Here's the way I view the Waves WUP and how they do things today, after gobs of negative feedback they received, even from me. WUP fixes a problem plug-in makers have, where, when you sell all your plug-ins to studios, nobody needs to buy more. Sales slip. In the meantime, DAW's and companies like AVID cause them to up the ante to provide new, updated versions (AAX, 64-bit, etc.). If Sales aren't really all that, and the company resorts to having sales online, then there's little to really cover the cost of great support (and I do mean GREAT!), and the develpment costs of those updates. And fighting piracy.

Also condier the ENORMOUS and long, extensive process it takes to model their dupe plug-ins the way they do. Simply modeling an SSL or Fairchild compressor, isn't simply running sweeps through it and capturing them. It takes months, sometimes years to get it right, and that's after paying the owner of the gear for their time and the gear's time. It's expensive. I've spoken with Waves people from Tel Aviv. They don't take these projects lightly at all. I asked them for a plug-in that I still hold confidential, but they simply said their staff was far too over-booked to take on yet another one at the moment.

They also realize that, when you check your account and see the enormous cost of WUP renewals, they have a subtle option of checking a box, stating you use these plug-ins on only one machine. Doing that makes your WUP renewal a max of (I think) $240/yr. They offer it lower if you renew 30-days prior to expiration.

Buy your plugins on sale like I do.

If you own bundles, when a plug-in is added to the bundle, you get it for free.

Users complained of iLok. I did, too. iLok, the company was horrible, IMO. Glad Waves got away from them.

SO, yes, I was critical of WUP, but it makes perfect sense now. When you think of buying a car, you have options to extend your warranty beyond your manufacturer's warranty. If you do, repairs are free, etc. (or cheaper). But your car will eventually break and become junk. You eventually have to buy a new car. WUP allows you never ever to pay for new plug-ins you already own, and never pay extra for support and updates as they come, because you paid for their extended warranty.

Is it such a terrible deal now?

While I partly agree that is a problem, the REAL problem is in producing Plugins
and then just moving on.  A company should be constantly striving to produce
NEW plugins, and, if the quality is there, they won't have to have "Huge" Sales
to dump plugins and keep revenue flowing...and eliminate getting plugins for 
"Free" ...for users of certain bundles, give them a "better price" then others...

WUP, to me is "plugin insurance", it merely allows you to get the "updates" free for 
ONE YEAR, then, after that, if you want updates you PAY FOR THEM,
where (most) other companies just GIVE you the updates regardless, ad infinitum...

I understand the "idea" but it's a BAD idea...especially in light of "most other" companies.

Waves has been doing this a long time, longer then most, and, as such, their plugins
have become "long in tooth"...especially the older ones.  While they still get the job
done, they are "old".  Not even updated GUI's...and YOU'RE STILL PAYING FOR THEM,
even if you've "owned" them for years...that's bad business...it becomes "plugin" rental,
so they should just move to the "subscription" model, which is really what it is in the
first place.

You don't buy a car, and, after OWNING it, keep making payments to the company
from which you bought it.  

While you DO pay for "insurance" on the car, that is in case of
"liability", where this is no such "liability" with a plugin...per se.

That's my 2 cents...call it what you will, it's a "Scam" to keep "extra" revenue flowing, when
they should be continuing to produce "viable" new plugins to keep the company afloat, and
keep the existing ones supported.  But it is, indeed, Capitalism at it's finest!

Overall I've been OK with WUP but I did just have to pay a HUGE WUP because I want to sell my Horizon and my SLL bundles. On top of having to WUP them, both require $150 transfer fee EACH unless I sell them to the same buyer at the same time.
 
That hurts.
 
Hoping to sell them soon and buy some more UAD. :)

Of course you are right on every point, Brian. Every software company has to deal with the reality that software doesn't wear out and consumers are reluctant to keep re-purchasing the same stuff over and over. The cost of entry into the software business is very low, so there will always be agile new competitors working out of their basement with zero overhead. It's not an industry where you can be stagnant and survive (at least, not without a lucrative government contract).
 
