"Current trends indicate a growing demand for swift plugin development": Anticipating the future shaping of plugin architectures
In the rapidly evolving world of music production, plugin design is undergoing a significant transformation, as noted by Grammy-nominated mixing engineer Ben Thomas's endorsement of LOLCOMP over traditional-looking plugins. This shift is being driven by changing user expectations and technological advancements, as outlined by experts in the field.
**Simplification and Streamlining**
Plugins are becoming less complex, with simpler graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and fewer knobs and controls. This shift towards improving user experience (UX) aims to reduce cognitive load and make workflows more intuitive. Alexander Fundorin, a plugin UI and UX designer, echoes this sentiment, noting that simplicity of aesthetics is becoming more common.
**Inspirational and Directional Tools**
Future plugins are likely to emphasize inspiration and creative guidance, rather than just technical precision. Users are seeking plugins that help shape the creative direction of their work, not just execute highly specialized tasks.
**Aesthetic Evolution**
The visual design of plugins is moving away from replicating physical hardware. Instead, interfaces are becoming more abstract, prioritizing functionality and ease of use over realism.
**Increased Integration and Automation**
With AI and smart technologies advancing, plugins are expected to offer more automated features, adapting to user preferences and workflows. This could include intelligent suggestions or adaptive effects, making the creative process faster and more efficient.
**Faster and More Integrated Workflows**
Users want everything faster, and plugin workflows are adapting to meet this demand. Future plugins will likely be more deeply integrated with digital audio workstations (DAWs) and other creative software, enabling seamless operation and quicker results.
**Focus on Creativity**
The primary goal of forthcoming plugins will be to support and enhance creative exploration, rather than just technical manipulation. This means more emphasis on tools that spark new ideas and help users find their creative voice.
**Adaptive and Personalized Experiences**
With advances in AI, plugins may begin to learn from user behavior, offering personalized presets, recommendations, or even real-time workflow adjustments to suit individual styles and projects.
In summary, the next decades will likely see plugins that are simpler, more creative, and increasingly intelligent, with a strong focus on supporting and accelerating the user's creative journey. The LOLCOMP plugin by Mixing Night Audio is a striking example of the changing design trends, with a cartoonish emoji placed front and center. Waves' One Knob series is another example of plugins with simplified workflow.
Many experts see AI as playing a significant role in the future of music software, with AI tools potentially taking away more of the manual labor and giving users more security in their choices. Clara suggests the idea of a plugin that generates a sonic birth chart based on the user's birthday as a way to attract more beginners.
LOLCOMP's design is meant to be polarizing and has received both hate and love. Ken Lewis, co-founder of Mixing Night Audio, wanted LOLCOMP to instantly make users choose whether it was for them or not. Many plugins now bear no resemblance to physical equipment, a trend that Colton Tollett, a graduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, agrees with.
Music production plugins must balance complex engineering with a user base primarily interested in creating and performing without being bogged down by tech. Dom at Mixing Night notes that people want everything fast and are less likely to use complex plugins if simpler alternatives exist. Colton Tollett's study found that most people interviewed placed a reduced cognitive load as a priority when evaluating plugins.
Tobias of Klevgrand believes that the change in plugin design is largely driven by a broader and more diverse user base, including more hobbyists and beginners. Clara also envisions plugins with more visually compelling designs, ones that translate well to social media sharing sites like TikTok.
The average user of music production plugins does not have the time or mental space to figure out each knob or switch, leading to a demand for simplicity. Ken, a professional mixing engineer, prefers plugins that offer ease of use and speed, aiming for results that are significantly better and unlock creativity.
Caspar Bock, the CEO of Baby Audio, notes that there's a growing group of plugin buyers that may never have set foot in a physical music studio. Alexander, a plugin UI and UX designer, sees accessibility as a major force in plugin simplification.
Plugin design is evolving in 2025, with a shift towards simplified, minimalist styles. Tobias Engström, the founder and CEO of Klevgrand, suggests that the change in plugin design is largely driven by a broader and more diverse user base. Clara Venice would like to see plugins that cater even more to beginners and hobbyists, people for whom sound itself is part of the enjoyment. Caspar at Baby Audio believes people are looking more for inspiration in their plugins, with plugins taking on more creative roles in music production.
In the light of evolving user preferences and advancements in technology, music production plugins are expected to incorporate artificial intelligence for automated features, creating more intelligent and adaptive experiences for users (data-and-cloud-computing, artificial-intelligence). Furthermore, plugin design will likely continue to simplify and streamline, focusing on intuitive workflows, aesthetic minimalism, and creative exploration, thereby catering to beginners and hobbyists (data-and-cloud-computing, technology).
