PT 10 release. What went good and not so good.

[Dizzi45Z]

Avid,

You have created a great upgrade and released an impressive HDX card. Yet the majority of us are up in arms. You did lots of things very right and lots of things very wrong. Sure, I'm no CEO and probably none of us are, but this outrage was not necessary and this moment could have been a great moment for Avid.

First off, I think all of us need to acknowledge a couple things.

1. Upgrading to bigger and better things is going to cost money.
2. Upgrading means that we need to let go of things that are holding us back.

I don't think anybody reasonably disagrees with this. I think the outrage comes from how things have been handled. This is unfortunate because like I said, you created an amazing upgrade and product and deserve a HUGE pat on the back for your hard work. It is also exciting to see you working on a way to make the transition into 64 bit a much smoother transition with the AAX format.

So what did go wrong? From what I can collect from my own emotions and other countless posts are the following.

Unfair upgrade pricing between users

The pricing of the upgrade to 10 seems like it was nothing more than an after thought. There are sooo many areas that just don't make sense. Because of this, many feel they are being treated unfairly. For example:

1. Somebody who has Pro Tools 9 and the CPTK kit gets all of the same functionality as a Pro Tools 9 HD Native user. Yet the upgrade prices to 10 are $700 difference between the two.

2. Penalizing your customer base for not upgrading to earlier versions. Yes, penalizing, not rewarding those who did upgrade. Let me explain. I would expect to see an upgrade pricing structure similar to this (we ignore the initial high upgrade price at the moment):

Pro Tools HD 9 to Pro Tools HD 10 - $1000
Pro Tools HD 8 to Pro Tools HD 10 - $1250
Pro Tools HD 7 to Pro Tools HD 10 - $1350

Not like the current system:

Pro Tools HD 9 to Pro Tools HD 10 - $1000
Pro Tools HD 8 to Pro Tools HD 10 - $1500
Pro Tools HD 7 to Pro Tools HD 10 - $2500

This makes no sense to penalize a Pro Tools 8 user by $150 because they did not upgrade to 9 ($350 + $1000 = $1350, not $1500). What I mean by this is that it is cheaper for them to now upgrade to 9 and then to 10 instead of upgrading straight to 10. Realize that somebody who didn't upgrade to 9 already missed out on the features of that upgrade for the year. Many didn't upgrade because there was nothing but a couple key commands in that upgrade and the cost was $350.

I especially feel for a Pro Tools 7.4 user. If they paid the upgrades, they would have paid $250 to go Pro Tools 8 and then $350 to go to Pro Tools 9 and then $1000 to go to Pro Tools 10. That would equal $1600. Yet they missed out on all of those features. And now if they want to upgrade, not only will they have to pay all of those upgrade prices, but they will also have to pay an additional $900. That's insane and unfair.

3. Amnesty for Pro Tools HD 9 registration from October 1st, 2011. This area is also extremely unfair.

On one end, you have loyal customers who paid the Pro Tools 9 HD upgrade last year primarily to support Avid. They see other users who just barely upgraded to Pro Tools last month and those users are getting both Pro Tools 9 and 10 for $350. Where they will have paid $1350 by the time they upgrade to Pro Tools 10. Remember, these are your faithful paying clients.

On the other end, you have people who just purchased Pro Tools HD3 systems in September of this year and have paid you over $5000 for their systems. Yet they are already facing another $1000 for an upgrade within a months time.

Then you have others who are scrambling to purchase Pro Tools 9 upgrades at this moment so that they either get a cheaper upgrade (Pro Tools 9 and 10 upgrades = $1350 as apposed to $1500 upgrade). Or better yet, hope that they will fall in the amnesty period and be able to upgrade to Pro Tools 10 for only $350.

4. Then you have people that have now purchased the $999 upgrade and are now finding out that there is some other plan that you can purchase for $599 that includes all free upgrades for a year. Yeah. I'd hate to find that out that I just overpaid $400 because I was trying to be a faithful Avid customer.

All of this is just an unfair mess and is upsetting for almost anyone in any situation. Perhaps the fact that all the information isn't out front to the customer is part of this mess.

Extremely High upgrade price for HD users

Okay. So lets talk about this $999 upgrade price for a second here. It really feels like the person who decided on this cost has no idea what this industry is like at the current moment. Do you realize that this upgrade cost would purchase 2 brand new Logic licenses? It would purchase a version and a half of Pro Tools 10. For a company that has charged at most, $350 for an upgrade price to now charge almost three times the cost-and in some scenarios, 8 times the cost is ridiculous. Especially when the majority of us are struggling with some aspect of the economy.