That said, why is it that only Waves has chosen this particular path? When you buy Meldaproduction products you get free updates for life. Buy the everything-bundle and you also get any new products that come along. Plug 'n Mix does the same thing. Most others survive by constantly improving and expanding their products, using loyalty discounts to keep you coming back. 
 
Granted, Waves' strategy isn't the worst one out there. Native Instruments' constant planned obsolescence is particularly irksome. IKM floods my inbox with products I don't want (no, I do not want to make beatz on my iPhone, thank you). Some vendors charge you for bug fixes. Some are going with a subscription model. A maintenance contract isn't the worst option.
 
But for me, I prefer to give my money to the innovators. The ones who offer a genuine reason to buy, partly by maintaining their existing products free of charge. Re-packaging a compressor and slapping on a famous engineer's name is not innovation, except maybe in marketing circles.

I love the waves products I have purchased. I don't see them as head and shoulders above many others though. In fact, There have been a few occasions recently where I managed to get exactly what I was after using only the pro channel in Sonar for a final mix. And this is my dilemma, should I pay Waves for some kind of update scheme when I can likely get the same or a very similar result using other plug ins which don't require me to pay for updates? 
 
That answer comes pretty easy for me. If I can't keep using what I have without a required payed update of some kind I'm out. If all plug in companies do the same thing eventually I can still lean on the plug ins included with my DAW. If Waves needs a small fee every now and then to keep afloat I can understand that ...but I'm talking a small fee and included updates. If it sounds like I'm saying two different things I'm not....I am ok with a reasonable annual fee to keep the plug ins up to date. Small meaning in the 20.00 or less range and the freedom to not opt for it and keep using the older version. But here's the thing..if the plug in already does a great job there comes a point of diminishing returns..where it already does what it does as good as is possible. The only advantage to updates then being making the plug in fit into new OS versions and schemes with DAWs. This was always fee in the past with companies making up the revenue in sales from exisitng products....but I understand that times are tough out there and I'm willing to help to a point so that I can continue to have a good company around making good plug-ins.
 
Make sense??

Starise
I love the waves products I have purchased. I don't see them as head and shoulders above many others though. In fact, There have been a few occasions recently where I managed to get exactly what I was after using only the pro channel in Sonar for a final mix. And this is my dilemma, should I pay Waves for some kind of update scheme when I can likely get the same or a very similar result using other plug ins which don't require me to pay for updates? 
 
That answer comes pretty easy for me. If I can't keep using what I have without a required payed update of some kind I'm out. If all plug in companies do the same thing eventually I can still lean on the plug ins included with my DAW. If Waves needs a small fee every now and then to keep afloat I can understand that ...but I'm talking a small fee and included updates. If it sounds like I'm saying two different things I'm not....I am ok with a reasonable annual fee to keep the plug ins up to date. Small meaning in the 20.00 or less range and the freedom to not opt for it and keep using the older version. But here's the thing..if the plug in already does a great job there comes a point of diminishing returns..where it already does what it does as good as is possible. The only advantage to updates then being making the plug in fit into new OS versions and schemes with DAWs. This was always fee in the past with companies making up the revenue in sales from exisitng products....but I understand that times are tough out there and I'm willing to help to a point so that I can continue to have a good company around making good plug-ins.
 
Make sense??

Indeed!

What has changed more than the music software industry in the last 12 years or so? The WUP is a leftover from that time period and their pricing was crazy expensive then. The Eddie Kramer Signature Bundle I bought in January was $62.00. The retail says $500.00. Has the WUP been recalibrated since they started selling at 80 percent off at times? No. I could give them 10 to 20 percent but not what they want. I bought Gold for $86.00 as an upgrade on Black Friday. I thought about it at $149.00. I didn't want to spend that  much for it so I passed. I spent $86.00, WUP me at $86.00, not $800.00. Is it worth more than I paid? Sure it is. But I wouldn't have bought it. It wasn't my idea to make it available at $86.00. If they are thinking they will make up for the low price with the WUP they are incorrect. This policy is like a Doctor bleeding you with leeches, may have been a good idea once; kind of outdated now.

