Plugins are not Dead

Tutorial | Sep 16, 2024

Hey guys, today I reacted to a video by WeaverBeats discussing the claimed "death of music production plugins." While I disagree with some points, like the idea that plugin companies are doomed, I do think there's potential for innovation, especially with AI and modular environments. Let me know your thoughts on this topic and my video format in the comments below!

You can watch the Video on Youtube

• support me on Patreon
• watch the WeaverBeats Video

Summary #

Maybe you don't watch the video, here are some important takeaways:

Hey everyone, today we're doing something a bit different: we're reacting to a video by WeaverBeats, the so-called music production drama queen of YouTube. His video is titled "The Death of Music Production Plugins," and I have some thoughts to share about his perspective.

WeaverBeats kicks off by addressing a significant issue in the realm of music production—that music production plugins are essentially dead. He's speaking metaphorically but aims to emphasize that innovation in this space seems to be exhausted. Despite his dramatic proclamation, I believe that plugins will always have a market, especially among new and inexperienced producers who are drawn to shiny, novel interfaces endorsed by famous producers. Experienced producers, on the other hand, understand the industry's cycles and might not be as easily swayed.

Weaver isn't entirely pessimistic; he acknowledges that the current state of plugins isn't about their complete disappearance but rather their stagnation. He thinks there's not much room left for innovation, an assertion I'd argue against. I believe there's still plenty of room for groundbreaking developments, particularly through machine learning and AI, but these advancements aren't widely implemented yet. The gap between producers and developers is a significant barrier: developers might not be in tune with the evolving needs and trends within various music genres, causing a stagnation in truly innovative plugins.

Weaver noted that 2023 saw a few interesting plugins, with Synplant 2 standing out as the most groundbreaking. Synplant 2 leverages machine learning to replicate sounds by analyzing and mimicking them. While Weaver found it a bit overrated, I see it as a glimpse into the future where machine learning can handle tedious tasks like sound replication, making production more efficient.

He's noted the lack of genuinely new plugins in the market recently, and the ones that do come out often feel redundant. The proliferation of similar plugins—another granular sampler, another analog-modeled compressor or EQ—feels exhausting. To further illustrate the stagnation, many plugin companies are shifting towards subscription models to sustain revenue, which bothers many producers who prefer owning their tools outright.

Interestingly, the rise of free or very cheap plugins made by individual developers, sometimes even surpassing commercial plugins in quality, is becoming a challenge for these companies. Examples include the free Vital synth, which mirrors Serum's functionality. Free resource sites and small developers might offer more innovation and utility than large companies trapped in their old ways.

Weaver suggests that the path forward involves embracing new technologies like AI and fostering creative thinking in developing plugins. Synplant 2, while not perfect, is a step in the right direction. For more extensive innovation, companies need to explore new realms and break away from the repetitive cycle of releasing similar products.

Weaver also criticizes the trend of YouTube producers and influencers releasing plugins primarily as a revenue stream, without adding substantial value to the community. He cautions producers and developers to introspect their motivations: is the new plugin genuinely beneficial, or just another way to make money?

From my perspective, Weaver's points resonate, especially regarding the market's trend towards redundancy and subscription models. I share his frustration with the lack of true innovation, but I also see promise in modular environments within DAWs like Bitwig's Grid, Max for Live in Ableton, and plug data, which allow users to build their custom instruments and effects. These platforms can democratize innovation, enabling community-driven development.

In conclusion, while WeaverBeats has painted a somewhat grim picture of the plugin industry, I believe the future holds potential, especially if we leverage AI and modular environments for user-driven innovation. Although plugin companies aren't doomed, they do need to adapt to this shifting landscape.

Be sure to check out Weaver Beat's original video if you haven't yet, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic and this new video format I'm trying out. Let me know if you find my series on recreating plugins inside Bitwig Studio valuable—it's practice for me and offers value to the community. Thanks for watching, and see you in the next video!

Transcription #

This is what im talking about in this video. The text is transcribed by AI, so it might not be perfect. If you find any mistakes, please let me know.
You can also click on the timestamps to jump to the right part of the video, which should be helpful.

