Pro Tools Pricing is Changing — The New Avid All Access Plans Explained

Like it or not, Avid refuses to sit still. Pro Tools will continue to change in terms of what, when and how you get it.

Pro Tools users now must get their heads around the new Avid All Access plans, and quickly: upgrades for Pro Tools and Pro Tools|HD users are less expensive until December 31, 2015. From January 1st, these prices go up significantly.

Tony Cariddi completely comprehends the Avid All Access plans -- soon you will as well.

Tony Cariddi completely comprehends the Avid All Access plans — soon you will as well.

With multiple platforms, plans and upgrade paths available, Avid Access means a lot of new info to sort out. Fortunately, you need look no further for your best shot at making sense of it: Tony Cariddi, Marketing Director, Audio, for Avid explains everything you need to know right here.

In 2015, there have been significant developments when it comes to pricing for Pro Tools — Avid introduced flexible licensing in January, along with annual upgrade plans. How were these new payment methods received by Pro Tools users?

Yes, there have been some exciting changes to the price of Pro Tools — for both new and existing users — as well as the overall value that comes with it. Now, if you’re looking at getting into Pro Tools you can own a perpetual license — that’s a license that never expires — for the new low price of $599.

That gets you the latest version, plus the next 12 months of upgrades, and a new bundle of plugins at no extra charge – this is called an Avid All Access Plan. Alternately, if you prefer to test the waters for a limited time, or want to pay for the tools only when you need them, you can get a subscription license—monthly or annually – at prices starting from less than $25 per month.

If you already own a Pro Tools perpetual license, you now also have new low-cost options for staying on top of the latest developments. Starting at $99, Pro Tools users can lock in all upgrades for an entire year with an All Access plan, and keep up to date each year by renewing annually—for just $99.

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These pricing changes have been extremely popular, and combined with the additional value we brought to the All Access plans – including a bunch of new feature releases, and an amazing plugin bundle – users are really seeing a lot of value.

After rolling out the pricing platform, what did you realize needed to be adjusted?

We also learned some lessons during the process of rolling out these flexible licensing plans. After listening to customer feedback, it became clear that people wanted to have the flexibility to get back on an All Access plan if their plans expired. And why not? Life is unpredictable – as an artist or aspiring pro mixer or producer, you never know what opportunities are around the corner.

Pro Tools 12.3 is the latest version of Avid's DAW.

Pro Tools 12.3 is the latest version of Avid’s DAW.

For some, there may be financial reasons for slipping off an annual upgrade plan, so the challenge was to find a balance between rewarding users who stay on a plan, and maintaining an affordable solution for those who decide to upgrade at a later time. That’s why annual renewals for the All Access plans start at $99, and the price for reinstating expired plans is $299.

How did your experiences with customers lead to Avid creating the “All Access” plan?

We wanted to make sure users feel that they’re getting a lot of value, whether they’re buying Pro Tools, or subscribing, or getting on the latest version. Avid All Access is a collection of services that delivers that value through a variety of benefits.

For example, the Annual Upgrade & Support Plan, available for $199, includes all upgrades, plug-in bundle authorization, and a high level of customer support for 12 months. Another All Access plan is the Annual Upgrade Plan, available for $99, which provides upgrades alone for 12 months.

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When does all Access pricing kick in? Please take us through the timeline and pricing for the various user groups.

A picture says a thousand words – see this chart:

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A major complaint of Pro Tools users is the frequent adjustments they must make to Avid’s business decisions. In the past, frequent and costly upgrades were the target of criticism. Will Pro Tools users now have to make frequent adjustments to pricing plan changes?

We’ve heard similar feedback and understand that pricing fluctuations are disruptive to everyone. With that in mind, we think the current offering offers strong value at a competitive price, so we don’t plan on changing anything at this time.

How is this ongoing evolution of Pro Tools pricing ultimately of benefit to the user?

With the release of Pro Tools 12, we made a fundamental shift in the way customers access their tools and receive updates.

In the past, a major release would include tons of new features and workflows, but it could take the product and engineering teams up to two years to complete. With the speed of technology development today, our industry is producing entire new workflows and formats within that time period.

The previous model left us little room to be agile enough to respond to new market needs. Also, during those long development cycles, customers weren’t receiving any new benefits.

The benefit of All Access upgrade plans and subscription licensing is that we can be much more responsive to what the market wants, and what solutions it needs for emerging challenges. With All Access and subscription licensing, we can design, engineer and deliver individual feature and workflow updates to market much quicker than before. And we can do it in a way that’s more affordable than ever.

Finally, are there other major announcements in store for Pro Tools in 2016, either from a technology or business model standpoint?

We’ve revealed the company’s high-level plan with Avid Everywhere. That plan is extremely ambitious and far reaching so there is a LOT of work still to do. You’ll be seeing lots of major and minor announcements throughout 2016 and beyond that move us closer to delivering upon that vision and business framework. I promise you’ll be hearing more from us!

— David Weiss

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