What makes you buy or not buy music software / Plugins?

[audiojunkie]

I see developers asking this question, and I think it is a good time to discuss this topic, so that developers can see all the different factors that affect a purchase. Assuming that a product supports the OS you use, what factors influence you?

For me, need is the biggest factor. If I already have four other high quality synths that cover the same territory of the synth you are offering, I have very little need for your synth. When I buy something in this same category, it has to be superior to the other available products.

Superiority includes not), only sound (which is absolutely essential, but superior in reliability, function, features, price, etc. There are a lot of factors here. If your product is bland, been done to death by others, and been done better, how are you differentiating your product? Why should I buy your product over someone else’s product? I even see this from developers that give their product away for free—complaining that people don’t download their product. Why should we, if something out there is better?

Another thing for me, is copy protection. In my eyes, the ideal copy protection, which does indeed exist, and is used by several developers, is the kind that is not vendor dependent. I expect to be able to buy my software, archive it on a backup drive, along with the authorization, and use it at a future date to install that software on a new computer, even after the company is no more, or the product has been discontinued. I’m against piracy as much as anyone else, and support the use of copy protection. But when it limits or hassles me more than the pirates, I draw the line. I am not a fan of developers who choose to hassle me, and honest customer, more than the pirates. It feels unfair and inconsiderate to the point that I simply don’t buy a product that uses this kind of copy protection, even if the product is superior. If top developers, such as U-he, Plogue, Audio Damage (which doesn’t even use copy protection), and others can run a successful business without using this type of copy protection, everyone can. Step up your game or put yourself into the shoes of the customer.

Another thing that determines whether I buy from a developer or not, is their customer service and their interaction with the customer. I would much rather buy from a developer that interacts with me if I have a concern—if he tries to help solve my problem. I want to be able to trust a developer when he says something. I want a developer that is open and honest in his business dealings.

There are developers that I once purchased from, that I no longer purchase from, because of how shady they are with running their business. If they use AI to make their incremental releases sound like major updates, so that they can hurry and advance more quickly to the next major version, so they can charge you again, don’t think we won’t notice. It is insulting to my intelligence that the developer thinks I won’t recognize the move for what it is.

Further, developers that take your rightful upgrades away, and only allow you to download the update for a short limited amount of time won’t win any points with me. And the same for developers that spam me constantly for money, yet don’t follow through with their commitments (or change their plans after we have already paid for things they have committed to, don’t win future sales from me.

There are lots of things that can win a sale from me or lose a sale from me. This thread is not meant to be a diss on developers. There are many great developers out there that have my respect, and I purchase from. But, I’ve also seen several developers recently, that provide mediocre products, and complain that they don’t get sales, and I think they just can’t see the forest for the trees, and need a business primer that can help then to understand what makes us, the customer, to choose to buy or not buy a product from them. And this goes for free and open source, or vibe coded products as well.

I could go on and on. I’ve been here 24 years, and I have seen thousands of products, by hundreds of developers, and I’ve bought dozens and dozens of licenses. There are many, many reasons I’ve chosen one product over another.

What would you like some (especially new) developers to know about what motivates YOU to purchase a particular product over another, or to ignore a developer completely?

[Benedict]

Like you, I have enough things already to cover any reasonable eventuality that I am likely to have right there in my DAW's stock tools plus a few select things. So yet another compressinator pretending to be an 1176 is just a waste of my time. I don't want an 1176 as such anyway; I want to compress (for groove mostly) not for ego coolth. If I really needed delusions of 1176 in my grey little life, I would d'load a pic for my desktop. Pretending I am using a real 1176 in my DAW is spankytown.

So what I am looking for is useful new technology; and there is none right now. AI and auto-plugins are not new tech at all, just an abomination - like walking up to Mick Jagger and suggesting he could stop singing and use Sussunio instead. Expect a broken nose as the correct moral response.

That leaves Workflow. For a long while I have been open to a new EQ. I really like QRange for how it flows for me - but it seems abandoned, and the VST 3 doesn't work either, so staying on 2.4 sounds an alarm bell. I have downloaded and tried a lot of BST, esp recently with all these AI belched things, and none of them have anything resembling a good workflow. Lots of flippety flash - lifted straight off Flab Flitter Pro Q - but little to no idea of what an experienced user really needs to do real work. Sure, I could use some, but why? If I really needed the extra doohickie, I can do it with core Reason tools that make more grass-roots sense than these ego-ware abominations.

