Black Friday 2021: The best plug-in, samples and subscription deals for producers

The best time of the year to bulk up your plug-in and sample folders has arrived.

When you purchase through affiliate links on MusicTech.com, you may contribute to our site through commissions. Learn more
A production setup

Image: Sergiy Tryapitsyn / Alamy

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for music-makers once again, and software developers and marketplaces are already slashing prices in the run-up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In this rolling list, we collect the best software deals on plug-ins, DAWs, samples and subscriptions you can get your hands on.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday take place on the 26 and 29 of November, respectively. Be sure to keep checking back here for more deals as they arrive.

The latest Black Friday deals at a glance:

  • Spitfire Audio – 40% off individual products and 80% off collections
  • Splice – $20 off all annual subscription plans
  • Ujam – Up to 70% off virtual instruments, effects and packs
  • PreSonus – Studio One, Notion 6 and PreSonus Sphere memberships for 30% off
  • Korg – Up to 50% taken off plug-ins and iOS apps
  • Orchestral Tools – Berlin Series sample libraries for 50% off
  • Antares – 70% off Auto-Tune Access, 50% off Auto-Tune Unlimited and discounts on other plug-ins
  • Mastering The Mix – Discounts on individual plug-ins and bundles 6 dec
  • Baby Audio – Save up to 44% on Smooth Operator, Spaced Out and more; over 50% on bundles. 5 dec
  • iZotope – Up to 96% off software bundles which include Ozone, RX9 and Neutron
  • Waves – Up to 92% off on bundles and savings on individual plug-ins
  • Slate Digital – All sample packs completely free to download until the start of 2022
  • Output – Up to 65% off on plug-ins and bundles
  • SoundToys – Complete 21 plug-in collection for $229
  • IK Multimedia – Up to 50% off on all MAX plug-ins
  • BVKER – €160 discount on Ultimate Producer Bundle
  • Hit’n’Mix – Up to 20% discount on RipX products
  • Arturia – Discounts starting at 50%
  • Native Instruments – Up to 50% off over 250 products
  • Remotify – 34% discount on Control Surface Studio

Spitfire Audio – 40% off individual products and 80% off collections

Looking to add more virtual instruments to your scoring arsenal? Spitfire Audio’s Black Weekend deals could do the trick. From 25 to 30 November, you can pick up titles from Abbey Road One: Orchestral Foundations to Hans Zimmer Strings and Albion One at discounted rates: 40% off individual products and 80% off collections.

Plus, Spitfire are also offering a free copy of its brand-new Aperture: The Stack – a wild instrument which samples the power of 56 guitar amplifiers in Lyndhurst Hall – for free when you spend £299/$349

See the deals at spitfireaudio.com

Splice – $20 off all annual subscription plans

Annual subscription plans for Splice, the platform which gives you song-ready samples, production tutorials and plug-ins, are going for $20 off until 30 November.

If you’re planning on trying on the service for a year, check out the Creator plan, which gives you 200 monthly Sounds credits to spend on samples, the Bridge plug-in to connect the service to your DAW, lessons and more.

Learn more at splice.com

Ujam – Up to 70% off virtual instruments, effects and packs

Ujam is offering up solid discounts on an array of software titles until 5 December, and that includes VSTs from the Virtual Guitarist, Virtual Drummer and Symphonic Elements series, as well as creative effects from the Finisher line.

You also stand to save more if you pick these up in their respective Bundles which takes a cool 50% off the total price. Ujam are also throwing in a neat little freebie for each purchase: its Odd Meter MIDI Pack for percussion VSTs and more.

See the deals at ujam.com

PreSonus – Studio One, Notion 6 and PreSonus Sphere memberships for 30% off

PreSonus has slashed 30% off all editions of its flagship Studio One 5 DAW, meaning you can pick up a copy of Professional for just $280 or Artist for $70. That discount extends, as well to Notion 6 and annual subscriptions to PreSonus Sphere, both going for 30% less until 29 November.

Notion 6 is the latest edition of the brand’s notation software, and through PreSonus Sphere, interfaces directly with the brand’s other software for a more seamless workflow. Sphere also gives you access to  every plug-in offered by PreSonus, as well as a library with almost 100GB of content, master classes and more.

See the deals at presonus.com

Korg – Up to 50% taken off plug-ins and iOS apps

Korg is offering up to 50 per cent off on software this Black Friday, with deals spanning music production tools for computers and iOS apps. The Korg Collection 3, which collects 11 digital versions of the brand’s synths from the ARP Odyssey to the Triton Extreme, is going on sale at $249 (usually $399). Music-making tools for iOS are also going on sale, with apps such as the Korg Electribe Wave and iWavestation going for $14.99 each. On top of that, the Module series titles (and Module Pro keyboard for iOS) are all going on offer.

