Hi!

Just noticed my MIDI generator plugin, Bassliner, is up as a request on the sister site.
Let me tell you a few things.

- I grew up believing that this interesting scene, mainly on the teams' side, operate on some ethical standards and a philosophy around why they crack music software. Such as: Heavily bloated security frameworks that cost a lot of power and storage for the buyer. Overly expensive price tags justified by shady claims re what the plugin does. Inability to try before buying. Devs being arrogant and unhelpful towards users, using suspicious data farming, and so on.

- I want to say proudly that my licensing system is about a couple lines of code. The plugin costs €24 despite working on it for 6 years as part of my PhD, and I plan to run many more sales as people seem to always wait for them. There's a free-forever demo, and can provide trial licenses on request. My support is practically instant during working hours, or even at 4AM on a Saturday. Of course I'm not trying to justify why you shouldn't try cracking, but I'm just saying, because there is no ethical justification whatsoever to request cracking this.

- Most importantly, I want you all here to understand that any new independent plugin business needs to battle inside an insanely oversaturated market, that recently became even worse due to an influx of infinite AI slop plugins. And no thanks, trying to hack our servers wouldn't be exactly helpful for our market awareness and growth. The project has attention already because I spent a lifetime studying melodicity and made something sick, it doesn't need sneaky ahh tricks that would potentially disrupt legit buyers and waste time that would've gone into development.

Finally, because this forum is not like the two "official" ones, I'd like to be a little more direct regarding the topic:

1) The generator code is in a programming language that cannot exist as a plugin. Any bassline you "heart" is saved in your computer and is accessible forever, and every feature except live generation is also available offline.

2) When we say "we keep track of generation activity", it really is just the settings of the plugin buttons when you send a generation request, pattern info, time-logged and account-logged. How do you think the "create similar" or the "pool" feature could operate if you don't send that info? Some comments online act like we log your name or collect your childhood photos. They're dripping toxicity for a plugin that collects the state of its buttons for its features, while they literally have their phones record every sound they make 24/7 to throw them related ads. I would honestly love it if someone can explain what's the matter with this.

Thanks for your time.

 

I looked and if there was any toxicity in comments there, they seem to have already been cleaned up by the moderator.

Some people, you will notice, will not buy something with online-only activations or server communications for authentication, no matter what you do. Their option is to not buy the plugin just like it is, to not buy anything with iLok requirements. A vast majority of the complaining you will hear will be about things that do not assist in making shared copies easier, like offline activation methods. People will either buy it or they will not. Or it will get shared anyway. Worrying about communication from your little plugin with some web server beyond that is tinfoil hat time, or learning how to setup a simple firewall.

 

Sure, but the only "written" standards i've seen are something like "if you like the product support the developer" and stuff like that, it's not about deciding wether to crack something or not. And i could be wrong, but i'm pretty sure they crack everything they can get their hands on, even small devs, regardless of the licensing system. The "ethics" come in play later when you decide what to do with it.

As for us crack consumers, there's way too many of us, expecting everyone to operate under the same ethics is just unrealistic and always has been, discussions about what is right or wrong pop up from time to time in this forum alone, and there's always different opinions.

Having your data sold on one side doesn't mean you're just going to leave the door open for every other device/program you use to potentially do the same, not if you can avoid it at least.

Not saying you're stealing data or anything, but most people will never know for sure, so naturally some are going to have a problem with that.

 

I dont understand your reasoning for this thread and comments about others who may have concerns.

I am always suspect of any randomizing cloud based magic "ai" program especially from a totally unknown developer and so are many others, rightfully so. I never heard of you until now so the free advertising obviously works and saved you thousands of dollars from "the other two official ones" whatever that means. But insulting people who are potential customers or not, toxic for questioning and being suspicious is an interesting sales tactic.

There are hundreds of programs already that do this and many are free, completely offline, without requirements for an internet connection. Your website statement along with such vague wording about generation tracking, usage customer guinea pigging, data mining and untrusting abuse prevention whatever that means, all sounds very familiar with most of these types of instant gratification online services.

At the end of the day people want to test products without restriction or any strings attached and they definitely dont want personal data being exposed or usage being tracked and used for training these models. If yours is so innocent and great then you should have nothing to worry or complain about and will get a lot of sales from it showing up on the scene.

 

there are a lot of reversers who will break anything they get their hands on, because it's almost like a crossword puzzle for them. When it comes to the "ethics" there also many Teams and groups who will not release anything from small developers. They are also not going to complain about any of this online activation stuff, especially to the developer, because that is just a speed bump for them anyway. They will either strip it, emulate the server, or block it. If the thing does all the work on the server side, people will label it AI (even if it isn't) and won't use it anyway, if they care about it not running locally.

None of those people are operating with the "it's going to send my future-grammy-winning tracks to the webserver!"

More than likely, any venom you caught was really directed at Cableguys, with you just as a proxy.

 

Right, I think it's beyond tinfoil hat stuff too, yet the literal moderator in that request quoted the "We keep track .." T&C sentence and commented [emojis] "redflag-nose-cow-$hit-facepalm"? And I see this sort of comment about the T&C sometimes, hence this thread.

So basically what you're saying is people don't have a problem with the plugin sending plugin parametres, but they make up conspiracies about plugins stealing data they shouldn't. As if a bad actor's plugin would mention "hey we send data" in the T&C.. Not to mention that they could just ask chatgpt how to check what data their DAW sends when they press Generate..

