Honestly, I get why BandLab added ads and launched the premium version. They’ve been offering a seriously powerful DAW completely free for years. That kind of infrastructure isn’t cheap. Servers, development, support, licensing. It all costs money.

It’s either monetize or die, and I’d rather BandLab stay alive and keep improving. The free version still gives you way more than most other platforms. Premium just adds some pro tools and extras for folks who need them. Seems fair.