These separate services by Waves aren’t cheap. Secondly, if you’re less experienced with Waves plug-ins or would simply like a support plan, then the inclusion of technical support is brilliant. Firstly, there’s the continual updates, which can cost a lot if purchasing. I can see two major attractions with these plans.
For Mercury for example, the subscription deal will be equivalent to over 4 years of rental passing before you’ve paid the same as the purchase price. ( Not including any support plans.) However, we all know no-one pays the full price for these bundles – Waves are continually running special offers! It functions as a VST Plugin, an Audio Units Plugin, a VST 3 Plugin, an RTAS Plugin and an AAX Plugin. Even if this incurred some interest or a final fee.Īre these plans cost effective? You could argue that they are when comparing to the full price. Mercury Bundle by Waves is a Virtual Instrument and a Virtual Effect Audio Plugin for macOS and Windows. However, if I’d continually paid 149 USD per month, I’d want to eventually have the option of owning Mercury. By renting all of Waves plug-ins, which is what Mercury presents, means you would have everything you need to finish your project. For example, renting plug-ins just for the duration of a project is quite feasible.
I can see the Mercury plan proving popular for non-professionals.
Wouldn’t tailor-made plans be more attractive for existing customers only? It is an obvious path for new customers though, and this provides a great option for those that don’t have any Waves plugins… yet! Therefore, these customers might be deterred due to effectively paying twice for the ones they already own. The Silver package is sure to be the most popular, but there is a chance that some customers will already own a few of these popular plug-ins. These plans mirror their existing Silver and Mercury bundles, but under a rental agreement rather than an out-right purchase or ‘rent-to-buy’ scheme. On the face of it this is quite exciting, but Waves have really only offered two plans for two ends of the market. With the Mercury bundle you will also receive any new plug-ins that Waves release, in the same way Mercury owners currently benefit from. With each subscription plan you will receive ‘VIP technical support’ and any updates that are released. MERCURY SUBSCRIPTION for 149 USD per month, or 1499 USD annually. SILVER SUBSCRIPTION for 9.99 USD per month, or 99 USD annually.
There are two subscription plans now available with Waves: