Nominations are now open for the SHITI awards (Software Headaches in Installation, Testing and Implementation). Several early contenders have already emerged in the Sound and Music Tech category. For the latest from the studio world, we turn to Johnny Trakkenmicks. Over to you, Johnny.

Thanks Ben. Well, this division, once upon a time owned wholly by Pace and Esellerate, has become rather competitive in recent years. A fleet of new frustration techniques have emerged, each with their standard-bearers. You have the “arbitrary re-authorize” set (hello Nugen, Focusrite), the “complete massive bundle reinstall for every single tweak”, a tossup between Waves and MeldaProduction, and of course the “ET phone home hourly”, a particularly annoying technique whose adherents are sadly too numerous to mention.

But if we’re talking big league, the true contenders are those who go the extra mile to thwart installers, who bring an exceptional degree of ingenuity to the frustration game. Now, you can’t talk about serious hair-pulling installer misery without mentioning FXpansion, with their familiar and oh-so-informative catch phrase “something went wrong”. And who could forget Garritan/Aria/Plogue? That unholy triumvirate that wrote the book on multi-level hoop-jumping. And then of course there’s Cakewalk, perhaps the champion in terms of legit users who simply gave up trying to install.

Who will emerge this year’s SHITI winner in Sound and Music Tech? Well Johnny, only time will tell, but we’re waiting to hear from the informed users, those on the front lines that do battle daily with these companies and their absurd paranoia. Nominations are open folks, so how about it – who frustrates you the most? Vote today!

 

Last edited: Jun 12, 2017