Serato has announced that Serato Studio, its DAW for DJ edits and beat-making, is now included as part of its flagship DJ software, Serato DJ Suite, at no additional cost. The change is live immediately for current Suite subscribers and licence holders, with no price increase on the Suite itself.
For anyone already on Serato DJ Suite, that means a piece of software Serato was charging $179 one-off (or $9.99/month via its Producer Suite bundle) just appeared in their account for free. For new buyers, Suite still sits at $14.99/month or $449 lifetime, but now bundles Serato DJ Pro, every DJ Expansion (DVS, Video, Flip, Pitch ‘n Time DJ, Play, FX, Club Kit) and Studio in one package.
Why bundle Studio into Suite?
Serato’s pitch is shared library, shared Crates and cue points, basic pre-mapped support for many Serato DJ controllers, and edits that drop straight back into your sets. So far, so good. But maybe the more interesting question is: Why now?
Our guess is retention. Suite subscribers on $14.99/month are likely Serato’s most valuable customers, and the ones most likely to drift toward Rekordbox, djay Pro or VirtualDJ – all of which have been bulking out their own feature sets. Throwing Studio in at no extra cost makes the Suite sub stickier.
It also possibly tells you something about Studio’s standalone performance. Presumably you don’t give a $179 product away for free in a bundle if it’s selling well on its own. Combined with last December’s SLAB controller (a Studio-focused Midi pad controller co-developed with AlphaTheta that unlocks Studio when plugged in), Serato is clearly pushing Studio hard as a strategic platform rather than a side project.
- Serato DJ Suite is $14.99 month or $449 lifetime, with Studio now included at no additional charge. Existing subscribers and licence holders get Studio access immediately. Full details on the Serato website.
OK, so while we’re talking Serato…
Serato DJ Pro, the tier below Suite, is paid-for software and enough for most DJs. Yet it still doesn’t include Pitch ‘n Time, and that’s wrong.
Pitch ‘n Time lets you change the pitch of a track without changing its tempo – the opposite of keylock, and an absolute basic for modern DJing. Rekordbox, Traktor, djay Pro and VirtualDJ all include it as standard.
In Serato you can no longer buy it as a standalone Expansion. You have to step up to Suite, paying for things you may not want just to get the one thing you do. And if you’ve already bought Pro outright, that upgrade often costs more than buying Suite from the start.
Pretty much every controller sold with a Serato DJ Pro licence ships with a coupon to unlock Pitch ‘n Time – Serato knows it’s basic, the manufacturers know it, and the workaround has been quietly offered for years. It’s the biggest complaint we hear from students, and we’ll keep banging on until Serato bundles it into Pro. Rant over.
Phil Morse
