What is really behind all of this change?

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by noiseboyuk

Yes, a good question. In life I tend towards incompetence rather than conspiracy to explain life's mysteries.



Everything I hear from Avid screams corpo-babble, an impenetrable blizzard of marketing-speak that is as meaningless as it is empty. I think rather than drum up a macheievellian explanation, I think it's far more plausible to assume that they've whipped themselves up into a corporate frenzy over it all, starting with the inviolable notion that revenue streams come from subscriptions and rentals, not one-time purchases and upgrades. This is common to all three PT products, regardless of how inappropriate it is. It's an ideology that defines the company now, together with an arrogance that their market position will remain unassailable throughout their financial shift.



In other words, I'd bet the farm that Pro Tools First looked amazing in the PowerPoint presentations, and led via schematics inevitably to the grown up systems, recruiting new customers in droves. I think we're witnessing nothing less than corporate delusion.



Perhaps the most telling phrase in that recently posted CEO business talk, was that he said Avid had "never felt closer to its customers". I think the lady doth protest too much.

Excellently put

[LDS]

Originally Posted by Quickdraw

I'm sure I'll get blasted for this but here goes.
This notion that this is just an attempt by Avid execs to line their pockets and screw their customers doesn't even make sense. T

I understand what you are saying. I would like to think that the company is currently driven by people whom are well versed in managing tech companies... but I am just not so sure. It seems like the ideas presented by Avid Everywhere are running on two of the biggest cliches of modern life. Social media al la Facebook, and an App store al la Apple/Google/Any other tech store on the planet.

The biggest gripe I have with them are that they aren't offering anything any existing user asked for. There are features that users have been craving for years, outlined Ad nauseam via platforms like ideascale that just don't seem to rank anywhere on their priorities. Its the biggest riff between the old days of Protools when Digidesign was run by people whom actually used the tools they were selling. In 2014 revenue fell at Avid... but the exec's still were awarded over $1million in bonuses.

We are ultimately screwed... because according to this article, Avid Exec's bonuses and pay options are tied to increases in the number of subscriptions.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/...cYM/story.html

[deanrichard]

I've seen it happen at other companies. Marketing people start spouting nonsensical marketing slogans that sound impressive to the uninformed, but have no meaning. Sales people jump on board, the CEO touts it in the media without ever once offering a rational explanation for what it all means, and stock prices rise. And of course the CEO takes all of the credit for the rise in stock prices.

Eventually it comes crashing down, but not before the CEO has become very wealthy and has figured out a plan to blame others for his incompetence and the subsequent stock price collapse.

Originally Posted by noiseboyuk

Yes, a good question. In life I tend towards incompetence rather than conspiracy to explain life's mysteries.

Everything I hear from Avid screams corpo-babble, an impenetrable blizzard of marketing-speak that is as meaningless as it is empty. I think rather than drum up a macheievellian explanation, I think it's far more plausible to assume that they've whipped themselves up into a corporate frenzy over it all, starting with the inviolable notion that revenue streams come from subscriptions and rentals, not one-time purchases and upgrades. This is common to all three PT products, regardless of how inappropriate it is. It's an ideology that defines the company now, together with an arrogance that their market position will remain unassailable throughout their financial shift.

In other words, I'd bet the farm that Pro Tools First looked amazing in the PowerPoint presentations, and led via schematics inevitably to the grown up systems, recruiting new customers in droves. I think we're witnessing nothing less than corporate delusion.

Perhaps the most telling phrase in that recently posted CEO business talk, was that he said Avid had "never felt closer to its customers". I think the lady doth protest too much.

[deanrichard]

Are they buying new systems? Do they plan to?

Originally Posted by Wall2Wall

There is a much bigger world than music recording where HDX/HD still rocks. I worked in one mix stage recently that has 17 HDX rigs online. The other mix stage at the same spot had 17 HDX rigs also.

[Bob Olhsson]

Originally Posted by deanrichard

Are they buying new systems? Do they plan to?

A pro post facility requires that people be able to walk in from the outside, sit down and go right to work on new projects, projects from other studios and projects from a decade ago with a several hundred dollar an hour taxi meter running.

Pro Tools got into that market with the first system under $100,000 which made the use of multiple networked DAW installations financially feasible. Employees and contractors who know both Pro Tools and post are readily available. Pro Tools simply isn't going anywhere because it gets the job done and no competition has come along that would be worth the added hassle and learning curve.

[thewiz]

Nothing different than a music studio really, the clock is ticking there also.

[Sugarnutz]

And any project I do here whether HD or Vanilla can be taken to any facility using Pro Tools and loaded/imported immediately with little if any hassle (plugins could be the only issue).

[shanabit]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/...cYM/story.html

Sums it up quite well

[Actionmusic]

Salaries tied to "other measures" including ..."Avid’s subscription-based software products" tells you where the push is going to be concentrated (as per that link from shanabit above . http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/...cYM/story.html )

It's not going to go away, unlike seemingly a lot of their customers

[gnjlee]

Originally Posted by LDS

We are ultimately screwed... because according to this article, Avid Exec's bonuses and pay options are tied to increases in the number of subscriptions.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/...cYM/story.html

IDK. If AVIDs future updates are followed by the model of this latest release debacle, I can't see how any rational person/company would continue with Pro Tools. Since I was on PT 10, I took the blue pill for 199.00 and am happily running 11.3.1 while experiencing only a couple of agitating issues. My next 199.00 may be spent on Logic.

I have been in IT for about 20 years, and worked at a dot.com right into the crash. During the crash, I saw my co-workers worry about their jobs and families while the execs had lots of share holder meetings that glossed over the problems to focus on the glorious features of the next great release and the execs all patted themselves on their backs. Unfortunately for me and my coworkers, the company folded.

That company I worked for like many other dot.coms failed due to gross fiduciary and management incompetence. The behavior from AVID invokes a similar feeling from that era.

There is a saying that the rats flee the sinking ship first. I think we are starting to see the first wave.