Ableton Forum

In conjunction with my post here: http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=356114

I am curious how many users started off with a pirated version of Ableton and have since bought the software.

I suspect this will be interesting because Ableton is such a "sticky" product. Do pirates fall in love with it and then buy it? Or are pirates unrepentant?

Be honest. It's for posterity.

Nope. I just bought Live 6 - my first copy.

Good poll bud.

Tried a crack of V3 till it died then went out and bought it. Been a loyal user ever since.

psilopsyche wrote:Good poll bud.

Ms. Bud to you.



-Allison

Allison Redhead wrote:

psilopsyche wrote:Good poll bud.

Ms. Bud to you.



-Allison

That's twice that's happened. The previous Ms. Bud said, I'm a babe, not a bud.

could we get in troble for being honest?

that is, if our answer is number two?

not saying mine is...just, ya know... hypothetically speaking.

biroe wrote:could we get in troble for being honest?

that is, if our answer is number two?

not saying mine is...just, ya know... hypothetically speaking.

there are uptight forum memebers that might verbaly bash you but, i dont think you can get in trouble...
i used a crack of live for a long time before buying it.
some of the reasons i didnt buy it were, i didnt have a computer that could properly run live, i was broke, and i didnt know what live was good for since there was no midi or no ways to use vsti's.
also i wanted to try other things out i know there are demo's but you can not export a track in demo mode. the only way for me to know how a mix of a song sounded once bounced, was for me to use a crack.
since i dont have disposable income i really need to know what will work for me before i spend any money on a product. and since you can not return software once it has been open (wich is unlike any other product) i had to use a crack...

I buy all my software

Rogue Scrunt wrote:I buy all my software

good on ya

to alison redhead...

I read your linked post, and it made a lot of sense. I especially liked/agreed with your views on 'lost revenue' (which, morals aside, is actaully what it is all about). For me this lost revenue argument is old material borrowed from the music industry where the argument is probably vaild, since the cost of a record/CD is affordable compared to the cost of a program such as ableton live.

I have had many discussions with a friend of mines who is a marketing graduate, and as far as we are concerned, there are probably many companies who deliberately tolerate (or actually generate) the pirated copies of their product that are floating around. Viewed from a certain perspective it is marketing genius. Look at your poll results so far. More people bought ableton via a pirated copy, than via a legal demo version!!!

I am also guilty. I came to ableton via a pirate copy it has to be said. Now I own the full version of 6 together with both instruments (I know, I know I am bad ... a certain school of thought on these threads would have me sent to guantanamo for that admition )

In the case of abletin live, I am halfway convinced that the majority of the pirated copies come from ableton HQ itself (or they are at least privvy to it). They are a smart young company, and they are no doubt aware of the pirate market. They are also based in Berlin, and I am sure no one there is naive. The pirate copies of ableton that are freely available on most networks are simply ingenious (like the program itself) ... it contacts the ableton server after a set time and sticks you in. You are then sent directly to the ableton shop. The crucial thing is that it only does this after a significant amount of time, which means that the would be pirate user has serious projects built up and has no option but to buy (if they can afford it) because the registry prevents any further 'illegal' versions from being installed ... this is marketing genius in my view.

True pirated copies would circument this (as actually they do), and this is what leads me and my friends to believe that ableton generate or tolerate these copies.

I don't believe that the world is so black-n-white as those who take the moral high ground of 'pirating-is-bad' believe (pirating-is-bad ... drugs-are-bad ... enter DJ adonis ). The situation for a young software company is far more complex. They know that their product will be cracked, and what better way to combat it than actually generate the crack yourself and thereby control how it behaves.

I dunno ... just ideas

OH, and I just come here cause I like alex's posts and I think he is, well, er, sexy.

If it were not for the crack I never would have purchased Live....

I now have 3 different version licenses.

I'm sure Ableton would not like anyone to use a crack ever but I'm also sure they know that a large percentage of thier now loyal customers are former crackheads.

Here's my nickel!

Maybe Ableton should allow fully functional Live for three months. Then these crackheads would fall in love and buy the freakin software and have the freedom to really start to compose some serious stuff! Its a funny thing that happens once you pay for the software you use.

dab

I pirated it, then realized how much fucking fun I was having, so I bought it!

I PAID for a crack in Bangkok, the guy charged more for Mac cracks than PC cracks!

It didn't even install. I loved Live cos I had Live Delta so I bought it.