Kasper JadeAs anticipation runs high just prior to mac daddy of Macintosh trade shows, Apple has reportedly discontinued one of its latest audio applications.
Effective last week, the company reportedly told its distribution partners that all variants of the Soundtrack application and license bundles are "End-of Life" (EOL), and no further orders would be accepted.
Apple's channel partners were also told that all backlog for the product had been cancelled and no automatic order conversion would be offered — implying that no single product replacement is in the works.
As a standalone application, Soundtrack is a relatively new Apple product that has only been available for purchase for about 18 months. In July of 2003 Apple announced the royalty-free music production tool would be available as its own software application for $299. Previously the software was available only through versions of Final Cut Pro 4, Apple's video editing software.
By the time Soundtrack had been upgraded to version 1.2, the software had dropped in price to $199. And while concrete evidence is lacking, sources speculate that the application was one of Apple's least popular products, delivering little if any to the company's bottom line.
Rumor has it that Apple may have dismantled the application in favor of distributing its technologies through existing, more popular, Apple software applications such as GarageBand and Logic Pro. The company is widely expected to debut a new version of its consumer-oriented GarageBand software next week, which will include support for its rumored self-branded 'Asteroid' audio breakout box.
Separately, sources also anticipate that the company will soon release an update to its industry leading professional grade audio production tool, Logic Pro 7. The update, which is expected to debut prior to the National Association Music Merchants show during the third week of January, will reportedly update the application to version 7.1.
Update: MacNN notes that Apple has removed all mention of the Soundtrack application from the Apple Store and that the product is no longer available for purchase.
Charles Martin
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18 Comments
from a produc tmarketing perspective having
a) garageband
b) soundtrack
c) logic express
d) logic pro
was too confusing. Like LiveType was squashed by a much better application Motion. The important thing is for FCP editors to easily create royalty free music without having to be musicians and use loop based mixing software.
What will FCP 5.0 include in leiu of Soundtrack????
Well, it could still be a product but just integrated into another package like it is now in Final Cut.
Maybe some bits will go into the new Garageband as well?
We can only hope that GarageBand 2 will allow playing of video, scoring markers, syncing to video.
I guess they won't make a version for the Newton now. I'd love to run video and sync music on my Newton. Sure'd beat an iPod.
On the other hand, it looks like the Cube is back. It'll be the Rectangle and sell for $500. Think about that.
from a produc tmarketing perspective having
a) garageband
b) soundtrack
c) logic express
d) logic pro
was too confusing. Like LiveType was squashed by a much better application Motion. The important thing is for FCP editors to easily create royalty free music without having to be musicians and use loop based mixing software.
What will FCP 5.0 include in leiu of Soundtrack????
That pretty much sums it up. Their audio apps were getting out of control. Too much overlap.
Having LiveType the bundled program still makes sense, although I think they should eventually drop LiveType and just include a nice discount towards Motion. This of course being when Motion capable machines are pretty much standard issue for FCP users.
The article didn't say Soundtrack was being dropped, only that it wasn't being sold as a standalone product. Which makes sense. I like Soundtrack, but I'm not sure anyone would go out of their way to purchase it. Especially not when GarageBand and Logic Express are available.
I love Soundtrack--and it had some unique features, like synching with video.
But the main thing it has over GarageBand is a lot of loops that GB lacks. They could be offered for GB 2.
And the video features could be added to GB 2 as well--or enabled ONLY in a special GB bundled with FC Pro (the way Soundtrack started out--and maybe the only way to get Soundtrack now).
I also kind of like the "pro" look of Soundtrack. Apple's gray "pro" theme always struck me as a little odd and Amiga-like (or Lightwave-like)... but it has grown on me.