See all the deals here.

Orchestral Tools – Berlin Series sample libraries for 50% off

For composers working in-the-box, Orchestral Tools offers some of the best sample libraries out on the market – the only catch is that they can be somewhat pricey. However, this Black Friday presents an opportunity for music-makers to pick up the brand’s Berlin series packs for 50% off, and that includes Berlin Strings, Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion and Strings. If you’re thinking of taking advantage of this deal, be sure to do so before it ends on 8 December.

Get the Berlin Series here.

Antares – 70% off Auto-Tune Access, 50% off Auto-Tune Unlimited and discounts on other plug-ins

The Access edition of Auto-Tune, the most basic version of the very popular pitch editing tool, is going on sale for just £24.95 (usually £84.95) this Black Friday. Light on CPU usage and highly effective in editing and production, Auto-Tune Access lets you fix vocal mistakes or get the signature Auto-Tune vocal sound quickly and easily. If you need more control over your edits however, consider picking up an annual subscription to Auto-Tune Unlimited, which goes for 50 per cent off (or $149) this Black Friday. As well as this, Antares is also offering its Auto-Key, Mutator and Harmony Engine for big savings through Plugin Boutique.

Check out the deals here.

Mastering The Mix – Discounts on individual plug-ins, bundles and e-books

Mastering The Mix’s plug-ins aim to help you achieve a more balanced production, and you can pick each one of them up – or design a custom bundle – for a discounted price this Black Friday. That includes Reference 2, a plug-in which simplifies mix referencing and doubles as a spectrum analyser, loudness meter and more. Mixroom and Bassroom, which take a visual and intuitive approach to carving out your EQ, is also on sale at $69 each (usually $92).

If you plan on picking up several plug-ins, consider creating your own bundle of four to get 15% off your entire order. And on top of that, the brand’s educational books How Pros Make Hits and Never Get Stuck Again, are going on sale at $19 and $29, respectively.

Check out the deals at masteringthemix.com

Baby Audio – Up to 44% on Smooth Operator, TAIP and more; over 50% on bundles

Baby Audio is the developer behind such clever plug-ins as Smooth Operator, an intelligent signal balancer and TAIP, an AI-powered tape emulator – both of which handled impressively when we reviewed them. This season (until 5 December), the brand is offering up to 44% off on their individual plug-ins and over 50% off if you get them in a bundle.

See the deals at babyaud.io

iZotope – Save up to 96% off software bundles including Ozone, RX9 and more

If you were waiting for a chance to pick up Ozone, RX9 or Elements at a lower price, iZotope’s Black Friday is likely your best shot. This holiday season, the developer is offering their Gold, Platinum and Diamond bundles at $49, $99 and $149, respectively.

Each bundle includes some version of RX, Ozone and Neutron – either Elements or Standard – on top of numerous other titles from the brand. With the Diamond bundle, you get access to Ozone 9 Standard,  Neutron 3 Standard, RX9 Elements and more.

See the deals at izotope.com

Waves – Up to 92% off on bundles and savings on individual plug-ins

The 60-strong Platinum Collection from Waves is being offered at its lowest price this year, at $269.99 (usually $1,999) this is a quick way to pump up your plug-in folder with useful tools from the C4 Multiband Compressor to the GTR3 Amps and virtual pedal collections. If you’re planning on picking out individual plug-ins however, Waves also has an early bird deal going which takes off 30% from your 2nd plug-in, 40% off your third and 50% off the fourth and beyond.

Aside all that, the brand has also teased the drop of a brand-new plug-in for free on 26 November – we’re not quite sure what it is yet, but Waves has teased it will be “surprising”.

Check out the deals at waves.com

Slate Digital – All sample packs completely free to download until the start of 2022

More samples, more options right? Slate Digital is offering all 16 of its sample packs for free until 1 January 2022 – which also includes four new ones for modern R&B, pop, ambient electronic and guitar. The packs also include the three volumes of Vintage Drum series, which samples sought-after machines such as the Linn Drum, Oberheim DMX, Roland TR-707, and more. All-in-all, you’re looking at over 6,000 royalty-free samples if you download every pack.

Slate Digital Black Friday deal
Image: Slate Digital

Get your samples now at slatedigital.com

Output – Up to 65% off on plug-ins and bundles

Output has offered up to 65% off all its plug-ins, bundles and expansion packs until 6 December. That includes software such as the Thermal interactive distortion, Portal granular synth and Movement rhythm engine. If it’s software instruments you’re after, you can also get collections such as Analog Brass & Winds, Exhale and Substance at a lower rate too. Meanwhile, the bundle – which collects all the brand’s non-subscription plug-ins – is going for $551 (down from $2,510) – a pretty worthwhile investment if you’re looking for a wide array of tools.

