Akai Professional MPC ProPack - $199 software update for last-gen MPC devices
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In 2026 Akai Professional launched their latest generation of Music Production Center (MPC) devices with the MPC Live III. Its software brought in a highly requested Clip-Launching feature from their seemingly discontinued AKAI Force devices, which is now being sold for the older MPC products as a $199 USD software upgrade. While the upgrade is pre-installed on the latest device, all owners of the following devices need to pay 199$ to "Level Up their MPC Experience":
- MPC Key 37 and Key 37 G2
- MPC One+ and MPC One G2
- MPC X Special Edition
- MPC Key 61
- MPC One
- MPC Live II
- MPC X
- MPC Live
- Force
While there are other features included in the paid upgrade, AKAI offers no fair upgrade path to users of their older hardware, to unlock the following core-features of the updated software:
- MPC Clip Launching
- Advanced CV Playground
- Advanced Q-Links
These features expand the capability of the hardware in meaningful ways and pay-walling them for last-gen hardware is unnecessary and seems comparable with "unlocking extra horsepower for your car". These devices are meant to be professional music production tools, but AKAI Professional seems to be trying to degrade the iconic MPC brand into yet another digital store front, ready to disown its users at their best convenience.
Background
[edit | edit source]All newer AKAI devices connect to a mandatory InMusic-Account, where AKAI's own and third-party plugins are being sold by InMusic. If a device does not connect to a server within an unknown amount of time, the device automatically disconnects from the registered account and disables all activated plugins. This means that users spend extra-money for additional software, which can be "remotely disabled" at any time. Musical creations done with any of these plugins and virtual software instruments (VSI) and which are saved locally on the device can therefore suddenly fail to load the plugins, which renders a project useless, until the user establishes an internet connection and reconnects to InMusic's servers.[1]
A musician working in the field could suddenly be left with crucial parts of a project missing, until reconnecting to InMusic's servers, which is unacceptable for professional audio tools. It is also unclear what happens, once AKAI and InMusic cut ties or one of the two companies goes bankrupt.
Incident
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AKAI's response
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Consumer response
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See also
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References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ "Akai Pro MPK Mini, MPK Mini Play & MPK Mini Plus | How to Download, Install and Setup the Included Software". AKAI Professional. Archived from the original on 2026-06-11. Retrieved 2026-11-05.