Moan - THAT Slate email

[Teksonik]

I think I paid well less than $100 for ANA 2 right from Sonic Academy. I didn't get the butt ugly skins but hey that's better than having to pay for them every month until I die or retire....

My thing with subscriptions is what if I use one or more plugins in a project, decide to stop the subscription in a few months then want to work on the project after that? It won't load those plugins and I'll have to substitute them for something else so why not just substitute them now and save the money and hassle?

Some call them subscription plans. I call them subscription scams. But to each his own.....

[hitherepeople]

Well, I said I was done for the night, but I drank the koolaid

Anyways, realistically, you can't go wrong either way. So, let's toast to options!

[hitherepeople]

I really don't want to come across as a plant for Slate

But I have to say, ANA2, the two gates in the VMR, again the soundpacks (while I use a lot) are just the examples I have of the good side of the sub. If it's an upgrade, you would have to pay for that, well, likely.

In 5 years you'd have paid out $870US (or $750 if paid annually) and have to continue to pay out after that. If that works for you, over perpetual licenses, great! Maybe it's a business expense and write-off which could make subscriptions make better sense for people. Or, subscriptions are just a preference.

You are NOT wrong. I get you, loud and clear. I'm simply saying that it's a judgement call. For me, it seems like a decent payoff. For others, it's a no-go. I have no guidance, I just offer my 2c.

[Effectsworks]

Wow... You'd be stupid not to sub for some new samples and ANA 2 which some nu skins. LOL

I think subs make sense for specific use-cases, like issues related to cash flow, taxes etc. But in general 1:1 they dont make much sense. But for people where a sub makes more sense, for sure, good there are those options.

Yep, subs are totally fine. It's only when you try to push your previous purchasers into it, or suddenly 'favor' your subscribers, then there's a problem.

[plexuss]

Wow... You'd be stupid not to sub for some new samples and ANA 2 which some nu skins. LOL

I think subs make sense for specific use-cases, like issues related to cash flow, taxes etc. But in general 1:1 they dont make much sense. But for people where a sub makes more sense, for sure, good there are those options.

Yep, subs are totally fine. It's only when you try to push your previous purchasers into it, or suddenly 'favor' your subscribers, then there's a problem.

I use an expensive software application for my non-music work. it was $750. The latest version they dropped licenses and now its subscription only. Me and many other previous customers have decided to move on from it. It doesn't just happen with plugins and its as irritating. But like plugins there are other options out there. I dont really understand companies that go sub-only when a perpetual license would also be a relevant option. On the other hand a different company with a competing product has sub-only but they give you 90% of the apps functionality for free, and then its $12/mo for a subscription. vs $25/mo sub-only with the other app I mentioned - guess where people are flocking. Dumb business decisions.

[digitalboytn]

Some call them subscription plans. I call them subscription scams. But to each his own.....

Milking plans for milking glands

[LeVzi]

I remember seeing Slate on Pensado's place many years ago, and I thought then, what a ****. I never used a thing of his and reading all this now, I am glad I don't.

I won't ever get involved with the subscription thing, its either rent to own or buy outright, as for updates, I don't mind paying for updates if the update price is reasonable and not over inflated (Steinberg!!!)

[Urs]

I dont really understand companies that go sub-only

Shareholder value. Subscription based software companies are valued 10x more than companies selling perpetual licenses. Rule of thumb from what people tell me.

[Effectsworks]

Wow... You'd be stupid not to sub for some new samples and ANA 2 which some nu skins. LOL

I think subs make sense for specific use-cases, like issues related to cash flow, taxes etc. But in general 1:1 they dont make much sense. But for people where a sub makes more sense, for sure, good there are those options.

Yep, subs are totally fine. It's only when you try to push your previous purchasers into it, or suddenly 'favor' your subscribers, then there's a problem.

I use an expensive software application for my non-music work. it was $750. The latest version they dropped licenses and now its subscription only. Me and many other previous customers have decided to move on from it. It doesn't just happen with plugins and its as irritating. But like plugins there are other options out there. I dont really understand companies that go sub-only when a perpetual license would also be a relevant option. On the other hand a different company with a competing product has sub-only but they give you 90% of the apps functionality for free, and then its $12/mo for a subscription. vs $25/mo sub-only with the other app I mentioned - guess where people are flocking. Dumb business decisions.

It's a shame some of these companies just don't do both. It can be done of course, House of Kush managed to do it. No one ever complains about those dudes.

Yeah, there are plenty of options out there as well. Looks like Izotope are going that way too. Time to move on and give your business to others.

[NeonNightflyer]

I dont really understand companies that go sub-only

Shareholder value. Subscription based software companies are valued 10x more than companies selling perpetual licenses. Rule of thumb from what people tell me.

Just reassure us that u-He will never go that route!

[dionenoid]

But I have to say, ANA2, the two gates in the VMR, again the soundpacks (while I use a lot) are just the examples I have of the good side of the sub. If it's an upgrade, you would have to pay for that, well, likely.

I paid 49 bucks for Ana2. And i get most of the Slate sample packs for free as a newsletter subscriber which costs nothing.

Not that the "exclusive content" (or Ana2) is anything special, but you can ofcourse just do 1 month of sub, and keep all the "exclusive content" after.

[CinningBao]

I dont really understand companies that go sub-only

Shareholder value. Subscription based software companies are valued 10x more than companies selling perpetual licenses. Rule of thumb from what people tell me.

genau. it is purely a business move.
some would argue that the companies which use this method have a better idea of future-funding so they can take 'risks', but from what I see, they don't tend to.

[Burillo]

It's a shame some of these companies just don't do both. It can be done of course, House of Kush managed to do it. No one ever complains about those dudes.

i have Kush sub. not only i wouldn't complain about them, i actually can say nothing but good things about them. they're a very specific kinds of plugins so they're not for everyone, but if you're into what they offer... i've been on the sub since they offered a $9.99 tier for both Kush and Sly-Fi, so i'm on the OG subscription.

it's been three and a half years since that started, so about 42 months. that's about $420 (Kush would approve ) that i've spent with them. over that time we got AR-1, Novatron, Goldplate, Silica, Hammer DSP, REDDI, plus everything else that they already had - Clariphonic, UBK-1, the Omegas, Electra, Pusher, Kaya, Deflector, Axis... I use all of them pretty regularly, and the AR-1 has become my goto "slap it on the master when i'm short on time" bus compressor as it just makes everything sound good. so while it seems like $420 could've bought me a lot of the ones i use regularly, i'm actually happy to have Kush sub because i get so much value out of these plugins i'm OK with just throwing money Greg's way every month

[Urs]

I dont really understand companies that go sub-only

Shareholder value. Subscription based software companies are valued 10x more than companies selling perpetual licenses. Rule of thumb from what people tell me.

Just reassure us that u-He will never go that route!

Hehehe, I'm happy to discuss this in our company forum. I just posted here to provide perspective to something that creates ripples in our industry (this particular newsletter is being discussed heavily among dozens of plug-in developers in other places).

[Audiority]

I don't usually comment about other fellow developers, but I got that email too and I found it, at least, as the worst marketing pitch ever.

As a developer, I should feel offended by the assumption their company is doing in that email. AFAIK, there are pretty much a lot of developers that offers great stuff for fair price and updates are free of charge. Sure, if a new major version of a plugin comes out, they usually offer an upgrade price but, imho, it's an honest way of doing business.

There are other ways of doing business, like high full price, followed by a perpetual last day offer and paid updates based on MSRP... and we all know who I'm talking about But this business model is old and only very few companies are still applying it.

My 2 cents,
Luca