This is the exact type of comment I'm talking about. And I'm unsure this will help leading anywhere better, but let's go:

- "Magic AI program from a totally unknown developer". I have a name and surname, my "magic" is published in academic papers by not-so-magic universities, and the plugin has been online as a free Beta since 2014 when people made videos and articles around the world.
- "Saved you thousands of dollars". So devs really advertise in Audiosex?
- "The other two forums whatever than means". Gearspace and KVR.
- "Hundreds of programs already do this for free offline". "This" as in random MIDI notes? What should the website write in order for you to transition from believing it is "random notes generator" to "high quality melodic algorithms"? Genuine question.
- "Personal data being exposed .. data mining .. being tracked and used for training these models". See, to me this really confusing. The project is positioned as "not made by training an AI model" and states "generation activity", yet people will just say it's AI training and it may "steal personal data" (?).
- "will get a lot of sales from it showing up on the scene". I'd be extremely surprised to make 1 sale from a piracy forum, but ngl I can't say for sure.

That's nothing personal btw, just what I think on my end while reading the comment.

My take away is no matter what the project is or says that it does, that segment of users will automatically group it with the other products of the online generator market and automatically accuse it of whatever is the default thing to say about "ai woo woo random note generators".

Honestly, thank you all for your genuine thoughts and comments. I got into the mindset of what they mean much better now.

PS. @clone Could be (even though it would be extremely unfair and mindless IMO), in any case I want to mention that Cableguys helped tremendously to launch the product and project, but right now there is no immediate involvement by them in Bassliner. I'm sure they'd prefer this to be clear too, so thanks for passing me this opportunity to mention it.

 

I wouldn't sweat it. It will either be cracked or not. While of course its not a great feeling to have years of work given freely away, just focus on building out your brand, development , etc. Whatever goes in to taking your brand to the next level. Theres a saying ive heard a few times in my life from various people, in various circumstances, "let them". As in - while navigating life there are some things that are in your control, and there are some things that are not, and no matter how hard we might want people to behave, there is nothing we can do about it. Somebody swooped on the parking spot you were about to take? Let them, just grab another spot. Your friend is acting weird , hanging out with the wrong crowd and being a doucebag? Let him. He has to learn his own lessons and you cannot control who he hangs out with. A team cracks your plugin that you have worked your ass off for years buliding? Let them!! They will do it, or they won't. If they do, there is nothing you can do to stop them except issue a take down. Regardless, let them, there ARE things you can do for your brand instead of spending pointless worry on wether or not it will be cracked. Things that ARE in your control like working on updates, coding your next plugin, reaching out to blogs, influencers, setting up meta ads etc. and so on.

Of course there are limits to this, if somebody is walking all over you, being abusive etc, its ok to put your foot down and express your grievances, but for something like this, that for now is a hypothetical even, let them. Instead of pointless worry, just keep doing what you are doing and continue moving forwards.

Best of luck with the plugin, and congrats on the release! I already use a few similar tools or else id probably check it out.

 

Yeah that's the way tbh. You know, mainly I just wanted to understand this pattern of comments that show up now and then, it was a big blind spot and I couldn't remotely understand them. At least I might be able to communicate some things better after this chat (would definitely not worth it to cut down on features just for this minority of users though). And for sure there's lots of nice stuff coming next! Thanks for your comment.

 

i almost made a respectless comment about someone needing 6 years to develop a midi plug-in, but that would probably not be the best start for the other thing i want to say.

as creatives, who eventually try to make a living from music or arts, one should always respect the copyright and/or license conditions/ offers of people who make software or write books, because if you do not, you are part of a movement where people steal stuff from themselves/ from each other.
so it is important that you do not forget that when you are in doubt if you should register something which you actually use for you own business.

like i always say: that it is theorectially not legal to steal software does not automatically mean it is always wrong, and that cracked copys are easily available does not mean that you would be allowed to ignore the license contract or that it would be totally cool to take something from others without consideration.

there is not that one philosophy among any scene ot type of actors as you implied.
people who crack software, or collect them, or use them, are as diverse as the rest of the society. they are liberals, anarchists, socialists, christians, buddhists, tech nerds, entrepreneurs, professors, or simply too poor (or from a poor country) to buy stuff.

some only steal, others only buy but might still install the crack, many mix and do both.

the main idea they all share is that copyprotection is bad.

and that it completely sucks that you have to visit 437 different places on the web to find out about all new plug-ins. (and let me add that i personally never understood why freeware is rarely included in this kind of distribution channels for that reason.)

so, if your software uses copy protection or if you ask for email adresses and registration, it will be cracked by someone. this is not meant as an offense to you, as well as it not done to promote your stuff and help your business. it follows more some kind of inner logic, which you either get or not.

however, now to the important point: thank you for your open words. too many people already unlearned this.

 

Last edited: Mar 22, 2026 at 5:15 AM

I bought your plug-in. It's good and I support you. You actually added features I requested. I won't say who is am, but I definitely feel like you deserve my money. Very responsive developer. Much luck.

 

Since "its users include GRAMMY winners, #1 Billboard chart toppers and 15+ billion stream hit makers", i wouldn't sweat the little stuff.

And my opinion is that the price is reasonable.
(Interesting that there is also a private mode to avoid sharing your bassline online)

 

Last edited: Mar 22, 2026 at 6:32 AM

Some lovely moderator deleted my response to his countless personal attacks toward me, even though I said nothing heated at all. I will only re-type this: When someone believes that a registered company with public names might actively engage in any sort of illegal activity based on some magical code that can still "personal data" through a VST in a DAW, this is what we would generally call a conspiracy theory. It is what it is called, I am not calling out anything nor I make a personal attack.

Thanks a lot @peezy666 ! Keep an out for a major update that will introduce "user content aware" generation as early as within the coming week.

And likewise thanks a lot @DoubleTake ! Due to GDPR I only have few of such producers publicly shown, but I'll communicate with more of them in the future.

I'm out and I hope this place can have more freedom of speech and equality in dialogue some day.