Splice rent to own Serum plan, what do you think?

[Aleatoriac]

<Vapes>
Yeah... Rent to own is cool. I take back what I said earlier. I was half asleepawake.

[Teksonik]

But, there are also other folks who can't afford or can't justify spending that much money. These people might have lower income, or they might be hobbyists and aren't sure they will continue making music.

I see what you are saying but there is a ton of freeware out there for those who are undecided if music is for them. I'm guessing the theory is if you make Serum inexpensive to try then people will be less inclined to pirate it. I'm not too sure if I agree with that theory and only time will tell but I wish you luck.

[EnGee]

I hope this help clarify a few things, and if you like this approach, please help us by reaching out to plugin developers from whom you would love to rent-to-own. You can make a difference.

This is a great idea

This is especially good for developers that use a Serial Number protection or a license key, but anyway, it might work also with other developers, why not?

Let's try

[Compyfox]

I'm guessing the theory is if you make Serum inexpensive to try then people will be less inclined to pirate it. I'm not too sure if I agree with that theory and only time will tell but I wish you luck.

I guess this is THE argument against grey-zone releases, Teksonik. Though we both know that this is still kind of a lost cause if you can even find (via Google) freeware tools being cracked.


Else yes... we'll have to see how this all turns out.

[mhog]

@Zexila



paying a lump sum of cash, up front, is different to paying in drabs and drabs over 19 months.

So yes - if I act differently, sure, I expect to be 'treated' differently as a consequence - loathe as I am to entertain your half-witted, bubble-headed notions.

So, what do you want? A medal?

Well... first thing I'd appreciate is for you to eventually work towards at least a high school level of comprehension.

Because what I want was clearly stated ... a cheaper price for the customer who pays the full price, upfront - as compared to the customer who (currently) pays the exact same price despite taking his sweey damn time. Which I don't begrudge him btw. But nevertheless, it doesnt make sense that the guy who pays in full and upfront pays the same, effectively subsidising the renter (at least as long as you dont subscribe to the fantastical notion that this is a 'free' service)

Well, my level is telling me that you are a greedy and selfish person! Sorry, it is my level of comprehension!

It's all nonsense, to me. If I can pay upfront, it means I have enough money to spend. So why should I be bothered by someone who pays the same price, but a little at a time? I mean, who gives a damn? For instance, I am not that shocked when I read "students discount price" for music software I bought full price. Since I am not a student anymore, I simply don't give a damn. So, I would take this plan for what it is: a nice thing for students, jobless people and such. At the same time I would be thankful for being able to pay things upfront, rather than sticking my nose in other people's business.

[OneOfManyPauls]

Reading some of the comments, I feel we might not have done a good enough job explaining that we took this approach because we believe in giving access to the greatest tools to the maximum amount of people.

nah, you've done a great job explaining it - the problem is you're expecting people to have a logical reaction to what you've written. On a forum on the internet.

Good luck with that

don't be down about it though - even if you were giving out free money you'd still have a bunch of people loudly complaining that it would take up too much of their super-valuable time to spend it, or that it would bring down the world economy or some other random horse-crap. But they'd post it in a very highbrow way (in their mind), to show how much smarter they are than everyone else.

meanwhile, the silent majority would just take the money and say thanks.

[carrieres]

Anything that shows the potential of Serum. Good looking list here of some free stuff. http://beatmodo.com/xfer-serum-presets-list/

This microwave soundbank demo sounds pretty good: https://www.clustersound.com/product-detail.php?id=105

Seems to do bright plucky digital sounds quite well like bells and stuff but barely scratched the surface yet, clearly a deep synth and need to spend some time with it.

thanks for the links

[carrieres]

i think some users are misleading by the term rent to own, it is just an option to pay in 19 installments, free of charge or in other words without fees.
This is a common marketing tool you can find at your store where you can pay in 10, 4 or 3 installments without fees !

[xamido]

You people bitch about everything. Even on free products and good payment scheme like this one. This is why i don't post a lot here anymore. Every thread i read are just bitching.

(just wanna vent my anger once in a while, peace out bitches)

[Zexila]

I think this is a great idea, but it's funny how it apparently wasn't a good idea when somebody else suggested it over a year ago:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=433086

Just read all the comments against the original poster's idea, where are those objectors now?

In all fairness, Splice took all the hassle on them, time will tell how many more devs. will follow, now is more doable for sure, there's 3rd party company doing all the dirty work with licences and all, it was really too much to expect someone would do this on their own, especially in this money driven society, Steve genuinely wants people to use and own his plugin, majority of others just want your $$$, they don't care about can you afford it or not, so it's hard to expect any of them would think like human beings with feelings, now when ice is broken, they could actually exploit this too, time will tell.