BassDaddy
What has changed more than the music software industry in the last 12 years or so? The WUP is a leftover from that time period and their pricing was crazy expensive then. The Eddie Kramer Signature Bundle I bought in January was $62.00. The retail says $500.00. Has the WUP been recalibrated since they started selling at 80 percent off at times? No. I could give them 10 to 20 percent but not what they want. I bought Gold for $86.00 as an upgrade on Black Friday. I thought about it at $149.00. I didn't want to spend that  much for it so I passed. I spent $86.00, WUP me at $86.00, not $800.00. Is it worth more than I paid? Sure it is. But I wouldn't have bought it. It wasn't my idea to make it available at $86.00. If they are thinking they will make up for the low price with the WUP they are incorrect. This policy is like a Doctor bleeding you with leeches, may have been a good idea once; kind of outdated now.

Indeed BD.  They base the WUP on the RETAIL price...

bitflipper
Of course you are right on every point, Brian. Every software company has to deal with the reality that software doesn't wear out and consumers are reluctant to keep re-purchasing the same stuff over and over. The cost of entry into the software business is very low, so there will always be agile new competitors working out of their basement with zero overhead. It's not an industry where you can be stagnant and survive (at least, not without a lucrative government contract).
 
That said, why is it that only Waves has chosen this particular path? When you buy Meldaproduction products you get free updates for life. Buy the everything-bundle and you also get any new products that come along. Plug 'n Mix does the same thing. Most others survive by constantly improving and expanding their products, using loyalty discounts to keep you coming back. 
 
Granted, Waves' strategy isn't the worst one out there. Native Instruments' constant planned obsolescence is particularly irksome. IKM floods my inbox with products I don't want (no, I do not want to make beatz on my iPhone, thank you). Some vendors charge you for bug fixes. Some are going with a subscription model. A maintenance contract isn't the worst option.
 
But for me, I prefer to give my money to the innovators. The ones who offer a genuine reason to buy, partly by maintaining their existing products free of charge. Re-packaging a compressor and slapping on a famous engineer's name is not innovation, except maybe in marketing circles.

Always a solid, reliable response when you see Bitflipper. Thanks for the kind remark (seriously). And totally, I agree, I'd rather get plug-ins that offer free updates for life, like Flux does. The drawback I see is, especially in the case of Flux, is, I have to badger them relentlessly for their updates to come out. Algorithmix, the maker of probably the most expensive EQ plug-in out there not only refuses to release 64-Bit versions, but they have all but stopped responding to my requests for news. IMHO, I believe they've abandoned them. Sad. 
 
What I find in the WUP is that Waves continues to lead the pack in ways other developers lack the funds to research. I seriously don't believe they could have made the venerable modeled plug-ins like what you get from the Abbey Road collection if they didn't have WUP in place. My mixes are markedly improving because of their modeled plug-ins. 

To address cclarry's remark about creating plugins and moving on, if I read that correctly, the thing to keep in mind, as with companies such as Gibson, they make a Les Paul guitar and sell it. Sometimes they advance the technology, but often they may stick with what works, long-term. Same with API. They make a pre-amp that works, and if it's revered so well, unless the internal components or manufacturing costs get out of hand, they will just sell what sells. Waves knows this, and although they have spent time updating their line of plugs to 64-Bit and AAX/VST3 (and relatively sooner), they do still sell and bundle what works for generations. The Q10 still is a really good EQ. I may not use it, but some of the finest engineers in the world might. So, it continues to sell.

From others here, when it comes to WaveShell, ok, I had and issue with this, but realized later that this really was a great idea. The DAW only has to essentially load one .dll for all Waves plugins. It was an efficiency move, likely, since they have so many. However, to innovate as such, and kill all the bugs I certainly had between Sonar and Waves, it costs money to fix these issues. Waves has to communicate with Cakewalk and vice versa. Even these efforts do cost money. 


