PreSonus has announced that the latest incarnation of its Studio One Pro DAW, version 7, will be launching on Wednesday 9th October.
The biggest news is that there will no longer be different ‘levels’ of Studio One, and as of version 7 the “Prime” and “Artist” versions will be withdrawn. Only “Pro” will be available, with no feature restrictions, and software licences will include all extensions and virtual instruments both now and going forward. This includes Audio Batch Converter, Presence XT Editor, Deep Flight One, Lead Architect, and more.
The release roadmap is set to be ramped up. Until now, new versions of Studio One have dropped roughly every couple of years. From version 7, looking into 2025, the company is looking at releasing three or four updates every year, as soon as new features are ready (and, hopefully, stable). Whether these updates are mandatory or features can be selected remains to be seen.
When it comes to cost, PreSonus is talking about “accessible pricing”. A Studio One Perpetual licence () is now $199.99 for all new users. Existing Perpetual licence owners can upgrade for $149.99. All Perpetual licences registered on or after 9th October will include one year of new feature releases from the time of registration. After this point, the video becomes a little “blurry” but the upshot seems to be if you want more upgrades, you pay for another licence. This suggests that the “perpetual” nature of the licence is about accessing version 7 with a year’s worth of upgrades forever, with no restrictions, but not getting new features without paying again.
Anyone with a Studio One 6 Professional licence registered after 1st August this year will receive the upgrade to version 7 plus the year of upgrades.
The company claims that these changes are the direct result of customer feedback. Presumably, then, there’ll be strong support for this.
Studio One + is renamed to Studio One Pro + (caffeine tablet anyone?) and is “the best way into everything Studio One Pro”.
Truth be told, watching the pre-keynote video (below) it all got a bit confusing. I don’t know if this was deliberate obfuscation. I think the bottom line is you pay your licence fee and get a year of Studio One Pro 7, and after that you decide if the future updates are worth paying again for (price as yet unknown).
This is bordering on a subscription model, albeit an annual one. To be fair, there will be new feature drops (which will presumably make ongoing payment worthwhile). Whether the price curve is too steep for many users remains to be seen. There was backlash when Reason went down a subscription path, and DAWs like Logic Pro have so far stuck with a “pay once upgrade free” model (unless you’re using the iPad version which is a monthly subscription app.) Companies have to make money. Finding the best way to do that, while keeping customers happy, is a tricky business.
I’m not sure using Joe Gilder as your “specialist” to reel off a load of PreSonus pricing features has done either’s reputation much good either…
For what it’s worth, some of the feedback on that video suggests a negative response to the announcement. There are currently over 2,000 comments and we haven’t seen one positive one… They might be there, somewhere…
Presonus spends more energy thinking how they can dig in our pockets on a more regular basis, rather than making the best and smartest audio production software like it was the case a few years back. That’s pretty sad to see.
Upgrade price is too high.
In my eyes, the love isn’t there anymore. The passion and dedication has been lost like the others and we all know for what. Sorry Presonus.
I’m quite disappointed, considering that I purchased Studio One Pro 6 for $399 less than 10 months ago. Instead of paying $149 for an upgrade that would last at least two years, we are now expected to pay $149 for just one year. Additionally, there is no mention of any upcoming features when discussing these major updates.
The upgrade from any Studio One PRO (SOP) version to SOP 7 should be priced lower than it is, because SOP owners are being treated no better than Studio One Artist owners. That is, the difference in the investment already made is neither recognized nor properly appreciated.
A whole keynote dedicated to talking about pricing and nothing on new features says a lot tbh.
Can’t believe that in 2024 a company like presonus makes a video like that without mentioning a single new feature.
You’re kicking existing Pro users right in the nadgers. Great job, Studio One.
“We listened to your feedback” and then we went ahead with a crappy rent seeking update plan that’s meant to tell existing Studio One Users that you don’t value them. Cut the upgrade price to less than half of what you said or expect to lose a lot of formerly loyal customers.
I paid $400 for my Studio One 6 perpetual, now it cost half the price and I still have to pay $150 if I want to upgrade.
Oh dear.
