[EvanAnderson]

I’d be fine with just “let me run the software in perpetuity”, ideally without automated updates. Software that matters enough for me to pay for is going to become part of my workflow, and a tool in my toolbox. I don’t want my tools disappearing or changing arbitrarily.

I’ve always seen software development and maintenance as a service. The idea of free lifetime updates always struck me as unsustainable. Having a reasonable bug-fix and free update lifetime for a given version doesn’t strike me as unfair.

A company offering free lifetime updates raises a red flag in my mind re: their long-term viability.

[VincentEvans]

In case of FL Studio - there’s a core product that remains free and receives updates, and there various add-ons and content that you can pay for if you choose to.

It’s not all that different to how some game producers continue to update and bug-fix the game, as well as on occasion introduce new features - while releasing expansions that you need to pay for if you want to play it. Example - Diablo 3 which saw 3 or 4 expansions since it was released a decade or so ago. Or Fallout 4.

That model obviously works for some - and the makers of FL Studio celebrated their 20th anniversary a while ago. One of the benefits to them - is that they don’t need to support old versions of their software, all customers have the latest version available to them free of charge.