Larry Jordan's Newsletter: February 2, 2026

February 2, 2026

Welcome to my first monthly issue!

The big news last week was Apple's release of their new Creator Studio, a collection of media apps for a subscription price. I have three articles on it, starting with an overview of what's in it.

Apple Releases Creator Studio

While the Creator Studio is attractive to new users, there's much less value to folks that already own many of these tools.

In fact, I don't plan to subscribe and here's why - one reason may surprise you.

Why I'm Not Subscribing to Creator Studio - Yet

Finally, for another perspective, I'm delighted to welcome Peter Wiggins, former webmaster of UK-based FCP.co and active Mac developer, for his take on Apple's new bundle.

Creator Studio - A Good Move or Clever Marketing?

Even though I'm not writing a weekly newsletter, I'm posting news every day. There are 43 new stories in January alone!

Use the Search box to check out the latest news from companies you follow. (And, if you're a developer, please send me your news so I can share it with the world.)

All the Latest Media Industry News

Ars Technica reported yesterday that 8K TVs are dead. Which is not the same as saying that 8K video is dead.

Here are the details.

8K TVs are Dead - But Not 8K Media

In a "Tale From the Trenches," Rich Kuenneke got a warning from his music licensing website that his music licenses were only good for as long as he was a subscriber to their website.

However, good projects can last for decades. What should he do?

Caution: Be Careful with Music Licenses

Rich's problem brought up something I've known for a long time. Developers don’t think like media creators. And, in that disconnect, lie many of the problems media creators have with every upgrade or product launch.

Developers build for the future, media creators build on the past.

Developers Just Don't Think Like Us

Along with the release of Creator Studio, Apple also updated all their media applications.

Here's a detailed listing of what's new, with links to learn more.

New Features in FCP 12, Logic 12, Motion 6, and Compressor 6

A week before Apple's release, Adobe also updated all their media apps.

Here's what's new with Premiere.

New Features in Adobe Premiere 26.0

In my commentary on Apple's Creator Studio bundle I wrote that Apple has significantly slowed development of Final Cut over the last several years. To illustrate this point, I compared the number of new features added to Final Cut Pro during 2025 to Premiere and Resolve.

Final Cut (desktop): 4 upgrade releases, 8 new features, 27 bugs fixed (Link)
Premiere (desktop): 5 upgrade releases, 29 new features, 84 bugs fixed (Link)
Even more stark, when Resolve launched Resolve Studio 20, they added 200 new features (Link). When Apple launched Final Cut Pro 12, they added 5.

Apple has a very large hill to climb to prove there's action behind their words.

Until next month, stay healthy, stay hopeful and edit well.

TUTORIALS & REVIEWS

» Why I'm Not Subscribing to Creator Studio - Yet (Comment)

» Apple has a lot to prove to make this bundle worthwhile.

» Creator Studio - A Good Move or Clever Marketing? (Comment)

» Peter Wiggins, of FCP.co, shares his thoughts.

» Apple Releases Creator Studio (News)

» Here's what's in the bundle.

» Apple Updates FCP, Motion, Compressor & More (News)

» Here are the new features.

» Latest Features in Adobe Premiere 26.0 (News)

» Here are the new features.

» Developers Just Don't Think Like Us (Comment)

» And this disconnect is core to many of our problems.

» Caution: Be Careful With Music Licenses (Comment)

» Rich got an unexpected warning which jeopardized his projects.

» 8K TVs are Dead - But Not 8K Video (News)

» TV sets are going away, but not 8K source media.

Buy Now!

DaVinci Resolve 20 - Creative Bundle

This bundle goes beyond illustrating new features, it explains WHY, along with new techniques, keyboard shortcuts, and extensive “how-to’s” to help you make the most of this software. (6 sessions, 5.5 hours)