How about yearly subscription pricing for MTotalBundle?

Official support for: meldaproduction.com
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What do you think?

I think it's a nonsense
82
51%
I don't mind, but I'd use the traditional licences with free-for-life updates
62
38%
I like the idea, 199 EUR/year sounds fair
0
No votes
I like the idea, 149 EUR/year sounds fair
2
1%
I like the idea, 99 EUR/year sounds fair
16
10%
 
Total votes: 162

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stereolost wrote:I can expect many beginners jumping to rent Slate's stuff, cause it looks analog:) and the hype is hypey. But not Melda.
Most beginners are rather favoring Waves plugins because if the MSRP is $250, but you can get it for $70 during a sale, it must be 100 % dope, even if it's a one knob wonder... :P

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The biggest advantage of subscriptions for the developer is that he can better estimate the monthly income!

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I'm all for offering people different ways to purchase software, and perhaps some people in certain circumstances would find subscription beneficial. However, I think it's potentially a slippery slope. Jump forwards 5 years from now after we've got used to subscriptions for a while, I fear it would be too tempting for a developer to just stop selling software outright and only offer subscriptions as it will bring them better returns.

If something were to change, I would rather pay for upgrades than encourage subscriptions, as long as the upgrades were reasonable. The concept of 'renting' tools is incredibly unappealing to me. I use Melda plugins in my job every single day, I want to own them... if I were a builder I would want to buy a hammer not rent one. In addition, I often use very old unusual tools, if they went subscription it's all too easy for a developer to just switch off support for old software that I still use. I don't want to open a project in five years and not be able to mix down something because some important plugin isn't actively supported anymore.

Now, one thing to add is that Melda are INCREDIBLY good at updating their tools and responding to feature updates. So I actually think that is where subscription makes (slightly) more sense, you pay money to support the constant advancement and you get to stay at the cutting edge. Some software has gone subscription and yet is only releasing an update or two a year, this I totally disagree with as I feel my money isn't going towards improving the product.I have confidence this wouldn't happen with Melda, but I still would prefer other ways of supporting.

I would add that I think there's a danger of alienating potential customers with subscriptions. One of the many reasons I switched from Waves to Melda completely when starting at a new studio was because of their excellent value; not only price but lifetime updates. If Melda was subscription only I might not have gone with Melda. I know you are only talking about making it an OPTION, but just wanted to give you an insight into my general thoughts on subscriptions.

Finally, thank you for asking your customers. Lots of companies are surprising customers with switches to subscriptions so it's refreshing to have you start a discussion.

Thanks :)

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I can't be bothered with subscriptions. There's too much else going on. To me, the only successful subscription models are for Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu Plus. They all have more to offer than I could ever consume, and they all work out to be around $8 US per month. I know it's not fair to compare Melda to those huge companies, but I do feel it is fair to let you know what I think makes a successful subscription.

I have considered a subscription to Pedal Genie (like Netflix but for guitar effects pedals), but have not opted in yet.
If every KVR member wrote one review a year we'd have 1340 reviews each day!

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What I think this all boils down to is whether or not plug-in users are willing
to pay for quality. Of course there are alot of compressors & EQ's around. Some fantastic ones! Melda's stuff is unique, innovative, and basically refreshing. 8)

The fact is, if the company needs to make some bread then they will somehow be changing their business model. Pretty simple stuff. It seems that some people don't like subscription plans, but they certainly have some merit - A serious developer simply must keep up with Operating System progress or they are finished. So they will need an income stream. If not subscription, then paid updates....money must flow.

I really like Vojtech's plug-ins & will support the direction they choose. He
is a good dude - I think he is suggesting this because of the reality of the
world.

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Two issues and two suggestions here:

1. How many years subscriptions would equal the purchase price ( 3years?, 5years? 10years?..) - this would be the selling point. But as reasonable as that may be, at that point, you have paid for the whole product but you actually own nothing!

