The thing is, Donny, if Yamaha HAVE worked out how to protect their styles (which you know I am in agreement with), surely that should mean they can make MORE of them, secure in the knowledge that they ARE going to make their money back (and a tidy profit), rather than the copyfest crapshoot that making them nowadays usually is?
Once a guaranteed income is secured, this ought to mean a vast increase in production. This has NOT been the case though. TBH, I've seen other companies produce more FREE styles (Roland Brazil has been very productive creating free styles for that region) than Yamaha have made even with a secure income stream for them.
I am dismayed by how wrong Yamaha get this concept. At the very least, a proprietary format and a secure delivery system should ensure MORE content is available, not less. It is like Yamaha have been determined to take the worse of BOTH systems! At least an open system would assure tons of (albeit lower quality) user styles, but with no protection and revenue for the producers. But with a proprietary system AND a miserly delivery pace, Yamaha snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!