[00:00:00] Hey guys, today we want to try out something new.
[00:00:03] I want to react to a video by WeaverBeats, the music production drama queen of YouTube.
[00:00:10] But he has an interesting topic called the death of music production plugins and I want
[00:00:14] to add some thoughts to it, okay?
[00:00:16] So let's watch it here.
[00:00:17] Okay, there's an elephant in the room we need to talk about in regards to music production.
[00:00:22] And frankly, this elephant is getting so big that I can no longer access my fridge.
[00:00:25] So it's time.
[00:00:26] This is going to be a really tough pill to swallow, guys.
[00:00:29] Are you ready for it?
[00:00:30] Music production plugins are done.
[00:00:32] They're finished.
[00:00:33] It's over with.
[00:00:35] No more.
[00:00:37] I don't think this is true.
[00:00:38] I think there will always be people that buy plugins when they come out.
[00:00:43] If it looks sexy, if it looks sci-fi, when famous producers use plugins, people will always
[00:00:50] buy it.
[00:00:51] I think the majority of people of music producers.
[00:00:56] Because the majority of music producers is probably the most inexperienced producers.
[00:01:02] And the older producers or the experienced producers, they get how it works, how the
[00:01:08] industry works, right?
[00:01:10] They know there's always a new plugin.
[00:01:12] They know there's always something new and it's just, you know, repackaged and so on.
[00:01:18] So and because we have always new producers, these producers will always buy the stuff
[00:01:24] when they see it, when they see a shiny, new, sexy interface, they will buy it.
[00:01:29] So I don't think plugin companies are in danger in any form in the near future, in
[00:01:36] my opinion.
[00:01:37] Now, there's a little bit of hyperbole in this statement, not just for the title, but
[00:01:41] also because there's not really much of a better way to put it.
[00:01:44] Now what do I mean by this?
[00:01:45] I mean, there is not a lot of room left for improvement when it comes to plugins and
[00:01:50] general devices for music production.
[00:01:52] I kind of felt this.
[00:01:54] I don't think this is also true because there's a lot of room for innovation, for new things
[00:02:00] you can do, but they are not done.
[00:02:03] And there's a reason for that, in my opinion.
[00:02:06] I don't know if it's true, but I think the problem is the distinction between producers
[00:02:13] and developers.
[00:02:14] Most developers don't do music anymore in that depth and a lot of music producers can't
[00:02:23] produce instruments.
[00:02:26] There are some overlaps, right?
[00:02:28] So myself, I do some instruments, I also do some music, but I do none of these things
[00:02:33] very well, right?
[00:02:34] So there is a spectrum of people, right?
[00:02:40] So I think most of these developers are only on this side.
[00:02:43] They are only developers.
[00:02:44] They know how to produce, I don't know, reverbs and choruses and phasers and all these typical
[00:02:52] effects, but they don't know what trends are happening inside of the producer community
[00:03:00] in different genres, right?
[00:03:02] So they don't know what's going on and which tools are needed.
[00:03:06] So they always fall back to their usual stuff.
[00:03:11] Let's do another synthesizer.
[00:03:12] Let's do another wave table synthesizer.
[00:03:14] Or let's do a sampler or let's do a phaser, but this phaser has a nice interface.
[00:03:19] This phaser has a phaser in the reverb.
[00:03:22] That's new, right?
[00:03:23] So they always fall back to these typical things without thinking outside of the box
[00:03:29] or going into the producer community and try to pick up trends what these producers do
[00:03:35] nowadays, right?
[00:03:36] It's in 2023 and maybe a little before that, but in 2024 it's gotten so obvious.
[00:03:43] Now let's look back.
[00:03:44] We had a few interesting plugins back in 2023, such as Synplant 2.
[00:03:47] That was probably the most groundbreaking one.
[00:03:50] And even that, in my opinion, was a little bit overrated.
[00:03:55] I don't think it's overrated.
[00:03:57] It's more like it gave you a glimpse into the future because I think that's exactly the
[00:04:04] right path to take for the future, to have machine learning in place and then take away
[00:04:11] the tedious stuff.
[00:04:13] Like you have a sound you want to replicate.
[00:04:16] You have exactly the sound.
[00:04:17] I mean, you can look up in the forums online, right?
[00:04:20] The most requested things are sounds.
