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Image-Line FL Studio 50% OFF

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40hz:
Note the "lifetime" part says updates - not upgrades. Which usually means once the version number changes (i.e. from 3.xxx to 4.xxx) the "lifetime" deal is up.

Also, if past experience is any guide, best adopt a caveat emptor perspective when dealing with FL-anything licensing terms.

Don't know if the leopard changed it's spots recently, but FL has played some interesting games with "lifetime" offers in the past. In one case, they actually sold lifetime licenses (as an add-on extra). Later on, they basically just changed the name of tha app, insisted it was a totally "different" and completely "new" product - and then refused to apply the old "lifetime" license to it.

A lot of customers were ticked to discover they needed to pay again if they wanted the new version.

Dormouse:
I've also seen it pointed out that the free updates have pushed them to sell a lot of plug-ins that they might otherwise have bundled, putting them into competition with plug-in developers. Which may, or may not, be a good thing. You could think that it might also lead them to put more effort into plug-ins rather than the central product. I'm all in favour of lifetime licenses, but they aren't viable for all vendors in all markets; and I think that this is one of the markets where it's not viable. Very competitive, still developing fast.

An interesting comparison in this market is with Reaper. A very transparent and fair license system (eg the current very fair and explicit pricing for their impending new version giving new customers a chance to buy now or wait); a fully functioning 30-day trial (unlike FL which only offers a demo) that never actually expires (though I daresay they might consider changing this if they thought it was really hampering the development of their product and community). And still much cheaper even than the discounted FL prices for a more comprehensive and faster developing DAW (except for commercial licenses).

OTOH, there are some things that FL does well, and this is an attractive price for it and it can be used in another DAW just for those things. Just under a week to think about it; hmmm ...

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