Music Software Popularity Index
They've just released the second Music Software Popularity Index for the second quarter of 2009. The ten most popular music software products based on recent search engine activity, are:
PRODUCT (INDEX)
1. DigiDesign Pro Tools (13.3)
2. Steinberg Cubase (10.2)
3. FL Studio (8.3)
4. Cakewalk Sonar (7.1)
5. Apple Logic (4.5)
6. Adobe Audition (3.8)
7. Ableton Live (3.5)
8. Apple GarageBand (3.3)
9. Sony Sound Forge (2.9)
10. Sony Acid (2.8)
What music software do you use and why?
This index is based on quarterly Internet search activity on Google, Yahoo, AOL and MSN. Collectively these 4 search engines represent more than 95% of the searches on the Internet. Over 100 search terms are used to construct this index, and 15 music software products are tracked. An annual average of the past four quarters is also included for comparison.
The following table shows a complete list of the products tracked as well as the changes in their ranking from the prior quarter:
PRODUCT (RANK CHANGE)
1. DigiDesign Pro Tools (0)
2. Steinberg Cubase (1)
3. FL Studio (-1)
4. Cakewalk Sonar (0)
5. Apple Logic (0)
6. Adobe Audition (0)
7. Ableton Live (2)
8. Apple GarageBand (-1)
9. Sony Sound Forge (-1)
10. Sony Acid (1)
11. Band-in-a-Box (1)
12. MOTU Digital Performer (-2)
13. Propellerhead Reason (1)
14. Steinberg Wavelab (1)
15. Steinberg Nuendo (-2)
Additional details on the results of the Music Software Popularity Index are available at the Digital Music Doctor website.
It should be noted that some of this software is only available for Mac (Logic) and some is only available for PC (ACID & Sound Forge).
Some of these programs are primarily audio editors (Sound Forge, Wavelab) and some are primarily used for multi-track digital recording with numerous different features and options.
Most producers use a few of these programs for different reasons such as live tracking vs. midi programming and ease of usability.
Personally I like Acid pro, I still go to school (at 45yo) so I can’t escape the “ProTools is the industry standard” coorporate banter. Even though I have used it for several projects etc… I feel the limitations of the hardware/software versus pricepoint, and the licensing regime used by Digidesign do more to harm the product’s popularity than good. ProTools is basically a good product, but these limitations mean that you have to spend big bucks to set up even the most basic of studios without a coresponding improvement in performance over the competition.
Of course Digidesign use the Apple trick of getting it into the schools and other learning institutes, in order to hoodwink those least experienced into buying their “industry standard” B.S. line. Sony make more music than any other company… I wonder if they use ProTools in all their studios…NOT.
Even Cubase still hangs onto a legacy of being the best from the old Atari St days, and yes Cubase is another well disigned peice of software… the best? hmmm.
In my opinion, any company that tries to set up a proprietary standard exclusively for their own use, will eventaully get swamped by the usability and affordability of the other end of the market as technology improves.
The open ended structure, professional features and reasonable price point make Sony Acid the natural choice for those wanting a big studio sound on a budget.