[00:04:23] How did this producer do this sound inside of a synth?
[00:04:26] And this is the solution for that.
[00:04:28] You sample this sound, you put it into a synthesizer, and then the machine learning algorithm gives
[00:04:33] you back the right parameters and dials it into an two-oscillator FM synthesizer, and
[00:04:40] then you get it.
[00:04:43] So I think this is really groundbreaking, and I hope a lot of future instruments do this.
[00:04:52] It's probably not done that often at the moment because it's new, AI is new, and a lot of plug-in
[00:05:00] developers are probably not experienced with AI or implementing machine learning algorithms
[00:05:06] or how to use it.
[00:05:08] So maybe it takes some time probably until Ableton comes out with something and their
[00:05:14] door and then all people will do it.
[00:05:18] I don't know.
[00:05:19] But I think it's like money laying on the street.
[00:05:24] Nobody picks it up for years now.
[00:05:27] I probably had some videos, some streams in the recent four or three or four years where
[00:05:33] I said we need some AI or machine learning to use it for samples or for synthesizers
[00:05:42] to dial into parameters, right?
[00:05:45] Instead of generating whole songs by just using a prompt.
[00:05:49] That's something I don't like.
[00:05:51] Now when I say overrated, not saying it's bad.
[00:05:55] I'm just saying the hype didn't match up to what I perceived to be the actual value
[00:06:00] of it.
[00:06:01] For those of you that don't know, Synplant 2 is a unique synthesizer that allows you
[00:06:04] to copy other sounds and it'll automatically make sounds out of that sound.
[00:06:09] Trying to mimic it but quite often making something a bit different and it gives you
[00:06:13] a variety of other options too.
[00:06:14] It definitely had cool technology.
[00:06:16] It could be nice at times, but it wasn't completely replacing sound design and it was only able
[00:06:20] to copy certain types of synthesis.
[00:06:22] Generally only simple sounds.
[00:06:24] Now you may have noticed a lack of new plugins on the market lately or if you do, none of
[00:06:30] them seem to be that new or different.
[00:06:33] And when there are new plugins, there are already something that we already have.
[00:06:36] How many more granular samplers do we need?
[00:06:39] I think there are also a lot of companies or plugin companies that are diet out in the
[00:06:45] recent years.
[00:06:47] They just done their bunch of phasers and reverbs and distortion plugins and then they
[00:06:52] stopped doing new things.
[00:06:57] And then they get bought up by bigger companies or something like Native Instruments or Ableton
[00:07:03] and then they implement this into their DAWs.
[00:07:06] How many more analog model compressors or EQ do we need?
[00:07:10] Oh, I hate these analog modeled things.
[00:07:13] I never used any of that.
[00:07:15] It's probably nice for some recording or mixing engineers, but for me, I never used
[00:07:22] that type of stuff.
[00:07:24] There's hundreds.
[00:07:25] I'm not going to count that.
[00:07:26] Millions.
[00:07:27] I'm going to show you, there are hundreds.
[00:07:28] Millions.
[00:07:29] Now am I saying there are not going to be any more new plugins?
[00:07:30] No, of course not.
[00:07:31] My show W&N, we're going to be featuring them whenever there are new ones.
[00:07:35] Sometimes I laugh at them, sometimes to be excited about them.
[00:07:38] But I think the actual good new plugin releases are going to be a lot more scattered because
[00:07:43] at this point it's just lots of overlap.
[00:07:46] It's lots of things that are.
[00:07:47] Yeah, but it's like this for 10 years or 20 years.
[00:07:52] I mean, if you look at serum, serum is just a wavetable synthesizer and massive is also
[00:07:58] a wavetable synthesizer.
[00:07:59] So massive came out in 2005.
[00:08:03] And the only difference between massive and serum is in serum, you have a wavetable editor,
[00:08:08] a really great one, and you can replace the wavetables.
[00:08:13] But in massive not, it's just a fixed wavetable synthesizer, but you have also three oscillators,
[00:08:22] you have a lot of filters, you have noise sources in there, you have a lot of envelopes, you
[00:08:27] have a dedicated FX section with reverb and chorus and so on.
[00:08:32] And I would even argue that most serum users use only three or four different wavetables,
[00:08:40] the same ones.
[00:08:42] Only basic ones, maybe a complex wavetable here and there for these dubstep producers,
