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Initially, I thought Verdane bought Reason because they saw the untapped potential of Rack Extensions:
* REs are stable (sandboxed) and integrated with host way better than any plugin
* REs are apparently easy to code, with a competent SDK/API tools available (at the time, at least)
* REs are OS & hardware agnostic - because it's LLVM byte code, it's the Reason that has to be adjusted to OS & hardware shifting under it & RE devs don't have to do anything (or very little - see AS compatibility, high-res GUI)
* REs are centrally hosted & sold, so 3rd party devs don't have to worry about servers, virus protection, client user account & password, building a store with sales, rent-to-own & trials, marketing campaigns, etc.
* with release of Reason 10, it hinted at easy "convertibility" of REs into VST - the test case was Europa VST; it looked, like RS might be able to offer 3rd party devs (semi-)automatic conversion of REs into VSTs!
* at the same time, RS' CTO gave a talk showcasing how REs can be hosted in the web and on arbitrary hardware, opening other untapped markets
That suggested to me an opportunity for Verdane to build a viable alternative to VST ecosystem, with centralized market. 3rd party devs would build their instruments & FX in RE format, RS would host & sell them for use in Reason, in web, in hardware; and if the 3rd party devs wanted, they'd get free conversion to VST to tap that market, too.
RS would become an Apple of alternative, thriving plugin (semi-)walled garden!!!
Looks like I was way off base.
Or maybe not.
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Fast forward 3-4 years and the situation is clearly different: conversion of REs into VSTs was replaced by RRP, which since then became the key focus of development and of marketing, to the point that 1st thing you see on RS website is ...Ableton Live. Most features introduced in v12 - I think except for crossfades and VST3? -and all devices released in that time benefit RRP as well. There seems to be been no development of RE SDK/API (I think documentation is still dated to 2020 or 2021), most of talented RE devs disappeared because RS made them hostage to stale DAW and SDK/API toolkit, whereas the promise of using REs via RRP in other DAWs also doesn't really served the 3rd party devs. I mean who's going to buy a $500 Reason they don't need, to then have to also buy Expanse, or Antidote, or MIDI Computer to use in their other DAW? Where's free, empty RRP added to every RE purchase???
As someone above said, they want to compete now for our cognitively and creatively "passive" time, rather than the "active" one. Which might be a great business opportunity, but - to me, at least - suggest the move towards Reason becoming a toy, and not a tool. That's why I can't shake the vision I've mentioned on 1st page:
Don't get me wrong - that might be an awesome & successful product, but it's not what I want & need.Because - for some reason - all I can think of is those dance machines in arcades, where music plays, stuff flashes on screen and you have to move your arms & legs in coordination to the rhythm to get points. Reading that interview I imagine an inversion of that, i.e. a "fun" system where goofing around - in physical space, or maybe in AR/VR - will create music
Perhaps @Selig is right and I'm not the target demographic for Reason anymore...
Frankly, at this point I just want to know where they're going one way or the other, so that I can decide between getting rid of Reason or jumping on R+. Right now - and for the past couple of years - I'm in this limbo, oscillating between frustration and excitement. I don't have that with Bitwig or Studio One, who - despite not publishing any roadmaps - chart a clear way forward. And it's disappointing, because I can't say about any of those DAWs the things I can say about Reason.