Message them directly and let them know this DRM stuff isnt what you want? I’ve just sent them a message detailing why this is only going to hurt BFD’s chances in the audio world, let alone with existing customers that arent happy.
I’m not saying harrass anyone, please dont do that, but I am saying that posting on a forum might not be enough.
This has only started happening since BFD moved to inMusic so it makes sense that its likely inMusic are insisting on this DRM constant online check thing, and maybe making some more noise might get things moving quicker to resolve it. Messaging inMusic directly cant hurt.
No offense to anyone at BFD at all, but the more eyes and ears we get on this, the quicker we can all see BFD become a studio mainstay. Mods feel free to delete this post if its inappropriate.
Do they even read their emails? I thought users that had problems with the BFD3 transition, tried emailing inMusic support with no response? Or was that BFDDrums support? That’s why they came here, KVR and FB.
I think ‘support@bfddrums’ is still the most reliable means of contact.
The on-line ticket system wasn’t working back in April and I suspect that might still be the case.
To my knowledge, the online support forms ARE working. If they are not, please let me know - and let me know what browser version and operating system you’re using, so I can attempt to reproduce and send it to the web devs.
@maximumdembo appreciate the sentiment, also wondering what it will take to register just how undesirable the current implementation is. A simple search highlights the same problems across the entire spectrum of major user platforms. Social media posting is noted for having a negative impact on both brand image and the bottom line. Direct emails/msgs are not likely to have the same amount of leverage.
@BFD_Drew seems to appreciate the concern/dismay of long time users but there is still no definitive statement to address key issues so many months after the release. The longer this drags on is only increasing the number of negative postings with the potential to discourage new users and future viability of the platform.
I’ve backed off from piling on, getting projects done with a pre InMusic version pulled from archived drives, but this is not sustainable. Tried to use the migrated version this week and in addition to being completely “deauthorized” twice in three days, ran into problems with DAW crashes traced to BFD, flaky (mixer) UX, preset loading issues and audible pops with specific samples on projects that ran just fine on the older version.
…
This forum has a “build poll” function. Perhaps a well considered poll with broader visibility will more effective? At least a couple of DAW forums support a similar capability, so any initiative on this forum could be replicated elsewhere and linked here.
I went ahead and sent them an email describing the concerns most of us have and the reasons for them FWIW. Yeah, let’s try and make that poll idea happen.
It’s very simple to build a poll (do you want me to make one?) but I don’t think it will make any difference.
First, the dwellers of the forum do not represent the great numbers of BFD users. (Even though I’ve seen people over steinberg’s forums casually saying they’ve ditched BFD because of the new system, who are not even registered to this forum, so… Yes, there may be people silently agreeing, and others silenty packing up and going.)
Second, we will be just giving grief to the people that actually care and just make things happen, like Drew. I don’t think the message will reach its destination.
Third, it might be a done deal, and no matter what we say or do does not matter. In this case, each one of us will decide for themselves. For me, a hobbyist, it’s no big deal if I get fed up with micromanaging licenses from steinberg, bfd, waves all the rest, operating systems that keep changing, suggesting that I might even need new hardware… All it will take is to just apply a proper stroke of a sledgehammer, and then get a zoom 20 or a soundcraft ui24, a crappy used and beat up tama starclassic and enjoy music even more.
I thought that as well, that the poll isn’t going to reach the bulk of users out there anyways.
Definitely don’t wanna add any more to Drew’s plate than there already is, that’s for sure. So that’s also a consideration. At the same time, he needs to be more transparent on this issue, so we’re all not just guessing what the inMusic scheme and policy actually is for now and the future.
Maybe the best course of action is to just flood inMusic’s support with our concerns and hope that they take notice. I haven’t been on the KVR, or FaceBook BFD threads, so one of us should put this up as a suggestion over there, if it hasn’t been posted already?
I expect Drew is focused on a solution but the continued lack of clarity on such a fundamental issue smacks of differing opinions on how to run the business. Completely imho of course, but have yet to see any encouraging signs of a solution from a customer perspective. There are quite a few channels for posting deals as Black Friday looms and the thought was to explore building a case for a “customer friendly” DRM with objective data vs irate posts on random forums.
Yes. I should say that my idea came from me not having or using any social media.
I urge anyone on Twitter/Facebook etc to make themselves heard as loud as possible for now, probably to inMusic themselves as obviously BFD know what we all think already.
A social media deluge might make inMusic notice a bit more than emails or this forum. I still suggest doing the email and forum thing tho More the merrier.
All the more reason for inMusic to hear it from us, so they know that Drew’s not nuts.This is a serious issue that is affecting the buyers and users of this product.The only reason a small group of people are still holding onto BFD, is because it’s a great piece of software, that inMusic had no hand in creating in the first place and are making it worse.
The poll was a suggestion after seeing negative comments on other forums wrt to posts for BF deals and in lieu of other constructive options atm.