[00:08:47] but sometimes you usually use the same wavetables.
[00:08:53] So yeah, I would argue this is a problem here that that's around for 20 years or more.
[00:08:59] Pretty exists, but made by a different company.
[00:09:01] In order for these companies to make better new plugins, they're going to have to make
[00:09:05] use of better technologies, new technologies, maybe AI, more creative thought put into the
[00:09:11] actual idea of the plugin.
[00:09:13] Now Synplant 2 was a decent example of this.
[00:09:15] While I thought it was personally a bit overrated, they did actually do something creative and
[00:09:20] different.
[00:09:21] There is no one else doing what Synplant 2 does.
[00:09:24] What we need in the plugin market currently is more things like Synplant 2.
[00:09:28] Not exactly like Synplant 2, but the idea behind it, actually making something different,
[00:09:33] something unique, something that no one else can copy, something that doesn't already exist.
[00:09:38] It could help to use machine learning actually to make some tasks just easier to remove some
[00:09:45] tedious tweaking.
[00:09:48] I still like to tweak synthesizers here and there, but sometimes if you're just in a hurry
[00:09:54] and you want to just recreate one sound, this could be really nice to have something like
[00:10:01] this in every kind of corner of your DAW where you just drag in a sample and it dials it in
[00:10:07] or you have like a master track and you pull it in and it analyzes the track and it gives
[00:10:13] you the idea of how compressed everything is and dials in the compressor settings for
[00:10:18] you so it matches this sound or this compression level.
[00:10:23] It would be nice.
[00:10:24] So AI in all kinds of corners to just remove some tedious task.
[00:10:30] If you want to do it, if you really like to tweak a synthesizer, if you really like to
[00:10:35] tweak a compressor, you can still do it, right?
[00:10:38] You think the idea and effort behind Synplant 2 should be applauded and that's really the
[00:10:43] energy we need going forward when it comes to music production plugins.
[00:10:47] Usually I look forward to doing my best plugins of the year list.
[00:10:50] I looked forward to it in 2023.
[00:10:52] I believe I did one in 2022.
[00:10:54] This year there's basically nothing.
[00:10:57] I can't even think of like a new plugin I was excited about this year.
[00:11:00] When I have to think about it, I think also only Synplant 2 pops up in my mind because this
[00:11:07] was pretty substantial in terms of this is the right way to go.
[00:11:14] But the rest is like, I don't know.
[00:11:16] It's just a new interface to something I already know for a long time.
[00:11:24] You got nothing.
[00:11:25] Now, I don't have data to back this, but I would venture a guess that these...
[00:11:29] Oh yeah, there was a strange tone shaper by this company who also does Sooth.
[00:11:35] This was a bit strange, strange device.
[00:11:38] Plugging companies are probably not doing super great financially.
[00:11:41] At the very least, I would take a guess that it's on a downward trend.
[00:11:44] Now, I don't work for any of these companies.
[00:11:46] I think the stonework trend, it only feels this way.
[00:11:49] If you get behind the pattern, if you see it, this pattern emerge, right?
[00:11:54] That it's always a new plugin coming out and it's just a new interface.
[00:11:58] But in my opinion, this is something that's happening for 15, 20 years.
[00:12:03] I don't know, but just based off what's being released, the fact that releases seem to be
[00:12:08] more and more scattered, and the fact that a lot of companies are adding subscription
[00:12:12] models or are trying to go to subscription only, which I mean, almost all of us hate
[00:12:18] subscription models, especially when it comes to something that you should be able to own,
[00:12:22] like a plugin.
[00:12:23] I would never use subscription for service for plugins, I think, because you're always
[00:12:31] locked into just one vendor or one company, and then you have to use basically all of
[00:12:36] their stuff.
[00:12:37] And then if you want to use something different, you need to have a different subscription.
[00:12:41] It's like with this movie or Netflix or Prime or so, you have to be subscribed to everything,
[00:12:48] to watch everything.
[00:12:49] It's really annoying.
[00:12:50] I got this on a comment recently, but according to some commenter of mine, they are actually
[00:12:55] teaching people in business schools to try to do subscription models over actually paying
