Introducing Waves Creative Access

[Adi.Waves]

All Waves plugins. One easy subscription.

Introducing Waves Creative Access

Important Update: Perpetual Licenses and Updates Will Be Back Alongside Subscriptions Letter from Meir Shashoua, Waves CTO and Co-Founder – March 29, 2023: Dear Waves community, Over the past few days, many of you have expressed concerns about our decision to discontinue perpetual plugin licenses and our move to an exclusive plugin subscription model. I would like to start by apologizing for the frustration we have caused many of you, our loyal customers. We understand that our move was sudde…

Since we started Waves, our goal has been to give all music and audio creators full, affordable access to the largest, most diverse set of top-quality audio tools.

Today, we take the next step. Whatever you are inspired to create, we want you to have everything you need—instantly at your fingertips, always.

To make this a reality, today we launch a full-scale Waves plugin subscription, Waves Creative Access, which is now the exclusive way to get Waves plugins. All Waves plugins, always up to date, with new releases as well as updates added at no extra cost—all available to you in a simple subscription—the easiest, most affordable way to get Waves plugins, ever.

Today, we are also proud to release StudioVerse, a groundbreaking AI-powered system that will help you unlock the full power of all Waves plugins and bring to your DAW the power of an entire musical community: see more details below.

Now, you can create with total freedom.

All Waves Plugins. One Easy Subscription.

• Over 220 industry-leading plugins
• Two levels to choose from: Waves Ultimate and Waves Essential
• All plugin updates, always included
• New plugins added regularly
• NEW! StudioVerse AI-powered community: Thousands of mixing chains with AI search
• Monthly & annual subscriptions
• Bonus: 2 free months of Splice Sounds+

Start 7 Days Free

Limited time only
with Waves Creative Access

Get 100 credits per month for the world’s best sample library with your Waves Creative Access subscription. Downloads are yours to keep forever.

Allow 8 days for code delivery by email. Available only to users who are not already on a Splice plan. A limited amount of codes are available.
New with Waves Creative Access

Break the Knowledge Barrier in Mixing

Unlock the full power of your plugins: StudioVerse is a groundbreaking AI-powered community for mixing chains, which gives you access to thousands of plugin chains (and growing)—for every genre, instrument, or type of track—all delivered inside your DAW by a smart AI search engine.

• Thousands of mixing chains for every track
• Created by hundreds of producers & mixers
• AI recommends chains based on your sound
• All chains powered by easy-to-use macros
• Open system: Everyone can add more chains

Learn More

We know you may have many questions.
Find all the answers in the link below—here are the ones that are probably first on your mind:

• Do I get all plugin updates at no extra cost?

Yes, updates are included. You will not need to pay extra for any software updates to the plugins included in your subscription.

• Is Waves Creative Access the only way to get Waves plugins now?

Yes, as of March 26, 2023, Waves Creative Access subscriptions are the only way to get Waves plugins. Of course, if you purchased Waves plugins previously, you continue to own them (at the latest version you had prior to the launch of Waves Creative Access).

• Can I cancel my subscription at any time?

Yes, you can cancel at any time during your subscription, through your Waves account. Your subscription would then stop at the end of your current monthly or annual subscription period.

• Can I upgrade or downgrade between Waves Ultimate and Waves Essential?

Yes, you can easily upgrade or downgrade between the two options, on the My Products page of your Waves account.

See More FAQs

Please review our newly updated privacy policy.

[krabbencutter]

I upgraded to Mercury 4 months ago and now Waves treats me like I never existed. No more new plugins, no second licenses or updates once my current WUP runs out, no option to extend my WUP anymore. Just … wow! At least give people a heads up and some big loyalty rewards!
While personally I think that a $24,99 subscription makes a lot of sense for Waves, you just cut off 30 years of loyal users without even blinking an eye.

[johnosborn13]

Really remarkably disappointed by this development- I don’t know anyone who is happy to have lost the ability to update the licenses they paid for. Hope Waves will listen to the people and not force a subscription model.

[humbo]

Cr@p! For a person who owns a sh’t-ton of Waves plugins and was planning to upgrade (as I’ve just updated my OS), this does not bode well!

[ericlees]

I’m ditching waves, king time user +10y and not being able to update it’s a rip off…

[cras.jadams1]

Please don’t do this! You’re turning your back on the customers that have been with you forever.

[Mathematics]

I called last week and was told that perpetual licenses would still be available to purchase directly from Waves but not from distributors. If I had known that updates for my perpetual licenses would be a deprecated option, I would have updated them sooner because I was waiting for all my license WUPs to expire so I could update them all at once. So, where in your new policy does it clarify how perpetual license holders can get the lastest version of their plugins? I think the FTC and BBB may have to step in. I can see a case coming.

[cras.jmcnatt]

Yes, because this works SOOO well with Avid and Protools
Once someone buys something, it should be theirs. There is no need for this monthly sub and when you do this your going to lose alot of customers to cheaper plugins…

[demaniac]

What. The. Hell…
This is a slap to the face of all existing customers. Been using waves 20+ years. Thank you for erasing all my past & future support. Unbelievable.

