Avid Announces Free Version of Pro Tools, Opening Music Production to Everyone

Avid® (Nasdaq: AVID) today unveiled Pro Tools® | First, a free version of the industry-standard Pro Tools that offers many of the same music creation capabilities used by top artists and recording studios worldwide. Delivering on Avid Everywhere™ and built upon the Avid MediaCentral Platform, Pro Tools | First is simple enough for beginners to learn, yet sophisticated enough for the experienced musician. Pro Tools | First enables anyone to experience the industry’s most trusted digital audio workstation at no cost, so they can turn their musical ideas into fully realized, professional productions that stand out from the crowd.

“Pro Tools is the audio workstation that redefined the music and post-production industries, providing everything needed to create high-caliber audio mixes,” said Chris Gahagan, senior vice president of Products and Technology at Avid. “With Pro Tools | First, we’ve taken the most powerful, proven, and trusted DAW and streamlined it into a version that’s available to everyone for free, whether they dream of a career in music and are just starting out, or are more experienced and want to give Pro Tools a try. Now users of all levels can start off their musical journey on the right path.”

With Pro Tools | First, artists can quickly turn ideas into professional-sounding songs by recording, using software instruments, and applying audio effects. To expand their creative toolset further, the integrated Avid App Store provides a world of affordable AAX plugins and “First” bundles on the Avid Marketplace that make creating, shaping, and enhancing sounds quick and easy.

To accommodate the mobile lifestyle of artists and aspiring pros, Pro Tools | First saves and manages sessions securely in the cloud, enabled by the Avid MediaCentral Platform. This allows users to log into an Avid account and access and work on music from any Mac or PC with Pro Tools | First installed. Anytime changes are made, the project syncs with the cloud as soon as it’s saved. As a special introductory offer, artists can work on and store up to three Pro Tools | First projects in the cloud for free.

In addition, Pro Tools | First will be compatible with Avid Cloud Collaboration when it becomes available, helping artists collaborate together from wherever they are in the world.

Availability

Avid Pro Tools | First will be available in Q1 2015 as a free download through Avid.com. For more information, please visit avid.com/protoolsfirst.