The Future of Pro Tools [Reader Question]

Last week one of my readers, and great friend, called me up to ask my opinion on the future of Pro Tools as a viable recording platform. He was referring specifically to the recent rebranding and dissolving of the Digidesign name and how that might affect future releases and the overall direction and vision for Pro Tools.

In case you are not aware (or interested), Digidesign Pro Tools has been around since 1984. Much of Pro Tools has evolved over the past 26 years, especially in features, power, and popularity. But up until now it has always been a product of Digidesign. Now it is officially being rebranded as Avid Pro Tools.

This Is Nothing New

To be fair, Avid (a huge media company specializing in video production software) purchased Digidesign way back in 1994 and has been the parent company ever since. Avid also purchased M-Audio in 2004 adding to the Pro Tools arsenal of audio interfaces. But up until now these brands (Digidesign and M-Audio) have been operating under their original names and organization. Avid has now decided to trim down and become more lean as a media company, hence the name change to Avid Pro Tools and the website consolidation.

Now, what does this mean for all of us Pro Tools users in the world? In my humble opinion…nothing! Pro Tools is not going away. It is too big, to wide spread, to saturated in the professional and home recording markets that it can’t just die. In fact, just the opposite will likely happen. With Avid slimming down its team and operations, more money is freed up for actual research and development for it’s products like Media Composer, Sibelious, and Pro Tools as opposed to paying overlapping positions in the company and maintaining mulitiple brands (e.g. websites, newsletters, printing).

What Does The Future Hold?

In the future I see more power and and innovation for both Pro Tools HD and LE/M-Powered. Avid is a company that develops and sells both powerful software and cutting edge hardware. Being able to package together amazing audio interfaces (from both Digi and M-Audio), top of the line control surfaces (with the recent acquisition of Euphonix), and the world’s most popular recording platform, Pro Tools, puts Avid in a great place.

If you are a current Pro Tools user, I say forget the the worries and crying happening on message boards and user forums regarding the “collapse of Pro Tools” as we know it. Instead fire open your amazing DAW and make a hit record! And if you are getting into recording and considering going in the direction of Pro Tools, have no fear. You aren’t about to make a mistake. Avid Pro Tools is a platform that is going to be supported for many years to come.

I will close with this. It’s important to remember that Pro Tools has only gotten more amazing since Avid acquired it in the mid 90s. It has expanded in every area possible including the home and prosumer market, paving the way for this home studio boom we are living in now. Just looking at feature set alone from version 5 to today’s version 8, Pro Tools gives you so much more than it ever did (and for less money)! Avid knows what its doing. So let them do their thing and you just do yours.