Now I know that most, if not every single dev, will ignore that because it does not suit either their ego or they know the market is not really made of people like me looking to buy one "tool for the ages", but ego-users looking to pretend they iz doin' fire choonz with fripperies. That is what sells or gets on lists after all.

[sandandpaint]

workflow is important to me - I want something that is easy to use - must have an easily read interface and not too many hoops to jump through for tweaking. It can be complex but must be approachable.

I prefer there to be plenty of short clear tutorial videos

I like plugins that have a clear purpose, preferably one that is a little unique

I like plugins that are designed to extend the possibilities of sound making rather than reproduce existing possibilities.

Price does not matter so much for me as value

[whassup]

If it is something utilitarian as an EQ it must give me something new, better workflow, better GUI, better preset management (big one that many simply ignore), etc.
If it's a synth/drum machine it must sound better, fresh, have great workflow.
The market is saturated in lotsa ways.
Who NEEDS another VA? Wavetable? FM? Right, nobody.
But WANT if it gives me something fresh, nice, great presets (extremely important!), a great preset randomizer (HINT, HINT!) good workflow, nice graphics.
Give me a demo version, that I simply can download.
I don't want to create an account, download your "manager", don't want to feel like a customer in your shop software to get a demo. No, I want the demo, not your newsletter. Only the demo, with fair restrictions and not blasting whatever noise every 30 seconds.
iLok: No go. Period. Never gonna happen again.
Anything similar to ilok: Never gonna happen again.
Make it customer friendly.
Don't tell me it's not possible. Sorry, not true.
These are good starters.

[r1_000]

Copy protection. The first thing I look at is, if it requires a machine ID or online registration. If so, I'm not interested.

[nusound mind]

If it fills a space in the toolbox or is in some way innovative, if it's high quality sound wise, if it doesn't crash and finally if it's not a sub or requires re-upping activation but is a one time register and activate.

Other considerations are cpu hit/efficiency and ease/clarity of use and gui. I put the latter secondary b/c I tend to save happy accidents as presets so it's not a heroes journey of timesink every time I open it up, more like a 'save game' where I can continue to bank choice presets, so endless twiddling and puttering about is kept to those first handful of times of use.

[concealed identity]

Of course I greatly appreciate updates and big fixes, but really I want a stable, functioning product that I'm not going to have to worry about.

I get turned off when I see a plugin constantly getting weekly updates, the developer just making changes based on what a single KVR user wants, and having seemingly no vision for a finished plugin that just works.

I'm sure some people prefer a constantly evolving piece of software, but for me it just creates one more thing to keep track of and an ever present chance of the plugin getting worse or less stable.

[robelanator]

Quality presets matter to me. While I understand the basics of synthesis, I'm not a skilled sound designer by any stretch. So being able to preview how the synth is going to sound through a "no talking" run-through of the presets on YouTube-- or, even better, via a demo-- gives me a good idea of what the synth can sound like in expert hands. If there either aren't many presets or the ones that exist are kinda bland then I'm less tempted to buy. If they can't make it sound good then what chance do I have?

Another thing I look for are semi-regular maintenance updates. Even better if there are changelogs. If it's a brand new plugin then I'll check whether the previous plugins released by that developer have been receiving updates. If not, I'm probably going to wait a few months to see what kind of user feedback is being posted online in forums such as KVR. Feature updates are nice, of course, but seeing that bugs are being fixed is the most important thing to me.

I'm probably in the minority here, but copy protection isn't a deal-breaker for me as long as it's not intrusive (ie making me login constantly), the developer has some history/longevity, and I'm able to revoke/reset authorizations via their website or email.

[sunthief01]

All great points thus far.

I'll just add my voice to say that, since moving to Linux ~8 months ago, Linux Native solutions are always my first look.

If Windows or Mac exclusive, most likely I will not purchase. I've made a couple exceptions for plugin manufacturers where I know that their products run on Linux with minimal bridging (Melda, Tone2, etc). But overall, I'm now in a space where something launches and I wonder "why isn't it being developed for Linux?" and then I don't buy it if no support is available or planned.

[wagtunes]

I buy a plugin if I think I can use it.

I don't buy a plugin if I don't think I can use it or my OS doesn't support it.