[EnGee]

I've already contacted two companies (their support), so I really hope they will consider it.

Anyway, it needs some time to be accepted then succeed. So, patience and strong will are needed. I'm optimistic about it because it is fair for both the developers and the customers with very nice implementation IMO

[Numanoid]

I think it's a brilliant idea, completely fair to the customer, and no doubt other developers haven't done it because of the stupid, negative feedback that the 'mentally challenged' here came up with, when somebody dared to suggest exactly the same thing, a year and a half ago:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=433086

I think I also have seen other threads that have asked about possibilities of paying in installments and it has mainly got negative feedback.

So I also find it a bit surprising to see the mostly positive feedback here.

I think maybe it can have something to do with the product offered in this particular case. Many have probably had Serum on the radar, but found it too expensive. With the payment plan it has become within reach for their wallets.

[zeusweiler]

The way I see it is this. You buy the plugin outright and you don't have to install the third party splice app, or connect online every few days for authorisation. Great there's your bonus ball right there.
may I point out you are also allowed to sell the plugin if you purchased outright and due to serums resale value, recoup most of your investment, which you can't do while paying it off.
I guess Resale values in the marketplace will almost certainly drop due to this payment scheme however, so that must be addressed.

However that being said, this can only be a good thing. People who can't afford to buy it can now afford to, people who would normally warez won't have to anymore, and most really don't want to.
This in turn creates more funding revenue to support development in new products and updates from the developer, this is a benefit to everyone paid in full or on the payment plan. After all, one of the main reasons you buy the software is to support the developer as you like the products and them as a company.
I do see what people are on about having paid in full and now other people are able to use what they use without incurring other additional fees, but due to the restrictions of the payment plan until paid off, they are subject to login checks periodically. And limited offline usage. Due to serum also not having sales, I don't see the problem you pay $189 upfront, I pay $189 over a payment schedule we both pay the same in the outcome and in 19 months we both have paid $189 for a full serum licence.
Maybe if xfer offered a 10% discount voucher for a following purchase of another plugin from there store for outright purchasers this would solve the issue as inevitably there marketplace resale value will drop due to the payment plan. Or indeed licences purchased through the payment scheme become NFR.
That being said, supporting the developer makes serum and other xfer products better in the future. I hope, as I said earlier other developers especially daws, jump on the model also like ableton and presonus etc as these can be expensive outright.
This model cuts down on piracy, and opens the door to new customers purchasing more xfer products in a way that previously marketplace resale of products would, while giving the developer the money for the product. And why shouldn't he developer be rewarded for there hard work.

Now maybe record companies can start paying off these rent to own schemes for there artists and give something back to them and encourage them to keep going, instead of ripping them off, as its more affordable now.
But that's another story. Just think the $10 royalty check you get can now buy you serum win win!!!
At the end of the day, I would rather someone contributed to the future development of a product I use and had paid in full myself, in $10 payments which would ensure longevity and updates, than simply grab and run piracy that contributes nothing, I don't see any argument it's a good model for software business

[nineofkings]

But what happens when the plug goes from v1 to v2, which often happens ?

And what if that v1 "legacy plug", after v2 has superceded it, should not work on the next major OS upgrade (either Win or Mac)

Even though you own that v1 plug you will have problems using it, so one will have to sign on again to get the v2 version to stay up to date.

Selling Serum v1 will not be that easy either, as the next owner will be stuck with it for life (NFR)
https://www.xferrecords.com/general/top ... e-transfer

This applies to purchasing any software in any way. Don't see why this is a special concern in this case

[OneOfManyPauls]

It's a weird situation isn't it.

If you had the cash to buy it outright, you'd plonk down the $189, get the software on day 1, and have to deal with any future sales or costed upgrades as for any other purchase.

If you do the buy-to-rent, spreading the same cost across 19 months, you also get the software on day 1 - but there's a repeated expectation being expressed in this thread that xfer/splice somehow owe additional protection from sales, upgrades etc just because there's an ongoing payment relationship. Even though that relationship is, in effect, just spreading that purchase decision made at the outset.

In terms of handling paid upgrades to new versions, for the person who paid in full at the outset - they've paid $original + $upgrade, unless there's a special deal for recent purchases. I don't see why the pay-to-rent shouldn't mirror that same thinking by extending/increasing payments for those who want to upgrade - again remembering that the purchase decision was made when the plan was taken out, not at the point in time of the upgrade and that the rent-to-buyer has had the use of it since the start just like the outright-purchaser.