So, where I see innovation is between a new underdog, such as DMG Audio, or a company who can afford to be, such as Waves. But you still won't see the underdog modeling like Waves, if that's what you're after.
 
Waves always has new, innovative ideas in the works. If you see what they did with their DigiGrid stuff, and how is advances live concerts, I seriously don't think you'd have that without WUP. It's impressive, to say the least, and nobody else is winning the market like this, me thinks. I've had conversations with Katy Perry's and Beck's FOH engineers. They really have it made with DigiGrid and Waves. It's jaw-dropping how easy they can make bands sound great!

Rush's FOH engineer has been using the NLS Summer plug-in on Alex Lifeson's guitar on the Clockwork Angels tour and beyond. His guitar on these tours sounds amazing!
 
So, just keep in mind, Waves is not your typical plug-in maker as they once were. I'm not going to defend them at every corner, because believe me, I gave them hell and grief in a handbag while they stumbled with stability and licensing issues--and the ill-received new WUP when it first came to be. I wasn't nice. But what they've managed to do since then is quite impressive. They're not for everyone, but if you're a pro, they're undeniably pro. 

BassDaddy
What has changed more than the music software industry in the last 12 years or so? The WUP is a leftover from that time period and their pricing was crazy expensive then. The Eddie Kramer Signature Bundle I bought in January was $62.00. The retail says $500.00. Has the WUP been recalibrated since they started selling at 80 percent off at times? No. I could give them 10 to 20 percent but not what they want. I bought Gold for $86.00 as an upgrade on Black Friday. I thought about it at $149.00. I didn't want to spend that  much for it so I passed. I spent $86.00, WUP me at $86.00, not $800.00. Is it worth more than I paid? Sure it is. But I wouldn't have bought it. It wasn't my idea to make it available at $86.00. If they are thinking they will make up for the low price with the WUP they are incorrect. This policy is like a Doctor bleeding you with leeches, may have been a good idea once; kind of outdated now.

You get WUP free for a year at any discount price the plug-in is sold for. Let's assume that WUP cost 20% of the cost of the plug-in. If the plugin is $500, then WUP is $100. However, if the plugin is on sale for $100, then WUP for a year costs $20. So, in that sense, WUP is recalibrated. More, when you renew, there's a CAP to how much WUP is. 
 
Here's a tip: When you renew, do it more than 30days out before your oldest-WUP commitment expires. They may grant you a "deal" or WUP sale. Renew your entire WUP for ALL your plug-ins. What seems to happen is, WUP will be extended for one year past your last plug-in's WUP expiration. For example, you have one plugin's WUP that expires in January 2016. You have another plugin that expires in November 2016. If you renew in December 2015 for all plug-ins, WUP should be extended for ALL plugins until November 2017! So, for your oldest plugin, you get nearly two years of WUP! To add to that, you still pay no more then the max cap they charge which, in my case is about $240.
 
More, because of the cap the more plugins you own, the cheaper WUP becomes. 
 
Believe me, they have struggled with right-sizing WUP for the customer and Waves. If you're making money doing the work you do, this should be nothing. If you don't, it's understandable to complain. But many engineers make good $$ from Waves. It stands to reason they should want some type of royalty, as crappy as that sounds. 
 
Seriously, though, there are insanely expensive software and services out there because the market supports it. Many of them not as complex to develop as what Waves or Cakewalk offers. 

As I've mentioned many times to clients, "It's not the hardware/software I have in-house, my monitors, or even the shape of my room, it's the final product you get that you pay for." We tend to become a slight bit caddy to the fact that we can get very similar mixes (in some case better) with these plug-ins than we ever could with a room full of gravely expensive and unreliable hardware.  We've got it easier to make great mixes than ever before. It's not that expensive. :)