[Poll] Is subscription based licensing for you?

[paterpeter]

We're starting to see subscription based licesensing (latest example: Slate Mix/Master bundle, Sonar more or less). I'm curious what people think about it - what's your position on this optic?

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Personally I think it's a horrible model for the most part.
- Implicitly impossible to sell you licenses, you never owned them in the first place. Money spent is money lost.
- With "classic" licenses, you get what you pay for (a product, an update, etc.), with subscription based licensing you pay and hope to get something later on, without any promises.
- Subscription based licensing may make the devs lazy. No need to get something out of the door to earn money, because it's rolling in anyway.


Possible benefits:
- You never miss a grace period for updates
- If the minimal subscription period is short, you could get a product for a very short period (exteded demo, single project etc.)

There's not enough on the plus side for me TBH. I already have one subscription based product (JetBrains ReSharper, a development tool). It has become subscription based a year ago, but it's so essential for my work that I can't live without it. I hate the licensing model.

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Regarding the poll: what I mean with e.g. "Yes, if the annual fee is less than 25% of the product's value (4 years).": let's say the product (or a similar product) costs $200 with classic licensing and that the subscription based license is $50/year. Therefore he annual fee is 25% of the product's value. The break-even point (fees payed = product "classic" value) is thus 4 years.

I know this isn't as simple, but it's my attempt to quantify the fees you are willing to pay.

edot: excuse the "supscription" in one of the poll options. I'm stupid

[vurt]

i guess if at the end of the period of 4 years in the 25% example i would own the full licence, like buying on hp, then it would be fine.
if on the other hand id have to continue to pay the 25!% fee for continued use of the product id probably be less willing.

[Compyfox]

We're starting to see subscription based licesensing...

"Starting"?

Sorry - but other companies did that way before. I think SONNOX was among it, I've seen it for ProTools plugins over 10 years ago, and I've also seen it for AXIS Plugins (the rights owner of old Elemental Audio Inspector).

All of these "subscription methods" are more or less "use it during the time you pay - once you stop payment, you can't use your tool anymore". And in this case it didn't even matter how much you invested at this point, or of you already "covered" the payments with the subscription. This part is IMO not really a fair system.

So money involved is definitely also an issue. In case for Slate Digital, it's 20USD/month or 240USD/year. Meaning a full fledged Slate Suite if you'd buy it instantly. And as of this moment, there is no mention of "keeping licenses running" beyond the point of monthly payments. Neither with the 25USD route and the RELAB collaboration (25USD/month = 300USD => less than half of RELAB LX480 Complete and the "street price" of the Basic Slate VMR suite).

Cakewalk is at least going the route of "pay for one year, and you can keep on using your tools - but won't get upgrades" (sadly, not even maintenance updates). Everything else is something I rather not touch unless I know for sure that I can keep using my licenses past the payment periods.



I am not voting on this one (yet).

There is currently a shift happening in the audio industry that I really don't like. I rather save up on money and buy directly than going by installments. I've been down that route several times. I'm glad that I got rid of them.

[cryophonik]

That's the most convoluted poll I've ever seen and doesn't reflect the way I make my buying decisions. So, rather than vote, I'll just say that I am totally cool with the new Cakewalk membership program.

As for Avid, that appears to be a different model than Cakewalk's and seems to be less favorable to me (yes, also a PT user), so I probably wouldn't have the same poll answer for both DAWs. But, I need to look further into PT's subscription model before I can judge how I feel about it. I'm not the type to see a scary word like "subscription" get all worked up over it - I make my decisions by educating myself.

[Compyfox]

Since PT now also goes the "subcription route" - let us mark this year as "the year of subscription programs in the audio realm".

What was it last year? Sure wasn't console wars anymore. Synth wars?
Or rather sadly - "the year that a lot of developers left the planet"?

[mandolarian]

Voted no and hell no!

While the high velocity dev curve of creation tools seems to match the low impendence of the subscription model, it also subverts the ceative process. Disposable tools to make disposable music for disposable times.

For most of these companies it's about serving their corporate cash flow needs. And usually because they can't grow market share.

Ultimately this where all the large devs will go because they can. It's like making payments on a car you'll never own. What's so wrong with that? Walking is healthy and the best music is best left unrecorded.

[jancivil]

my vote for fish is more or less a no. tl;dr type of reaction

[Robmobius]

I'm happy to toss any subscription product into the bin. Don't care who they are... I hate the idea of monthly fees.

[xamido]

No. Especially not in the way of cakewalk. NFR Subcription based software with no support for customer that's not paying for membership.

Screw them.

[werp]

subscribe to everything you ever wanted...can't afford the first monthly payment...fail

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

nope !! big fat sweaty bollocks to it

[SODDI]

In polls like this, yes or no are usually the best options for answers. Those being polled usually have their own reasons and litmus tests; don't try to second guess them.

"Fish" was a "funny-one-time".

I'm down for "no".

[Aleatoriac]

I'm with el-bo, who said it perfectly.

Basically, you lose me as a customer if you go subscription, with one exception: there is literally no competitor offering an alternative to your product.

Cakewalk's recent subscription with ownership after a year is a bit of a stretch, but - like I said, if there were literally no other DAWs, then yes. Otherwise... just f**k no.

[Aleatoriac]

I'll add the problem here is the same as the corporate world, in which weak minded desperate people are willing to give up their lives for their jobs, making it more and more a requirement for the rest of us who value what play can do for your "soul" far more than any kind of mind-numbing work.

More and more weak, easily lead people will jump on subscription-based software, and the choices will fall away, and if you want to play in the game, you'll end up having to subscribe. So just say no to this growing nonsense. You won't, you'll cave, bunch of spineless wankers.

[Aleatoriac]

Which is why I'll go back to hardware. f**king world.