KVR Audio

Rolanoid · Post by **Rolanoid** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 5:34 am

Over the years it has become obvious that more and more people are using software to make music with. I can go into a newsagent in a pretty remote town in Australia and still usually find at least one of the major music technology mags on sale.

I then started to get intruiged to know how many other people are buying the same software as me? I wonder if any developer of a hit product would divulge how many units any of their hit software products has sold?

dj ray · Post by **dj ray** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 5:40 am

From the info I have from small developers, not a whole lot. Piracy is so bad that even a 100 sales qualifies as a 'hit'. In fact, 'hit' aka popular synths don't always translate to large sales figures.

Cyforce · Post by **Cyforce** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 6:21 am

A synth(software) which is perhaps not a hit, but very good and good known at the users, there you can calculate surely 1000+. But without good marketing etc the sales will be much lower.
And also don't forgot that a synths will be sold over a long time.

So if the synth is very good, good support & marketing(cost also money), attractive price for value factor and many positive reviews on the big magazines you really can reach the ~1000. Smaller companys with no big name, and also no big bugdet for adversiting etc perhaps ~100-500. And later you can also bump the sales with crossgrade or discount campaigns.

For example some christmas sales, there use also can see some parts of the hole, like sylenth @ x-mas 2008 the groupbuy, there also joined over 300 people, or the sonnox groupbuy this year etc.

yellowfever · Post by **yellowfever** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 6:34 am

I've asked this question of IL about Harmless; I still wait a proper answer.

GeorgeZ · Post by **GeorgeZ** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:03 am

"How much do you earn? Please post your pay check."... is the question a dev sees in this thread.(I know that's not the OPs intention, he'd be after a number... I sold a 1200 copies of xxxxx synth.) They won't answer. They probably won't even put a single reply on this thread...and THB, I don't blame them. I'd love to know some figures as well, on certain synths, but I think it's futile perusal.

-George

willit · Post by **willit** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:06 am

Rolanoid wrote:I can go into a newsagent in a pretty remote town in Australia and still usually find at least one of the major music technology mags on sale.

NS hey... When I was in Katherine NT for work, I was able to buy the latest CM!!!

Rolanoid · Post by **Rolanoid** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:05 am

willit wrote:NS hey... When I was in Katherine NT for work, I was able to buy the latest CM!!!

Perhaps there are just a lot of outback techno heads down here?

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:07 am

if you look at group-buys in the past few years, you'll get some clues.
You can also reverse-engineer the number of coders and reps in a company,
to typical salaries they would draw in other IT/Media positions. So a company
made of 3 college guys, one guy programming, one guy doing marketing/support, and one guy doing sounds, website, and everything else, you need minimum $120,000 in sales before taxes, to keep them from digging ditches. Assuming bedrooms for office space, and frugal hardware/advertising spending. In the U.S. In 2008.

Fast forward to 2010, will they sell 1000 upgrades and new soundsets totalling
$120 each, for that synth they released in 2009?

The Amplitube group-buy at 4500+ people getting most of the fx they
will EVER need, may have saturated their own market, meaning next year will be lean, unless great new products appear, surviving amidst even more rigorous competition.

Likewise, will the success of Komplete5 mean Komplete6 will have fewer sales? Will tales of lagging customer service portend the death knell of once solid companies?
Time will tell. I think a few big name brands will vanish or languish with
remnant corporate skeletons in 2010, but the core individuals that established their success will move on and keep productive.
Cheers

lfm · Post by **lfm** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:14 am

I'm sure they do not sell as much as many people belive, especially warez downloaders who defend their activity by claiming developers are so rich as an excuse and have Bill Gates in mind while doing it.

My guess is the same as already mentioned in posts. Very few make a decent living out of it.

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:18 am

Zebra, less than 3000.

amiga909 · Post by **amiga909** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:19 am

i believe 1000+ is too defensive.

Korg M1 (around 1990, 2000$), afaik the most well sold synth ever, made it to 250'000 units (wikipedia). according to my googling Roland D-50 and Yamaha DX7 both were sold more than 100'000 times (DX7 wiki: 160,000). regarding newer synths, Korg Microkorg made it to 100'000 units.

its hard to believe software has lower sales than hardware by a factor of 100?

Rolanoid · Post by **Rolanoid** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:24 am

For some reason I was figuring it might be in the millions but obviously not. I guess us soft synth users (or rather buyers) are still a pretty small and exclusive group and there isn't a copy of Reason sitting on the study book shelf in millions of homes.

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:24 am

amiga909 wrote:i believe 1000+ is too defensive.

Korg M1 (around 1990, 2000$), afaik the most well sold synth ever, made it to 250'000 units (wikipedia). according to my googling Roland D-50 and Yamaha DX7 both were sold more than 100'000 times (DX7 wiki: 160,000). regarding newer synths, Korg Microkorg made it to 100'000 units.

its hard to believe software has lower sales than hardware by a factor of 100?

Most people gasp when I say I got a vst, and back away slowly

WMP · Post by **WMP** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:30 am

I've sold over 700 copies of a £120 rompler so far in 2 years.

Sales went down hugely after it was on the torrent sites but such is life. Can I do this without a full time job, hell no. It doesn't cover the equipment bought to do the project.

But hey, it's a hobby. And before people do the math's I only get £10 from each sale after distribution and middle men take their cut.

Next time I will cut out the middle men and go it alone even if it means less sales. Then at least I can sell the product for £40 which is a fair price.

kv331 · Post by **kv331** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:32 am

Aside from the piracy, I think the market is overcrowded:

On one side there are freebies, on the other end there are big corporations like NI, IK Multimedia, and in between there are individual developers (like me)

It's really difficult to get known in such a crowded market. It requires investment, deep pockets.

I sometimes ask myself why I'm still doing this instead of studying MBA or something? (Because so far financially I havent earned enough to continue plugin development fulltime and even worse burnt some of my 401K retirement account)

Nevertheless, this is just a passion I cant resist, so I'll continue no matter what

How Many Units Does A Hit Synth Sell?