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

[Astralp]

This is a great idea.

I'm wondering if payments can be paused? I've often rented music hardware in the past, and with most synths I tend to use them infrequently but intensively, being able to buy a month of use would be very interesting to me. Plus all the better if this is buying credits towards the full cost as well. As it stands I own serum already, but I would love to see that sort of short term $10 paid access in the future for other products. This has always been possible with hardware and I think it's just the complexity of managing it with software that stands in the way. This could be the start of it unless you are locked into a commitment to pay the whole amount?

I've always wondered why elicenser and ilok products don't offer paid limited access licenses, most often have a limited time demo license so it's possible to do. Sorry if this is slightly off track.

I hope this works well for both Splice and Xfer!

[Compyfox]

I've always wondered why elicenser and ilok products don't offer paid limited access licenses, most often have a limited time demo license so it's possible to do. Sorry if this is slightly off track.

They have - it's called "Subscription Program". But there is no mass-public-aware "Rent-to-Own" program on these two CP engines... anymore/yet.

[ere2learn]

I'm wondering if payments can be paused?

Yes payments can be paused & picked up at a later date from where you left off

[Astralp]

I've always wondered why elicenser and ilok products don't offer paid limited access licenses, most often have a limited time demo license so it's possible to do. Sorry if this is slightly off track.

They have - it's called "Subscription Program". But there is no mass-public-aware "Rent-to-Own" program on these two CP engines... anymore/yet.

But that tends to be more for everyday use tools such as photoshop and beyond Cakewalk I've not noticed any other companies in the audio world. I wouldn't want that for my everyday tools such as Cubase or Soundforge in a photoshop mortgage way.

I made the mistake last year of demoing 2 of Wolfgang Palms synths and ended up having very little time in the 7 day trial period to see if they gel with me, and now I will never know seeing as the demos expired until I reinstall windows. I'd happily pay $10 to have a month of use, and if that $10 went towards the cost if I bought it that would be great.

[Astralp]

I'm wondering if payments can be paused?

Yes payments can be paused & picked up at a later date from where you left off

Great news!

[Compyfox]

I've always wondered why elicenser and ilok products don't offer paid limited access licenses, most often have a limited time demo license so it's possible to do. Sorry if this is slightly off track.

They have - it's called "Subscription Program". But there is no mass-public-aware "Rent-to-Own" program on these two CP engines... anymore/yet.

But that tends to be more for everyday use tools such as photoshop and beyond Cakewalk I've not noticed any other companies in the audio world. I wouldn't want that for my everyday tools such as Cubase or Soundforge in a photoshop mortgage way.

- AVID
- Slate Digital (Everything bundle, which included Eiosis, Scuffham and Relab)
- Cakewalk
- Eventide
- AXIS Plugins (at this point, discontinued)
- McDSP
- EastWest
- FLUX Audio

And that's just popping up on the first 2-3 Google pages alone (search terms: subscriptions VST)

[Teksonik]

If you do this plan for say six months and then find you can no longer "save" that amount each month you are out $60 and no longer have the plugin.

Same with your $35k car if you stop paying,but you'll be out a lot more

But you're missing the point. If I save up the $35,000 and pay cash....much harder to do than saving up $189.

Again I'm just saying that financing a car makes sense but if you need a $189 loan then you're probably not on solid financial ground anyway. But if someone wants to make payments on Serum for over a year and a half then this deal makes sense for them.....

Here is the entire quote..

The obvious difference is if you save up before you buy the plugin and something happens where you're not able to save up the total amount you're not out any money. If you do this plan for say six months and then find you can no longer "save" that amount each month you are out $60 and no longer have the plugin.

[ere2learn]

This is more akin to getting a new phone & you just add it to your bill for the month.Plenty of people with "solid financial ground" do it that way

[Teksonik]

This is more akin to getting a new phone & you just add it to your bill for the month.Plenty of people with "solid financial ground" do it that way

If making payments for over a year and a half on a $189 plugin makes sense to you then by all means do participate.

[ere2learn]

I can't,I already have it

[EnGee]

I'd happily pay $10 to have a month of use, and if that $10 went towards the cost if I bought it that would be great.

Exactly! This is what I like about this plan. Full unlimited rent for $10 that is also discounted from the price. The more you rent it, the less the final price can be and all that without a time restriction or an interest adding to the price! How great is that!

I did something similar that with my hardware synth, I paid 30% of the price cash and took it home and the remained I paid weekly without an interest (sometimes, the shops make this with 0% interest plan). I used it for three months in advanced It is not exactly the same situation, but the idea is the same, make flexible payments for those who can't afford (for some reason) to pay the whole sum at once. What is bad about it?!

This concept of Rent to Own, is more than great I'm sure it will take off in the future, as too many good plugins are there, but money for the most of us is limited

[UncleAge]

... but needing a $189 loan is another. Like I said if you need a loan that small then the least of your worries is getting a new plugin.

I view it differently. For me I see it not so much as a need as it is an issue of money management. I run 3 businesses and two of them require the purchase of medium priced tools more often than I like. I'm a big fan of interest free loans because cash flow is always a concern.

For me most of my audio/video purchases are hobby oriented. I do a few jobs a year for money but it's not much and it definitely does not support all my purchases. I budget each year for my purchases - software, hardware and education. I am trying to build and maintain a small project studio. Ideally I'd like to take on more projects in the future and having the right set of tools is useful. But since it does not put food on my table I can't justify large outlays of cash or credit card payments soaked in interest charges. What they are attempting to do could really be a win-win for a lot of folk. Not just cash strapped folk. And if I was doing this full-time I'm sure I'd greatly appreciate any relief when it came to cash outlays of any size really.

Look, I already own Serum. I really like it. I encourage others to try it out. But this offer does nothing for me currently. If in the future there were options for Omnisphere or the entire suite from FabFilter or some other dev I could see myself trying it out. Either way I'd love to have the option. Right now I don't have that option. So often times an Omnisphere purchase is opposite a new mic-pre, mic, computer upgrade, new set of monitors or some other similarly priced expenditure. None are equally priced but they all can take a bite out of the budget.

Lastly it could be a win for the devs who (I'm guessing) see a spurt of income coinciding with the release of their software and then later-on money just trickles in. It makes it hard to plan for expenditures when there is not a steady cash flow coming in. I know that's common sense but it should not go unsaid. And there's a strong possibility that once that customer has gotten used to doing without that $10 or more a month they will continue to purchase in that fashion. I think there is a huge untapped market here. I hope these guys are rewarded with a lot of business for their efforts.

[Teksonik]

I view it differently. For me I see it not so much as a need as it is an issue of money management. I run 3 businesses and two of them require the purchase of medium priced tools more often than I like. I'm a big fan of interest free loans because cash flow is always a concern..

The key words there are "medium priced".

If in the future there were options for Omnisphere or the entire suite from FabFilter

Obviously the higher the price of the product the more people this plan will appeal to......

The thread title is "what do you think" and I think this particular deal is not for me. I would pay cash for such a small purchase just to avoid the hassle of keeping track of 19 months of payments and to avoid the need to install a third party app in order to take advantage of the payment plan. I'm not against the plan at all it just doesn't make sense for me....for this product.....

As I've said three times now........

But like I said I wish all involved good luck..........

[UncleAge]

Not saying you were wrong at all. Just stating a different view.

[musikmachine]

@Teksonik hear ya but you don't have to make 19 payments, you could pay $10 upfront and pay the balance of next month or spread it over 3,6 etc.. totally flexible which is great!