2. Bundles by design are economic in the "package deal" sense but, more often than not, 50% of the plugins are probably not of interest to you so the economy has just plummeted to, probably, just below the individually purchase on individual plugins you really wanted - still OK for some, i'd guess, but the retailer hasn't given you much of break. These types of bundles are great kudos for seller but not so much of a service to the end user.

In reality, a real service to the customer for plugin bundles ( from every manufacturer) would be based on package-deals of varying quantities (3x, 5x, 10x plugins etc.) and you choose exactly what plugins you wish. Even under this scheme, it would be hard to justify the benefits of yearly subscription unless ridiculously cheap.

Lastly. when are plugins manufacturers going stand by their products and give a 3month money-back guarantee for example - and really stand behind their product. We've all done it, demo'ed the product , purchased it, and two months later discovered its not really that impressive.

Cheers

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mjhart wrote:


Lastly. when are plugins manufacturers going stand by their products and give a 3month money-back guarantee for example - and really stand behind their product. We've all done it, demo'ed the product , purchased it, and two months later discovered its not really that impressive.

Cheers
I politely disagree. Most demos are pretty generous, you should know in a couple of weeks if you want it. I know in a couple of hours! What you are suggesting is unlikely in this market.

But back to the main topic: There have been many proposals made here & I feel that many are overly complex. Somehow I don't think Vojtech will go for them. I wouldn't mind a subscription, but it might keep some away.

My proposal: Keep things basically how they are, satisfied customers, but implement a paid-for update system that is reasonable. Simple! Ha! :D

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Why is subscription coming up so often recently? Pro Tools, Slate, now Melda.

As long as traditional "perpetual" licenses remain the same as they are now, I'm good. Offer subscription if you like, some people would like that - but don't replace regular licensing with subscriptions.
Grizzellda wrote:My proposal: Keep things basically how they are, satisfied customers, but implement a paid-for update system that is reasonable. Simple! Ha! :D
I bought all my Melda stuff and was told updates were free for life. I don't want that to change, and I don't expect that Melda could change that for existing purchases, that would be some kind of breach of contract.
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People tend to forget that you can always get used to a different software.

I personally HATE the idea of subscriptions so much, that I would not hesitate to uninstall a software as soon as it goes subsciption ONLY.

Good bye PTHD and /&%/&)/ you AVOID. What a disgusting business model. :x
SOUND!

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I would like to see people given both options: buy outright or a subscription model purchase. As others have said, if you subscribed to use a bundle, then say after a year, when you have paid $X in subscription, to be given $X discount or say 80% of X as a discount. That way, people who may not be able to afford the bundle initially might be able to get it via subscription. I think having this as an option might gain you more customers.

But having only a subscription model I think is prohibitive. If I wanted to work on an old project song, for example, that used your bundle, but I wasn't paid up, then it might break my project. If I am forced to keep paying a subscription so as to not break old projects, then that is no good.

I won't use adobe products any more because they force users to have to subscribe.

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Ok, folks, so let's have a resolution here ;) - NO SUBSCRIPTIONS

First of all, thank you for your opinions!

Seems that most of you are against it and many brought some valid arguments. The only thing most of you agree is "rental to buy", which could be nice, but would need some more complicated infrastructure, and still depend on the online checking every week, which seems to be a dealbreaker for many and I can understand that. So for now, we'll leave it as it is until someone comes with some marvelous idea :).

Now, some of you misunderstood a few things, so just to clarify:

- Nothing would change to the normal free-for-life updates model - after all there are thousands of customers with a correct licence, we cannot take it from them of course! And I still believe the prices are correct the way they are and the best is to buy the standard licence anyway... it was just an option for those, who just don't have the funds.

- Business isn't gonig down - a few people came to conclusion that our current business model is not working well enough, so we are looking for "additional revenues". Not really, it's working better and better actually, thanks to you spreading the word mostly! So thank you for that! And this whole idea was really just to make the software available to those, who don't have enough money.
There was also an idea, that we might have "finished the market". Well, I was worried about that a few years ago, but not anymore :). World is a huge place and if one offers good stuff... ;)
Vojtech
MeldaProduction MSoundFactory MDrummer MCompleteBundle The best plugins in the world :D

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