There are few pieces of music software that I’d legitimately feel comfortable calling ‘iconic’, but Image-Line’s FL Studio is one of them.
Originally launched as FruityLoops in the late ‘90s, the DAW has provided a jumping-off point for countless electronic and hip-hop producers over the past few decades. It’s just gained a handful of cool new features in its latest update, and thanks to Image-Line’s Black Friday sale, you can pick it up this week with savings of up-to 30% on the usual price.
FL Studio is often wrongly written off as a beginner DAW despite the fact that – while it’s fairly approachable for new music makers – it’s packed with functionality and is more than capable of producing full, release-quality tracks.
What makes FL interesting compared to other DAWs is its loop-focused workflow, which makes it particularly adept at producing genres like hip-hop and dance music. Its longstanding step sequencer and piano roll tools are rightly beloved too.
Personally, I like FL Studio as a second DAW, since its workflow and tools can inspire ideas in a different way to, say, Logic or Ableton Live. Its biggest plus point in this regard though, is its lifetime updates deal, which means that purchasing a license once grants access to all future versions.
Because of this, even if you drift away from using it for a few years, you can dip back in when an exciting new feature arrives without having to pay for an upgrade or worrying that it's no longer compatible with your latest OS.
The headline feature of the 2024.2 update is Transporter, a new loop-focused effect plugin designed for on-the-fly experimentation. It also adds several user-requested features, including scalable plugin UIs, a low-latency monitoring mode and the ability to hot swap loops from Image-Line’s FL Cloud service.
The update follows in the wake of FL Studio’s big 2024 update, which dropped earlier this year and added a suite of generative MIDI tools, a new virtual analogue synth called Kepler, a sub-bass enhancer and more.
FL Studio was also one of the first applications to introduce AI-powered stem separation into its workflow – a move that is quickly becoming the standard across the DAW sphere.
Image-Line's FL Cloud subscription service has been significantly expanded this year too, which offers a variety of third-party plugins from developers including Native Instruments and UVI. Highlights include Baby Audio's TAIP tape emulation tool and Minimal Audio's Rift distortion. FL Cloud also gives users access to a vast sample library, AI-powered mastering and music distribution via DistroKid.
FL Cloud is available in three tiers, each of which offers a different number of plugins, ranging from a free tier that offers 10 plugins (including Baby Audio's Super VHS and iZotope's Ozone Elements) to a Pro subscription. As of the latest update, Pro tier subscribers also get access to a fresh selection of preset packs for Image-Line’s flagship FLEX synth.
In the Black Friday sale, you can pick up the Producer Edition of FL Studio – including 94 instruments and effects, with audio recording and stem separation – for £149/€169/$139. The Signature edition, which ups the instrument/effect count to 103, is £199/€239/$199. The top end All Plugins Edition, with 116 instruments and effects, is £315/€379/$314.
FL Cloud is also included in the Black Friday sale, where users can save up to 38% on annual subscriptions to FL Cloud’s Plus and Pro tiers.
If you’re in the market for software deals this weekend, we’re rounding up all the best Black Friday plugin deals over on our hub page.