[00:12:59] for something.
[00:13:00] And that's just because you can make people pay infinitely for something that they could
[00:13:03] own.
[00:13:04] And there are a lot of people paying for this.
[00:13:07] Don't get me wrong.
[00:13:08] A lot of people paying for this.
[00:13:10] They have the money and they think it's great and they will be paying for this.
[00:13:14] There's no way you can prevent this.
[00:13:16] You can make so many videos on this topic and try to teach people this, but the majority
[00:13:22] of people will always go for these subscription services and will pay for it.
[00:13:30] Own otherwise.
[00:13:31] And it really makes sense when you think about the fact that they're running out of ideas
[00:13:35] in the plugin business.
[00:13:36] If they're running out of ideas in the plugin business, how are they going to release new
[00:13:40] plugins and get people to buy them?
[00:13:42] How are they going to stay in business?
[00:13:45] subscription models, of course, that's the only way at this point.
[00:13:47] Yeah.
[00:13:48] And they do this because it works.
[00:13:50] If it wouldn't work, then nobody would do it.
[00:13:53] It's just it works.
[00:13:55] That's why they do it.
[00:13:57] That's the reason they can't release new products that people will buy.
[00:14:00] They got to figure out a way to monetize the old ones infinitely.
[00:14:03] Now I think what a lot of these companies will be doing going forward is trying to make
[00:14:07] a similar product to their competitors and trying to make it better in some way, whether
[00:14:12] it's cheaper.
[00:14:13] There's some, I mean, there's capitalism 101.
[00:14:17] This always happening.
[00:14:19] You can look in the app store, you know, one app and then you can see all the clones popping
[00:14:25] up.
[00:14:26] It's just normal.
[00:14:28] Slightly different functionality, maybe a better user interface.
[00:14:32] And this would be the path of least resistance for these companies.
[00:14:35] And it's going to be tough when there are individual users out there making free or
[00:14:39] really cheap plugins.
[00:14:41] Oh, this is basically a vital here is a complete clone actually of serum.
[00:14:47] And it does nothing new.
[00:14:48] It's just serum, but in free actually.
[00:14:52] If I'm not wrong, that are without the wave table editor or the very good wave table editor.
[00:15:01] I think the editors still much better inside of serum.
[00:15:05] Sometimes even better than their plugins.
[00:15:08] Analog obsession is one that comes and never used one of these here.
[00:15:11] Of these real world modeled kind of type of a few.
[00:15:16] I think it's it's probably great for old mixing engineers who knew these real devices
[00:15:24] and they know what to dial in at what point and so on.
[00:15:29] But I think for new producers who never use these can just completely skip this.
[00:15:35] So mind one thing we definitely need less of is influencers and YouTubers flooding
[00:15:40] the market at this point.
[00:15:42] If you're a producer, YouTube producer, whatever, and you're thinking about making a plugin
[00:15:47] or sample pack.
[00:15:49] Oh, I do presets.
[00:15:53] Ask yourself this.
[00:15:54] Is this somehow going to benefit people or is it really just to fatten my own wallet?
[00:16:00] I think for me, I put out a lot of free presets.
[00:16:05] For me, it's actually practice.
[00:16:06] So I try to practice bitwig and the grid and building modular patches inside of plug data
[00:16:12] or the grid and then give some value out for the community so they can use it inside of
[00:16:19] bitwig on Linux or Windows or, you know, without I lock or something like this.
[00:16:25] And they can also go into the patch and can learn how this device is built.
[00:16:31] So they learn also signal processing in a way with me together, basically.
[00:16:37] So there's a lot of value around this.
[00:16:40] Am I just making this to fatten my own wallet and pretending as if I'm trying to give people
[00:16:43] something new or something different?
[00:16:46] Let's be honest, though, these YouTube producers, they are making these plugins for money.
[00:16:50] Do you really think Kyle beats?
[00:16:51] This one was this was pushed here and it's basically just reverb and a bit of phaser
[00:16:57] here and there and some different presets.
[00:16:59] But you know, it looks nice.
[00:17:01] That's a nice name drip.
[00:17:04] And you put it on some random beats and then it sounds cool ish and people like that.
[00:17:11] It's just, yeah, it's how it is.
