Att'n Developers: Rent Your Plugins

[Crackbaby]

I bet you did extremely well in your high school debates with arguments like that.

You put forth the idea....it's up to you to sell it which you haven't done in the least bit...... the idea simply does not make sense.

Replies like these really bring down a forum made for discussion..

[synthgeek]

People rent other gear, so why not?

[jupiter8]

The more i think about it the more i like,maybe nut such a bad idea after all.
The price should be low enough for it to not really matter. 20 $ is perhaps a bit high,i'm thinking 5-10 $ but that obviously depends on how much money one has. Says something about my finances if nothing else.

Depends on the price of the plugin to buy also as to what price might seem reasonable.

That might seem obvious at first glance but i'm not so sure that's a good idea. You want them hooked.

But then again i haven't given this subject much thought.

[Mushy Mushy]

I bet you did extremely well in your high school debates with arguments like that.

You put forth the idea....it's up to you to sell it which you haven't done in the least bit...... the idea simply does not make sense.

I am going to draw you a picture, and I promise it's not to be condescending

Day 1: Customer downloads plugin
Day 30: Demo period expires. Customer "I really want that but can't afford it". Developer "doh, he didn't buy it".

Option A: Nothing. Customer saves for the plugin, and potentially buys the newer better plugin inevitably released later.

Option B: "oh well it's only $20 to rent, I can afford that"

Day 60: "oh no my rental expires today and I just adore this plugin,it's all over my tracks. oh well it's only another $20 for another 30 days".

Day 90: "oh no, it expires today again. But wait for $50 more I can now own this plugin". Sold.

Customer win, developer win.

[oxygenmask]

I love the rent to own idea. Being able to use the plugin while still paying for it must be appealing to at least some others who are on a budget like me.

[jupiter8]

Didn't Ohmforce do such a thing or at least entertain the idea ?

[Nielzie]

I bet you did extremely well in your high school debates with arguments like that.

You put forth the idea....it's up to you to sell it which you haven't done in the least bit...... the idea simply does not make sense.

I am going to draw you a picture, and I promise it's not to be condescending

Day 1: Customer downloads plugin
Day 30: Demo period expires. Customer "I really want that but can't afford it". Developer "doh, he didn't buy it".

Option A: Nothing. Customer saves for the plugin, and potentially buys the newer better plugin inevitably released later.

Option B: "oh well it's only $20 to rent, I can afford that"

Day 60: "oh no my rental expires today and I just adore this plugin,it's all over my tracks. oh well it's only another $20 for another 30 days".

Day 90: "oh no, it expires today again. But wait for $50 more I can now own this plugin". Sold.

Customer win, developer win.

Isn't that just paying by installments?

I think that it could be the extra administrative overhead and extra costs of providing the digital services that could hold off some developers from the idea of offering such payment plans

[Mushy Mushy]

@ Nielzie: I can't see any additional admin cost. Current demos have timeouts after a certain timeframe. This would just be the same. You download the 14 day version or the 30 day version. Easy.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

I agree, more plugins should be available for rent (I think Waves already does). For instance, I wanted to do some denoising, and ended up using the Izotope RX demo. Then I had to do more denoising after the demo expired. Now, I only needed one plugin from the pack for something I don't need to do regularly (i.e. denoise audio). In this case, being able to rent the plugin for a week would have benefited both me and Izotope.

Once this particular job was done, I'd never need to denoise at any point in the foreseeable future so purchasing RX would have been silly.

In addition, I can go out and rent a microphone, a drum kit, a hardware compressor, an EQ, etc. Why not a plugin (biggest difference is the initial cost obviously).

[MFXxx]

Am I not missing something here, When you buy a license for any software you don't own the software, you are purely paying for a license to install the software on 1(sometimes more) computer(s) or security lock and use it for the life of that version until an update comes along or until your system software is no longer supported. So technically you are renting it for a period but paying in one lump sum as you don't own it. If you did own it you wouldn't be restricted by licenses, copy protection and so on.

As I understand it there are some software companies that do rent like sonalksis. Of course you could go down another root. Buy it, use it and sell it on (paying transfer fees where possible). So you have used it/rented it.

Another avenue would be to buy a license on an ilok, elicenser and so on and rent out the ilok...although I am sure the developers have thought of this in their eula and so forth.

[DF2R]

The more i think about it the more i like,maybe nut such a bad idea after all.
The price should be low enough for it to not really matter. 20 $ is perhaps a bit high,i'm thinking 5-10 $ but that obviously depends on how much money one has. Says something about my finances if nothing else.

Depends on the price of the plugin to buy also as to what price might seem reasonable.

That might seem obvious at first glance but i'm not so sure that's a good idea. You want them hooked.

But then again i haven't given this subject much thought.

Well what I mean is, and I am on a tiny budget, is if there was a high quality plugin that was normally outside my usual budget and required some hardcore saving under normal circumstances then say $20 might not look so bad to me if we're talking about say a $300-500 plugin (and assuming I didn't feel there was something good enough for less), especially if it was chipping away at the full price to some extent. But yes, obviously there's a tipping point. Business wise though there would have to be a limit as to how attractive you make the rental compared to full sale before you start eroding your full sales.

[abstractcats]

Some of us DID "rent-a-plug"...Key2sound-Nexsyn...only, they did NOT renew the contract....and did not tell us!

[abstractcats]

This idea, I believe, is only practical for very expensive plusins/DAWs, I'd say $500 and up? I mean, a $75-$300 dollar plugin, for rent? Nah, you can usually find those in the market place for half price and lower.
Yours' truly, Mr.Wet Blanket!

[Nielzie]

@ Nielzie: I can't see any additional admin cost. Current demos have timeouts after a certain timeframe. This would just be the same. You download the 14 day version or the 30 day version. Easy.

There are some things that should be set up to make it work I think. Some server has to give out and check the temporary serial numbers or keyfiles or such. SO such system must be developed or bought.

And every payment and user (name, e-mail address, etc.) should probably be put into a database (by giving them accounts on the website of the developer probably) which also has to be developed or bought, and also must be maintenanced of course, backed up, etc.

[t3toooo]

guy's it'll disappoint you but we already rent most of the software we use.

windows,osx all rent,no, it is not yours and you are only allowed to use them when you bought them.
they can ban you using their software if there would be a weighty law point,even when you bought a license.

so when you think you own absynth for example,you don't own it,you rent the license.

now,be nice to NI !