SoftKrtl

Single installer

Reason Studios installation.

Reason Studios is a single download that you activate the first time you open it. Set aside about ten minutes. You will need the activation code from your licence email.

Official brand help

help.reasonstudios.com/hc/en-us ↗

How to install and activate

Register your licence

  1. 1

    Find your registration code

    It is near the top of your licence email — 16 letters and numbers in four groups, like 12AB-3CD5-OUR2-5EXY. Reason Studios calls this the registration code: it is what a shop-bought copy comes with, and you swap it for your licence in the next step. It is not the licence number itself.

    Your activation code

    It is in your licence email, in the purple panel. Signed in? It is in your account too.

    Sign in to view it
  2. 2

    Log in to your Reason Studios account and open Product registration

    Go to the registration page and log in. Never had a Reason Studios account? Create one — it is free, and you need it: your licence will live in it and Reason unlocks by signing in to it. Click “Register New Product”, pick the product you bought (Reason or Reason Rack Plugin), then say which version it is and whether it is a new licence or an upgrade.

    Open ↗
    TIPUpgrading from an earlier Reason? Log in with the account that already holds that licence — the page will ask for its licence number as well as your new code.
  3. 3

    Type in your registration code

    Where the page asks for your registration (or verification) code, enter the code from Part 1 — keep the dashes. Reason Studios then registers a licence number to your account and emails it to the address on your account.

    TIPNo email after a few minutes? Check your spam folder — and the licence number is always visible on the Products page of your Reason Studios account anyway.

    CHECKPOINT

    Your account's Products page lists your new licence (a number like RS1000-nnnn-nnnnnn).

Install and sign in

  1. 4

    Download Reason

    One download covers everything you bought: Reason, the Reason Rack Plugin, and the Reason Companion app that manages your add-on devices. Pick Mac or Windows.

    Open ↗
    TIPIf you only bought the Reason Rack Plugin licence, you still use this same installer — there is no separate one.
  2. 5

    Run the installer

    Mac: open the downloaded file, double-click “Install Reason” and follow the prompts. Windows: right-click the downloaded zip, choose “Extract All”, then double-click “Install Reason.exe” in the new folder and follow the prompts. Tick the Reason Rack Plugin boxes (VST3, AU, AAX) so the plug-in version is installed for the music program you use.

    TIPReason comes with extra content (Rack Extensions and ReFills) you can install straight after, or later from Reason Companion — it is not needed to get started.

    CHECKPOINT

    Reason and Reason Companion are installed. Reason Rack Plugin appears in your music program's plug-in list after its next scan.

  3. 6

    Open Reason and sign in

    Start Reason (or load Reason Rack Plugin in the music program you use — Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Cubase, any of them). The “Welcome to Reason” window asks you to log in: use the Reason Studios account from Part 2. Logging in is what unlocks it — the licence is tied to your account. Your login is remembered, and Reason then runs for a month at a time without an internet connection.

    TIPWorking somewhere with no internet for longer? Reason's Preferences > Account and Authorization has an “Add Long-term Authorization” button that keeps this computer unlocked for a year.

    CHECKPOINT

    Reason opens to its rack with no login prompt and no trial notice — that is it. Enjoy.

Upgrades (Reason 14 Upgrade, Reason Rack 14 Upgrade) are registered on the same page: choose the product, say it is an upgrade, and the page asks for the licence number of the version you already own as well as your new code, so log in with the account that holds the old licence. Reason+ 1-Year prepaid and Reason Rack Subscription are subscription codes, not product licences: do not use “Register New Product”. Reason Studios' help centre has a dedicated article on applying a Reason+ Annual subscription code bought from a shop or retailer — follow that, or contact Reason Studios support with your code. The Reason installer always includes Reason Rack Plugin, whichever licence you bought.

If something goes wrong

My code is not accepted

Codes are entered exactly as sent — paste rather than retype, and keep or drop dashes exactly as the steps say. Still stuck? Contact us with your order number and we will sort it, usually the same day.

The plug-in does not show up in my music program

Check you installed the format your program uses and rescan its plug-in folders. The Reason Studios help pages cover each program's scan settings.

I bought this but have no email

Check spam first — licence emails arrive within minutes of payment. Nothing there? Contact us and we will resend it.

Do I need an account?

Only if the steps above say so — some brands licence entirely inside the software.