[00:17:14] Nothing bad actually about it.
[00:17:16] But you know, there's a spectrum of shadiness.
[00:17:21] I don't know how much this costs here sat down when he designed drip.
[00:17:25] I probably would put out this year for free this plug in.
[00:17:28] If I had done this, I would put this out for free.
[00:17:32] And was like, oh man, this is going to change the music production game forever.
[00:17:36] No, he was just trying to find a way to monetize the idea of making a plugin.
[00:17:39] And he did so by changing out normal mixing concepts with words such as heat and then
[00:17:44] advertising it to a large amount of people on YouTube.
[00:17:47] And you have yourself a successful plugin and marketing campaign.
[00:17:50] Okay, guys, this is.
[00:17:52] And by the way, there's also a lot of YouTubers, right?
[00:17:55] They do only YouTube videos because to make money.
[00:17:58] That's also true, right?
[00:18:00] So it's not like this only happens in the black and big business.
[00:18:04] There are always people that try only to do stuff for the money or for the fame or whatever.
[00:18:11] In my dissertation on why the plugin market is completely doomed and yeah, everything is
[00:18:17] it's over.
[00:18:18] It's over.
[00:18:19] This channel is over.
[00:18:20] I'm just kidding.
[00:18:21] If I'm right about this, though, let me know down in the comments.
[00:18:23] You know, maybe I'm wrong.
[00:18:24] They'll release Ozone 12 tomorrow.
[00:18:26] They'll have some insane new technology.
[00:18:29] Maybe tons of amazing things are on the horizon and it's not Unison Audio.
[00:18:33] Maybe Kyle Beats will release drip to tomorrow and they'll have groundbreaking new technology.
[00:18:39] Yeah.
[00:18:42] Like I said in the video before, I think it's actually great that we have now in the major
[00:18:49] doors some kind of modular environment like the grid or reactor or plug data or Max for
[00:18:55] Life where people can actually build their own instruments without, you know, having
[00:19:01] to use code or having to use development environments or, you know, compile stuff and create different
[00:19:10] GUIs on different operating systems, which is very hard and very hard to debug.
[00:19:18] So nowadays you can go into Ableton and you can use Max for Life and you can create from
[00:19:23] zero basically anything you want or inside of the grid.
[00:19:27] You saw it in my videos.
[00:19:28] You can build pretty much most of the stuff that's on the market.
[00:19:33] All we need is some kind of visual builder or something like this to create interfaces
[00:19:38] to make it sexy and to make it more approachable.
[00:19:44] And I think this can, this is the way forward.
[00:19:46] I think in my opinion, also, Bitwig should invest more time into the grid.
[00:19:51] Make this really great because there are so many trends popping up what people want from
[00:19:56] an instrument from an audio effect or from the DAW.
[00:20:00] You can't keep up as a company.
[00:20:02] You need to be, you know, have a modular environment and then the community go in and create these
[00:20:07] kind of devices and then you can see, oh, this is something people like.
[00:20:11] This is something people don't like.
[00:20:13] This is the current trend, right?
[00:20:16] Yeah, this, I think this is the way forward instead of having to buy plug-ins or creating
[00:20:24] new plugins.
[00:20:25] But I don't think plug-in companies are doomed.
[00:20:28] There will be always people buying this stuff.
[00:20:31] If it looks good, you're probably not in danger as a company.
[00:20:35] All right.
[00:20:36] Anyways, let me know your thoughts on the subject in the comments.
[00:20:39] Is this something that's running through my mind lately and I want a good video and also
[00:20:43] please let me know in the comments down below what you think about this video format and
[00:20:47] also about this topic.
[00:20:50] And if you think my series about recreating plugins inside of Bitwig Studio is actually
[00:20:55] a good idea, but I think most people like it and I will also continue it to do it because
[00:21:01] it's a very nice practice for me.
[00:21:03] It's fun to do.
[00:21:04] And yeah, it's, I think it's, it has good value for the community also and also for
[00:21:12] Bitwig.
[00:21:14] That's it.
[00:21:15] Thanks for watching.
[00:21:16] I also leave here a link to this video, this original video, video by WeaverBeatz in the
[00:21:21] description below.
[00:21:22] Thanks for watching.
[00:21:23] See you in the next video.