendered my license for 9. It still shows in my iLok account, but is not activated. Again, I welcome corrections if what I say is not true.

My point is that all interested Pro Tools users should be very skeptical of ad-hoc commentary regarding the platform and associated licensing. Too many people seem to be getting it wrong (including me, perhaps).

While there seem to be a lot of people hell-bent on creating confusion, Avid should have been talking at NAMM about incremental upgrades and universal factory support which is actually a brilliant policy change rather confusing everybody with talk about cloud service. I'm not sure their salespeople really get it. Avid communicated a lot better to Media Composer users.

The license surrender is to a new one containing 10, 11 and 12 as part of a bundle that can't be separated. This is done so people can't sell their old licenses. It's no different from other license upgrades.

Nobody ever loses the use of a Pro Tools version other than renters who can only use 12 during months they have paid for. Owners of 12 can use it forever only it stops accumulating new features after the support contract expires.

Subscription-based software is the future for many vendors, along with the cloud thang. (Adobe, for instance)

"Move over or get run over" seems to be the order of the day.

I can see why companies are doing it -- it makes it easy to get new customers hooked on their tools. The new free Pro Tools is part of that, too.

It is just hard to swallow for the existing customer that have invested big $$$ in upgrades over the years.

Thanks, I stand corrected. I seem to remember surrendering my PT 9 license when I upgraded to 11, but it was a while back. Memory does not always serve as expected.

In any event, it is clear that Avid are offering two modes of PT use: rent via the subscription service; or own via outright purchase of a perpetual license. New purchases include one year of support, and current owners can buy into the new support plan model if they so choose. This scheme is bringing to an end the era of endless support and minor updates within a particular version. It will be interesting to see how Avid brings on the support. They need to make it (buying a support plan) worthwhile.

I agree with Bob, Avid should spend some marketing $ on making this distinction very clear.

I'll ask again for giggles..    
Clan anyone reference a clear reading list/link, for existing owners/new purchasing/upgrade policies from AVID?

As an existing or new customer, u should be able to find ur personal situation, and see ur future options with utter clarity on Avid's site. This is NOT the case from what I've seen.

T, there are four options:

Pro Tools software

Available options and some other links can be viewed at:

Pro Tools licensing

There used to be a page that showed the options in grid-fashion, but I can't find it. I'll post if I discover where its hiding.

Thanx Matt,

I am on the old ilok, no biggie on buying a new one.
If i'm on PT10 is it worth it to hold off on 11 until 12 comes out? they are saying if you buy 11 now, you'll get 12 for free(probably because it's still PT11!!! smh), of course that starts my 1 year "support(roll eyes) period" immediately. If i wait till 12 comes out and still use 10, can i move to 11? or do they make me go to 12 and hit me for twice the $?
  This is the intentional ambiguity i'm talking about, how many 1000's of paying customers are on 10 right now waiting and wondering what they should do? As of now i believe they're keeping us in the dark INTENTIONALLY hoping we'll drop the cash in panic no matter how inconvenient or unnecessary it may be for us personally. I know a lot of people who stay back an iteration because they don't want to deal with the glitch headaches that come with a new version, i'm one of those people, a lot more are on 10 because of the Axx deal.

I doubt there will be anything in 11 that isn't in 12 and 12 will keep on working even if you don't renew the support plan. They have said people with expired support plans will continue to get bug-fix updates, just not additional new features.

Makes sense. I was wondering why this is being called out, suddenly.