Waves Audio made some big moves this week by making the controversial decision to remove perpetual licenses for their plugins in favor of (wait for it)... a subscription service!
Needless to say people were NOT happy! But guess what?! Waves quickly reversed their decision thanks to the overwhelming response from a range of musicians, composers, and other producers! They will be bringing back perpetual license purchases in the days or weeks to come!
However, this entire situation brought into question not only the subscriptions model, but the future of plugins, and who decides the direction of the market. That's why Sam Allen and I have done some digging and found 10 Waves Audio plugin ALTERNATIVES from a few different developers that will not only help you with your mixes but also diversify your library:
SLP538: Purafied Audio
VU Compressor: Purafied Audio
Pro-Q3: FabFilter
EchoBoy: Soundtoys
Pro-L2: FabFilter
Bus Force: Arturia
FET-76: Arturia
Decapitator: Soundtoys
Rev Plate-140: Arturia
SSQ: Analog Obsession
With these perpetual alternatives, you can still level up your mixing without subscribing to the Waves Creative Access subscription! No need to settle for a plugin subscription if that's not your thing!
Now, I do want to make it clear that Waves Audio still offers some great plugins that I personally plan on using in my own setup. However, this situation just goes to show that we have no control over how developers choose to run their companies. In this case, Waves opted for both subscription and perpetual licenses- but who knows if another company will do the same!
That's why it honestly might be a good idea to diversify your plugin library and explore alternatives from other developers. By doing so, you can enhance your workflow and ensure that you're not overly reliant on a single source for your plugins!
So if you want to learn more about these game-changing alternatives to Waves Audio plugins, then definitely check out the video below:
Hope you get some value out of this one and as always...Happy Composing!