Those who use BFD the most are obviously going to be more vocal about issues which affect their productivity, but perhaps there aren’t enough to make a difference and the bulk of the tens of thousands of users mentioned are casual users with other options and little priority for anything BFD. As they say on Wall St, “past results are no guarantee of future performance”.
Forum terms vary when it comes to user polls but at least a few allow them (PT, KVR, Cakewalk, BFD!) and would represent a broader range of input. They could all be linked here.
However, there is an art to asking the right questions if it’s going to do any good.
Maybe the first one should be;
Only one thing matters to any company, and that is 3 things rolled into 1
money, power and prestige, they can have negative connotations inwardly and outwardly, but not required…
got to have the bottom line happening
the success of sales, market leadership (external & internal) and quality of product bring the power and prestige
there are SO many solitary musicians lacking percussion as a huge rate limiting step to their creativity and business prospects, its the grandest of sales pitch slam dunks… if BFD is running like its 2021
Every musician with a computer is a potential customer…
I believe the guys name is Jack?..CEO of InMusic, regardless, thats the person holding the cards for BFD to fulfill its true potential
Also more than a few professional businesses have been known to use it from the beginning to either supplement or otherwise for commercial releases.
I completely get the business side of things, no problem with the trying to make that work, but…
InMusic (AFAICT) does not create anything. They buy “distressed assets” that previously had decent marketing budgets perhaps in the hope that an existing user base might be willing to “invest” a bit further in a product that looks like it as a viable future and thus some revenue generating potential. However their track record does not have any examples of restoring a flagship product to a market leadership position.
Nothing wrong with that. It’s their business. However, it took them what, a full year? to get relaunched which has me wondering if;
It took them that long to cook up the current “DRM implementation”.
BFD came with more outstanding dev/support requirements (and costs) than originally expected.
Other contractual issues (acquisition deets, employment contracts, etc)
The fact that after so many months we have yet to get -any- clarification on such a fundamental issue is just not a good sign for either existing or new customers.
Regardless of money, power or prestige, any future business depends on meeting customer needs. They have some work to do.
Well now that Cubase is also going the way of the 30 day license check it seems like that will be the alternative to the subscription model for most of our software and plugins in a few years.
Personally I’m fine with it, I prefer a nice old “Enter your serial number:” and done system from 20 years ago but it’s no longer 20 years ago.
I just updated to the new M1pro/max macbook pros, and I installed the FXpansion version of BFD3 just to avoid the added issues with the migrated version (works just fine aside from the DEMO PACKS thing). But I fully plan on updating to this version when it’s worked out, and to BFD4 if that ever gets developed, though for now I had to buy another drum software just for the security of it.
I’m giving the team at BFD time to get this software running well, and then when I install it and run it for a while I’ll judge how it behaves in my system. A company, part of a company or division being sold due to distress or corporate disinterest is gonna need a bit of time and room to work themselves back into a well functioning state, and there’s no telling what the BFD team was left with or how they were sent off, so seeing as I’ve already given them my time for nearly 2 decades I can spare a year or two longer.
Yes, only downside atm is not being able to reliably use any recent purchases.
…
fwiw, I must be an outlier (with a few others) using it almost exclusively since v1.5 with something like ~16-17 years worth of projects. The pandemic has led to a number of requests to revisit older projects given the drop off in gigs, sessions, etc. and re-thinking what we might do going forward. The good news is the “organic” quality that led us to choose BFD in the first place still holds up well for our needs. The bad news is that we can’t wait “a year of two longer” for a tool we can count on. It’s been a bit of work to update projects (mostly VSTs, backwards compatibilty, etc), as you can imagine but having it randomly disabled without notice for remote sessions is a showstopper.
Funny you mention that I’ve had two old sessions come in that the client just had sitting on their drives since the early 2000s using BFD1.5. I’ve kept an old Dell laptop preserved (windows XP, Cubase SX, BFD1, kontakt 2 etc) just to have for revisiting my old ancient projects, and all I had to do was remove the Waves stuff since I no longer use them and don’t have my old ilok and it’s been a hugely positive trip playing with old BFD again.
None of this is new with inMusic brands. They haven’t changed their corporate culture or corporate personality since day one, regardless of the outcry from existing customers of the many brands they’ve hijacked. BFD Drums will not be the one that changes them. Nothing will change them until their entire business model is proven to NOT make the top level execs money.
The business model is ALL ABOUT capturing formerly excellent brands and IP from failed companies and then putting an embarrassingly minuscule amount of effort into them. They sell the same generic products under MULTIPLE inMusic brands, and the original IP goes to waste.
inMusic is empty; hollow; soulless. Apex laissez-faire capitalism.
Again: This is their business MODEL. It makes big money for the people at the top and that is the ONLY thing that matters.
More the merrier.