Check out deals at output.com

SoundToys – Complete 21 plug-in collection for $229

You can get add 21 of these plug-ins to your toy chest for over 50% off this season as SoundToys 5 is going for just $229 (usually $499). The collection includes a versatile smorgasbord of software which all run in the convenient Effects Rack. Some examples of what’s on offer are the Decapitator extreme saturator, EchoBoy vintage delay and Crystallizer granular reverse echo.

And if you prefer to pick up individual plug-ins, you can do so as well with individual deals on the brand’s website.

Check out the full list at soundtoys.com

IK Multimedia – Up to 50% off on all MAX plug-ins

IK Multimedia has a number of deals running this month, but we have to give a shout to the discounts it’s offering on the MAX series, which includes the launch of bundles Total Studio 3.5 MAX and Total VI MAX. Each, along with individual titles, is going for about 40% to 50% off which means you can also get AmpliTube 5 Max, SampleTank 4 Max and T-RackS 5 Max on their own for a significantly lower price.

As for the Max bundles, Total Studio 3.5 Max brings over 15,000 virtual instruments and sounds, 424 pieces of guitar and bass gear and 55 mixing and mastering processors. Total VI Max on the other hand – touted as the brand’s “most complete collectino ever of virtual instruments” – includes 470GB of samples from bass and drums to orchestral sounds.

Check out all the deals at ikmultimedia.com

BVKER – €160 discount on Ultimate Producer Bundle sample packs

Independent sample pack creator BVKER is slashing the price of its Ultimate Producer Bundle from €180 to €20. The bundle comprises five sample packs, spanning a variety of genres including vaporwave, old-school hip-hop, melodic house, trap, and phonk. Altogether, the bundle gives you 231 tuned 808 sounds, 2,406 drum hits and loops, 487 tonal one-shots, 346 melodic loops and MIDI files, 290 sound effects, and 11 construction kits. This is well worth considering if you need to stock up your sample folder. Check out a demo below.

Buy the Ultimate Producer Bundle at bvker.com

Hit’n’Mix – Up to 20% discount on RipX products

Software developer Hit’n’Mix is offering a discount on its RipX products, including a five per cent discount on RipXDeepRemix and 20 per cent off RipX DeepAudio. Both pieces of software are powerful audio editing tools that allow you to isolate and extract instruments from any track to export as stems. DeepAudio goes one step further by offering a more advanced set of tools for manipulating the imported audio, such as manipulating individual harmonics in a sound, removing noise, cloning timbres or editing pitch-bends.

Hit’n’Mix is running this deal until the end of November 2021.

Hit N Mix ripx deepmix deepaudio

Check out the sale at hitnmix.com

Arturia – Discounts starting at 50%

Arturia is running its biggest Black Friday ever sale, with discounts starting at a whopping 50 per cent. It’s not including any small-time software, either. Arturia’s flagship products – V Collection 8, Pigments 3, and FX Collection 2 – are all on offer for half price, with existing registered users being eligible for even higher savings. You can log in to your Arturia account to find out how much you can save. This sale is running from now until 8 December, giving you a few weeks to save.

Arturia FX Collection 2

Find out how much you can save at arturia.com.

Native Instruments – Up to 50% off over 250 products, £14,000 discount on Komplete 13 bundle

Cyber Season at Native Instruments gives you up to 50 per cent discount on over a huge 250 products, including big discounts on Komplete 13 bundles. Until 6 December, you can purchase products such as Piano Colors, Session Guitarist: Picked Nylon, Massive X, Ashlight, Guitar Rig 6 Pro and much more at seriously lower prices. Native Instruments is also slashing prices on its Komplete 13 bundles, saving you a ridiculous £14,140 (you read that right) on the Komplete 13 Ultimate Collector’s Edition, making it £1,439. The standard Komplete 13 collection, usually £6,122, is now a low £539. If you’ve ever been considering a Komplete bundle, now is the time.

Native Instruments Komplete 13

Check out Native Instruments’ sale at native-instruments.com.

Remotify – 34% discount on Control Surface Studio

Remotify is running a 34 per cent discount on Ableton MIDI Script building tool Control Surface Studio, making it $55, down from $89. The software allows you to control hundreds of Ableton Live’s session and arrangement actions, many of which can’t be accessed via Live’s internal MIDI mapping mode. This is an ideal piece of software for producers with MIDI controllers looking for more tactile control of Live, whether it’s in a performance or production setting.

Remotify

Find out more at remotify.io.

logo

Get the latest news, reviews and tutorials to your inbox.

Subscribe
Join Our Mailing List & Get Exclusive DealsSign Up Now
logo

The world’s leading media brand at the intersection of music and technology.

© 2024 MusicTech is part of NME Networks.