Subscription Model

[jordonpmusic]

As subscription models are starting to take wing across the plug-in world, with Slate Digital and now Plugin Alliance joining the party, I am wondering if this has been considered over a cup of tea and some biscuits at u-He? I for one would probably own all your plugins if there were a subscription model for them.

Anyone who works at u-He, please advise?

Thanks

[spunkmuffin]

Discussed here.

[#rob]

I for one would probably own all your plugins if there were a subscription model for them.

I guess that would be part of the deal, right?

But no, not going to happen anytime soon.

[jordonpmusic]

Discussed here.

Cheers bud.

[jordonpmusic]

I for one would probably own all your plugins if there were a subscription model for them.

I guess that would be part of the deal, right?

But no, not going to happen anytime soon.

I feel like I'm missing something in understanding the logistics of offering these models. Currently I don't understand the logic in not making a product available in every way possible to customers. Can the subscription models not be ran in parallel with the option to purchase outright (like how stores do buy now pay later?)

Are you guys hanging back to review the success/failings of for e.g. xfer Serum?

That would make sense. Any place I can get some insight to this out of interest?

[Urs]

Currently I don't understand the logic in not making a product available in every way possible to customers.

There are no evidence based studies about any of this at all. Serum's success? Who says it's been a success other than the parties interested in it to be a success? There are no black on white figures available which prove that Serum and "rent to own" was indeed successful, and that this success is transferable to other products.

To me, rent to own makes no sense. It's a scheme where we can only loose, unless we make the final price of the subscription considerably higher, in order to compensate for those who drop out on the way. But how many peeps drop out? Half of them? 90%? How much more expensive do we need to make the product?

Furthermore, how much would a subscription (rent to own or not) cannibalize on our normal sales? 10%? 50%? 90%?

There are simply no figures available from neutral sources. All it does is, it sounds like we would ahve to switch from serial number to challenge reponse for something which has unforseeable long term effects. We are however a company committed to long term relationships to our customers and sustainability as a business model. Subscription and rent to own seem to contradict these goals and principles in every way.

[EvilDragon]

Agreed with Urs.

[jordonpmusic]

Currently I don't understand the logic in not making a product available in every way possible to customers.

There are no evidence based studies about any of this at all. Serum's success? Who says it's been a success other than the parties interested in it to be a success? There are no black on white figures available which prove that Serum and "rent to own" was indeed successful, and that this success is transferable to other products.

To me, rent to own makes no sense. It's a scheme where we can only loose, unless we make the final price of the subscription considerably higher, in order to compensate for those who drop out on the way. But how many peeps drop out? Half of them? 90%? How much more expensive do we need to make the product?

Furthermore, how much would a subscription (rent to own or not) cannibalize on our normal sales? 10%? 50%? 90%?

There are simply no figures available from neutral sources. All it does is, it sounds like we would ahve to switch from serial number to challenge reponse for something which has unforseeable long term effects. We are however a company committed to long term relationships to our customers and sustainability as a business model. Subscription and rent to own seem to contradict these goals and principles in every way.

Seems all these questions are natural board room questions mate and I appreciate your stance. I think a lot of your concerns could be de-risked by the way the model is approached. for e.g. a 3 month subscription carries significantly less risk in terms of dropping out or applying the model only to plugins that have been out for 1/2 years carries less risk of conflicting with upfront sales and increases exposure to picking up new sales. A question that came in to my head whilst reading your comment was, regardless of evidence do you not feel confident enough in the product that you think people will drop out within a year/6months/3months? Also I was thinking that business isn't science. But again I appreciate you have your own vision and what's more, I don't run a profitable plugin company and you (presumably) do. I'm just a customer that prefers to pay things off by month and recently just went for sylenth1 as I noticed they too now have a payment plan option.

[EvilDragon]

So, why not set aside the amount of cash you would otherwise spend for subscription, and then at the end of the year you can purchase a plugin outright? The logistics are the same, you just gotta fool your brain.

[Touch The Universe]

Is there such thing as a commitment subscription, ie can't withdrawal?

[pdxindy]

Agreed with Urs.

+1

[pekbro]

I went all the way through with the Serum rent to own thing for no reason in particular.
It's paid off and now I own it, hooray... So what, while obviously it's not the best choice
for Uhe, that doesn't mean it's not worth considering for other devs. No doubt, some
situation exists, where it would prove beneficial to both vendor and customer.

I don't believe there is much evidence as to the success of the Serum program at this point.
I find it pretty conspicuous that no other xfer products have made it into the program.
You would think more would show up there, if it has been a rousing success. Aside from
the fact that only two other companies have jumped on board in what, 14 or 18 months
since the onset. Sorry, but that doesn't seem overly positive.

Anyway, this modern digital economy certainly warrants many different approaches.
The one that's right, is the one that works for you, and thats it. However, passing
judgment on any of them, one way or another, is likely a fools errand.

-Cheers

[keel]

Aside from
the fact that only two other companies have jumped on board in what, 14 or 18 months
since the onset. Sorry, but that doesn't seem overly positive.

I have heard that developers has tried to get their products in Splice, but it is up to Splice. They decided what they want or not want. Like if they have Serum there (probably their "flagship" product), they certainly doesn't want to add another wavetable synth there to compete with Serum.

I have Serum on Splice deal and I find it really, really gorgeus. What I like it most is that I dont have to be online all the time, just in every 3 days. Zero problems so far. I hope more developers would do same type of rent to own thing. Splice system is top notch imo

[lunardigs]

There are simply no figures available from neutral sources. All it does is, it sounds like we would ahve to switch from serial number to challenge reponse for something which has unforseeable long term effects. We are however a company committed to long term relationships to our customers and sustainability as a business model. Subscription and rent to own seem to contradict these goals and principles in every way.

Agreed.

I hate to say it, but I think Native Instruments is a good example of success here. They're quite comparable in many ways. Where they lost me is with Linux support, although that's a another story.

They use a 'challenge/response' system (which is annoying and problematic in certain instances), but you do in fact 'own' your software.

Also, they seem to have a good grasp of the business cycle here too; upgrades, new offerings, obsoleting, etc. Yet, I can't say I see a clear pattern in their method. In fact, it would seem they experiment quite a bit.

Sometimes the risks they take have burned me--remember KORE, the promise to 'unify all your sounds'? In other instances, they won't dare take a risk, like offering a Linux build for something really popular, like Kontakt.

Anyway, I talk, but I know things aren't so easy or obvious. I run a business and I know the thinking within our 'four walls' vs. the customers' perspective--big disparity many times.

[Urs]

Is there such thing as a commitment subscription, ie can't withdrawal?

That is the typical "buy now, pay off in a year" model which has been around for decades. That is certainly something we could offer. But still, if only 30% of sales have delayed payments by an average of 6 months, we might run into a huge hole in our bank account which might last a quarter or two.

I'm happy to take risks when developing new products, but I'm reluctant to change payment options and sales models which might affect our ecosystem, which has been very stable over the years.