Nevertheless. If you feel that $999 is the cost of this upgrade, then so be it. But consider a couple other things here.

Most of us that want to support Pro Tools 10 have just dealt with a huge loss. With the new products being released, most of our equipment is worth very little now. In most cases, we have taken hits in well over $6k. But hey.. we expect that and can deal with that.

Most of us are expecting a cost to move to the new hardware. Many of us have already started putting money aside for this type of investment, but it is not cheap. Many of us are looking at $8k - $15k on up (including the exchange prices) to upgrade to the latest and greatest. On top of that, some of us have other purchases such as new computers and etc that will be necessary.

So between the huge drop in value with our current gear, and the huge cost of upgrading to new systems, we are dealing with $20k in costs. Did I already say that we are in a tough economy?

It seems to me that if Avid really wanted to help their loyal customers stay with them, that they would be sensitive to these types of costs and willing to do whatever they can to make it affordable for their customers. So to slap a $1000-$2500 upgrade on top of that is flat out rubbing salt in the wounds.

Also consider the fact that the top 11 things voted on Idea Scale were not touched in this upgrade. So expecting entitlement to $999 and up for an upgrade that doesn't address the real wishes of their faithful customers also seems unrealistic.

Please think this over. Most of us want to be your loyal customer, but it is extremely difficult to be one without feeling like your getting hosed in one way or another or that you are jumping on a train that is going to completely break your bank. I really wish all this outrage was not justified.

[steveskinner]

Very well put. I completely agree.

[ejwells]

Here's what doesn't make sense to me.

8HD to 10HD-$1500.00, right?

But:

8HD to 9HD, $349.00
9HD to 10HD $999.00
That's $1349.00 to go from 8HD to 10HD.

[Dizzi45Z]

Originally Posted by ejwells

Here's what doesn't make sense to me.

8HD to 10HD-$1500.00, right?

But:

8HD to 9HD, $349.00
9HD to 10HD $999.00
That's $1349.00 to go from 8HD to 10HD.

Exactly. I explain that exact scenario in my lengthy original post. (actually it wasn't really clear, I just edited my original post to make that point more clear)

What I don't think everyone gets is the message Avid is sending here. For everybody who is saying they are not going to upgrade, you are missing the point. Avid is saying... "If you do not pay for this upgrade, then you will pay for this upgrade next year along with the Pro Tools 11 upgrade and then some." That is the business model I don't like and terrifies me.

Also, I wanted to make the point that along with the high prices, many people are likely wondering if they want to stay on this train if upgrade prices are going to be like this. Is next year's upgrade price going to be even higher? Why not?

[ChazC]

I was chatting with someone yesterday about this - it's kind of like Russian Roulette.

It's a question of do you dare NOT upgrade now as the jump to PT11 (64bit, track freeze, offline bounce etc.) is surely going to be a major upgrade price-wise on this one too?

Which chamber is going to have the bullet, this one or the PT11 upgrade?

The safest option would be not to play...

[KMcK]

Originally Posted by ChazC

The safest option would be not to play...

Indeed. I think Avid needs to go watch a little 1983 movie starring Matthew Broderick called War Games and see how much of a Joshua they're becoming.

[Carl Lie]

It's definitely a gamble on their part. I really think the pricing on this update is to force new adoption to the HDx. Not saying I agree with it but that's what they're doing.

They must have done a price elasticity analysis to see at what price users just say "hell- I'll just get the whole new package now".

I don't see this as a trend but rather a one time trick to move the user base to HDX as quickly as possible. The 64 bit option unfortunately is dependent on this so they need these to move to phase out TDM as far and wide as possible so they can get on with their plans.

More HDx users = more AAx plugs = 64bit PT11.

That's how I see it. I don't like it but it seems obvious to me.

Carl

[timmyboylad]

Originally Posted by Dizzi45Z

Avid,

Also consider the fact that the top 11 things voted on Idea Scale were not touched in this upgrade. So expecting entitlement to $999 and up for an upgrade that doesn't address the real wishes of their faithful customers also seems unrealistic.

+1 for me on this thought.

[brad383music]

I agree with all of these comments. I have a small home studio and it really seems as though Avid doesn't want people like me as customers anymore.

I like pro tools but I can't justify the outlay after outlay. I'm sorry but I will most certainly be moving to a cheaper alternative with as many or more features.


Win 7, PT 9, 11 rack, superior drummer 2.2, Gibson guitars, yamaha bass, Dimebag washburn

[albee1952]

The beauty of all this is something that many seem to ignore. you don't have to do anything. If what you have, works, then don't change anything