[yzzman1]

So after I received the email about this - I called a good friend who is the primary composer for arguably the most successful television show of the past decade. Money is plentiful for him - but I know from our friendship that he chooses plug-in developers carefully with a high consideration for how they value loyalty. He literally ripped WAVES APART on the phone. He said that he already spoke with another heavyweight composer who would use Waves for convenience and actually said the other composer said he’s gonna be ditching Waves now as a symbol of care to users/purchasers who are being blatantly disrespected in this industry. Now on to myself - I’m pretty shocked honestly because you can’t just soften a blow that’s already been dealt. The higher executives at WAVES made the conscious decision to not give a #% about any loyal users. So I guess you will take the financial gamble WAVES that this method of cutoff will work financially. Maybe it will - or maybe you’ll be the first company to learn the hard way that respecting your loyal customers goes a long way. Shame on you seriously - and shame on whomever decided how to roll this out.

[rsm]

Incredible! What a resounding slap in the face of customers. My Mercury + Studio Classics, Abbey Roads Collection and Virtual Instruments Collection licenses will be for the garbage can as soon as WUP and compatibility ends. No more updates without subscription. Shame on you. I’ll never subscribe anywhere.

[pvyhlidal]

I am in the same boat. At least they should have allowed all current users update their WUP to get the current latest perpetual licenses. I am extremely disapplointed with this attitude.

[satp]

I understand you want more $ to support the products you provide, but renting is not a good model for us, so, anyone looking to buy some plugins tonight?

[1064300150]

This is a bad decision. I have always loved wave products. In this case, I will choose the products of other companies.

[leoimalionmusic]

Fine to offer a subscription, but to do it in this way is just such a slap in the face to your existing customers. Basically saying “all the plugins that you BOUGHT are going to expire in less than a year, and if you ever EVER need to upgrade your software, OS, or computer after your WUP expires, your “perpetual” license is useless.”

[ckparm]

This is very disappointing. Maybe this will work out well for Waves, but it seems like a desperation move to me.

Clearly I am not their ideal customer. I have about 10 Waves plug-ins. Most of my work is mixing live recordings. I have always found the Waves products to be pretty good, but for my work, there really is only one plug-in that I would miss. That is the S1-Shuffle, which seems to do a better job of adjusting stereo width than other alternatives. However, recent releases of StudioOne and Cubase have added most of that capability directly into their mix console. I will still use S1-Shuffle as long as it keeps working, but I am surely not going to pay > $100 a year for it. The rest of the Waves plugs I have are mostly redundant, and I just don’t use them that much.

Nonetheless, I have purchased the Vxx upgrades for them every generation or two. I guess Waves doesn’t want that money anymore.

As a matter of principle, I just don’t do subscriptions. Here are the subscriptions I pay for monthly (or annually):

• Electric bill
• Cell phone
• Water / Sewer bill
• Natural gas bill
• Homeowners (neighborhood) association
• Car and homeowner insurance
• Ring camera security
• Health insurance
• Web host for 6 websites I manage

That’s it. I will never pay subscription for any software. Never. Those 9 things I listed above are absolutely essential, and I get value from them every single day.

I am trying to think of whom the ideal customer is that will pay $250 a year. I guess a full-time recording studio might do that. The few that I am familiar with are not big Waves users. And I suppose the person tying to crank out the next great breakout single in their basement might spring for that until they run out of money. I guess you can impress your friends by having 65 VST windows open on your screen all at once. I’m having trouble imagining that being a really big market though.

Well, Waves is entitled to their own business strategy. Been nice knowing you. Sorry to see it end this way.

[ckparm]

@leoimalionmusic

all the plugins that you BOUGHT are going to expire in less than a year

Well, to be fair, I don’t think that is exactly what they said. As I understand it, you can keep running the plugs you have purchased. You cannot renew support/upgrades for them. But as long as they keep working, you can use them. I’d guess most of them should continue working for a few years. And by then, there will probably be something else you would rather use anyway.

[tornchorus]

Well, I guess I won’t be buying any more Waves plugins. At this stage, I have most of the plugins I really need but every now and again I like to add a new one to fine tune my technique, often in response to an interesting Waves promo or video. The problem with the subscription model is that I don’t need to add new plugins every month so the ongoing fee is just a waste of money.

[gary1]

WOW - Just purchased more waves plugins recently and would have purchased more down the road, but not now. I won’t do a subscription service, so bye bye waves.
Understand the plugins I bought will still work, but why would I use them on any mix going forward knowing that if I ever needed to revisit the mix down the road, the waves plugins may not work and couldn’t be upgraded without buying a subscription.
Shame on you for treating your loyal customers like they are unimportant.

[marcusadv]

I have been a loyal customer/user to Waves plugin for DECADES, during which I’d built my waves plugin portfolio upgrading my bundles and buying new plugins whenever I could, until acquired all Waves plugins that I love and use in every project. From then on was just a question of buying one or two pearls that were launched and renew my WUP(despite the salty price) whenever I needed to comply with a system or DAW upgrade.

So now I was just waiting for my last WUPs expire to renew all at once to be able to use Pro Tools M1 AAX Native(which by the way I believe should be available for all V13 owners from the start), and this happen… no warning, no options, nothing. Just throw all of us loyal users under the bus with that subscription only joke.

Unless there’s significant throw back and Waves people see that is a BAD move and to AT LEAST allow anyone who want to renew their WUP for a last time, I’ll be very sorry to admit that my days using Waves plugins in every project will be a thing of the past.