KVR Audio

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:19 am

http://touchproducer.com/?p=1839

First, I'd like to congratulate Pulse Code on the release of what looks like a very nice app.

But I also worry if prices this low are really healthy for the iOS music market in the long run. We're already seeing very high-quality synths selling for well under $10, and these kinds of apps are significantly more difficult to write than apps in a lot of other, higher-volume categories. If people come to expect this much for $1 I don't see how developers are going to justify spending the time it takes to write apps like these.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:47 am

Long live low prices

The low prices should mean more people can afford the software, and that would mean the developer can make as much cash by selling more products

thebaggytrouseredone · Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:00 am

I agree with both arguments but the developers need to set a balance they don't want to price themselves out of the iOS Market or price things too low that they don't make a profit.

Don't get me wrong, I love the low prices and I'd gladly pay 10 - £20 for a decent app, I've even bought some low priced and free apps. I have 150 apps and a 64gb iPad 2 so I'll be a good customer to the app store lol.

simon

jupiter8 · Post by **jupiter8** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:26 am

I was going to publish an app (never did but that's another story) which had a competitor priced at 5 dollars. My first thought was obviously to price mine lower than that but that was too little. Then i figured if my app is better no one is going to choose the other app over mine just because it is a tiny bit cheaper. If you really want a program i 5 or 10 dollars really going to make a difference ? I think there's a threshold where it no longer matters.Where exactly that is i don't know.

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:43 am

Numanoid wrote: The low prices should mean more people can afford the software, and that would mean the developer can make as much cash by selling more products

There is a tradeoff, true. But there's a reason we don't see VSTs selling for $1 and I'm not convinced that app store sales volumes are really 50-100x higher than VSTs to make up for this. Maybe for angry birds, but I doubt for music apps.

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:45 am

jupiter8 wrote:If you really want a program i 5 or 10 dollars really going to make a difference ? I think there's a threshold where it no longer matters.Where exactly that is i don't know.

App store customers have become very price sensitive. I routinely read reviews complaining about prices as low as $5 for very sophisticated apps. I think people imagine that because these are just "apps" they don't represent a lot of work, but really they're not that much easier than native apps to write. About the only difference is that you don't have to worry about portability issues if you're only writing for iOS.

Dewaine · Post by **Dewaine** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:48 am

The market will set the prices. FL Mobile goes for $20, and seems to have sold a bunch. I bought it, and though it is not my main iOS sequencer, I think it is worth the money. If you produce something consumers want, they will buy it at a reasonable price. If you produce junk, it's not worth the .99 cents, and demand will quickly fall for it.

It's funny. When the app store opened the usual haters said it would be priced high by greedy Apple, and only the Apple zombies would be willing to pay for it. As usual, the reality is quite different, and so now the complaint is the prices are too low..... I think the market is showing that we all overpaid for software for years, and now we are seeing some "market correction".

jupiter8 · Post by **jupiter8** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:50 am

kuniklo wrote:
jupiter8 wrote:If you really want a program i 5 or 10 dollars really going to make a difference ? I think there's a threshold where it no longer matters.Where exactly that is i don't know.
App store customers have become very price sensitive. I routinely read reviews complaining about prices as low as $5 for very sophisticated apps.

But is that for music apps and do the people complaining actually make a difference ? Maybe they're just loudmouths that doesn't buy anything or buy a 10 $ app just the same even if they complain. For the app i was contemplating i cannot believe a difference between 5 or 10 $ would make that much of a difference in sales but since i never tried it's an educated guess at best.

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:52 am

Dewaine wrote:I think the market is showing that we all overpaid for software for years, and now we are seeing some "market correction".

The music software business is already the wrong choice if you want to make money. Any developer with the skills to make professional-quality music software could make a *lot* more money working in a different domain.

If you start chopping a zero off the prices of music software you're going to see a lot of people exit the business, I predict.

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:56 am

jupiter8 wrote:[
But is that for music apps and do the people complaining actually make a difference ? Maybe they're just loudmouths that doesn't buy anything or buy a 10 $ app just the same even if they complain.

Hard to say. I think it's difficult to charge prices of > $10 on the app store because so few apps in any category are above that.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:27 pm

On the Windows platform there is a wealth of freeware VST.

How do those developers survive, and why do more developers continue to make freeware VSTs if they don't survive?

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:30 pm

Numanoid wrote: How do those developers survive, and why do more developers continue to make freeware VSTs if they don't survive?

They do it as a hobby, or as giveaways to draw attention to their paid instruments.

Freeware instruments are great but I think most of us are glad we have the option of paying more for instruments with more features, better sound quality etc.

~Pd~ · Post by **~Pd~** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:25 pm

There are five dollar apps that ought to be three or four times the price. Sunvox, for example.

Sunrizer should be more expensive but I think Beep Street needed to get it out there in volume to show the world how good an iPad synth could sound. I'll happily buy it again if and when he releases a desktop plugin version.

Keep in mind though that we may be entering the second dip of a double dip recession. In the heart of the last one I picked up AAS Ultra Analog for $15. It normally sells for $200 (man, am I grateful - best sounding VA in my arsenal).

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:38 pm

The app store is a gold mine for bargain hunters right now. When you consider how powerful things like Sunrizer, Addictive, NanoStudio etc are, it's hard to believe how little they cost.

But unfortunately you're probably also right that discretionary spending on music software is going to get tight again.

conundrum · Post by **conundrum** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 9:36 pm

OP, you did notice it says this is a temporary sale price?

app store prices and the race to the bottom