Voxengo Premium Membership (in beta)

[Aleksey Vaneev]

So many ideas for members of that 'Bundle':

- updates Free
- new plugins for 50% less
- upgrades to new versions 70%
- 1 month before official release
- plugins exclusively only with the premium membership
- members would be informed about the new products and can give ideas

There are surely more or better ideas.

Nice ideas. My main motive is to explore a new marketing model, but I do not want to make it complicated. One of the "maxima" ideas is to only sell premium memberships with full access to existing and future plugins. But I can't establish this approach in 1 day. At this time I do not even know how this new offer will perform. I need time, probably a year or so to estimate viability of such approach.

[VariKusBrainZ]

And the obvious question, would there be an upgrade plan to this package for existing users and whats the cost?

[hivkorn]

Nice ideas. My main motive is to explore a new marketing model, but I do not want to make it complicated. One of the "maxima" ideas is to only sell premium memberships with full access to existing and future plugins. But I can't establish this approach in 1 day. At this time I do not even know how this new offer will perform. I need time, probably a year or so to estimate viability of such approach.

If you want new plug idea i have one ... the fx is not something new but the workflow will make it new , a new & easy way to use the fx.. Aleksey , if you want my idea just me pm

[Aleksey Vaneev]

And the obvious question, would there be an upgrade plan to this package for existing users and whats the cost?

Good question. This is yet to be implemented-we'll do this in a couple of days. Existing customers will get a discount proportional to their "permanent discount".

[ghettosynth]

So many ideas for members of that 'Bundle':

- updates Free
- new plugins for 50% less
- upgrades to new versions 70%
- 1 month before official release
- plugins exclusively only with the premium membership
- members would be informed about the new products and can give ideas

There are surely more or better ideas.

Nice ideas. My main motive is to explore a new marketing model, but I do not want to make it complicated. One of the "maxima" ideas is to only sell premium memberships with full access to existing and future plugins. But I can't establish this approach in 1 day. At this time I do not even know how this new offer will perform. I need time, probably a year or so to estimate viability of such approach.

Eventide has not included their new plugins in their bundle. They may in a future release, but they don't at present. I expect to have to pay for a bundle upgrade when/if they do.

[twolegstoneworks]

Even though I can understand that you want to give your customers a great deal with a plugins-for-life deal, it'll be difficult to keep a business alive in the long run, as you wont generate much income after the deal has been offered (just ask Prodyon). And you should also consider the obsticles ahead.. like when we shift to 128 bit DAWs or when Windows 15 or OSXX will introduce the need for a complete rewrite of your framework for all plugins. You'll need funding for that.

Just a friendly advice

[Aleksey Vaneev]

Even though I can understand that you want to give your customers a great deal with a plugins-for-life deal, it'll be difficult to keep a business alive in the long run, as you wont generate much income after the deal has been offered (just ask Prodyon). And you should also consider the obsticles ahead.. like when we shift to 128 bit DAWs or when Windows 15 or OSXX will introduce the need for a complete rewrite of your framework for all plugins. You'll need funding for that.

Just a friendly advice

Well, your concern is understandable, but I've analyzed the available sales data from different perspectives. Market has changed a lot in the last 4 years and it became increasingly difficult to market individual plugins. If Premium Membership offer goes well, there will be funding for any future upgrades. At this time usual single-plugin purchases are available anyway.

[ghettosynth]

Even though I can understand that you want to give your customers a great deal with a plugins-for-life deal, it'll be difficult to keep a business alive in the long run, as you wont generate much income after the deal has been offered (just ask Prodyon). And you should also consider the obsticles ahead.. like when we shift to 128 bit DAWs or when Windows 15 or OSXX will introduce the need for a complete rewrite of your framework for all plugins. You'll need funding for that.

Just a friendly advice

Well, your concern is understandable, but I've analyzed the available sales data from different perspectives. Market has changed a lot in the last 4 years and it became increasingly difficult to market individual plugins. If Premium Membership offer goes well, there will be funding for any future upgrades. At this time usual single-plugin purchases are available anyway.

I think that what he means is that the "lifetime upgrades" part carries more risk than necessary. Look, $10 a plugin is a great price for a bundle of quality plugins. That's competitive today. Personally, I think that you could do better by offering several smaller bundles at $20 a plugin as well. Provide upgrade paths that split the difference in some sense. That is, if you buy a smaller plugin bundle at $20/plugin, then your upgrade to the full bundle ends up, in total, costing you something like $12 to $15 a plugin. This then provides incentive for people to get the full bundle right away, but reduces the risk of buying a smaller bundle.

I can tell you that as a bargain hunter, the lifetime updates doesn't sway me, in fact, there is an element of distrust of anything with a lifetime label attached to it.

[Aleksey Vaneev]

I think that what he means is that the "lifetime upgrades" part carries more risk than necessary. Look, $10 a plugin is a great price for a bundle of quality plugins. That's competitive today. Personally, I think that you could do better by offering several smaller bundles at $20 a plugin as well. Provide upgrade paths that split the difference in some sense. That is, if you buy a smaller plugin bundle at $20/plugin, then your upgrade to the full bundle ends up, in total, costing you something like $12 to $15 a plugin. This then provides incentive for people to get the full bundle right away, but reduces the risk of buying a smaller bundle.

I can tell you that as a bargain hunter, the lifetime updates doesn't sway me, in fact, there is an element of distrust of anything with a lifetime label attached to it.

Offering various bundles is complicated, in Voxengo practice bundles never sold well, so I can't count on complicated scheming. Brand loyalty decreased due to extreme competition, and it's difficult to come up with a bundle that will meet most needs.

[ghettosynth]

I think that what he means is that the "lifetime upgrades" part carries more risk than necessary. Look, $10 a plugin is a great price for a bundle of quality plugins. That's competitive today. Personally, I think that you could do better by offering several smaller bundles at $20 a plugin as well. Provide upgrade paths that split the difference in some sense. That is, if you buy a smaller plugin bundle at $20/plugin, then your upgrade to the full bundle ends up, in total, costing you something like $12 to $15 a plugin. This then provides incentive for people to get the full bundle right away, but reduces the risk of buying a smaller bundle.

I can tell you that as a bargain hunter, the lifetime updates doesn't sway me, in fact, there is an element of distrust of anything with a lifetime label attached to it.

Offering various bundles is complicated, in Voxengo practice bundles never sold well, so I can't count on complicated scheming. Brand loyalty decreased due to extreme competition, and it's difficult to come up with a bundle that will meet most needs.

I don't pretend to know what will or won't work for you, of course. I do wish you well with this.

[HobbyCore]

Would this be prorated for owners of existing plugins?

[Aleksey Vaneev]

Would this be prorated for owners of existing plugins?

This membership will not be given for free based on previous purchases, but there will be an increased permanent discount on Premium Membership purchases - we are working on this at this time.

[khanyz]

I think it's a great idea. I've used Voxengo stuff for years and expanded and upgraded as needed throughout, so have no doubts about buying into such a plan. I bought the Cakewalk Sonar Lifetime plan (even though I had reservations) and have been pleased with it, but the price was right. More importantly, the response from Cakewalk has been generally good, with only a few frustrations/annoyances.

I think the price, with current customer discounts is fine and the plan should cover current plugins, with upgrades and crossgrades. New plugins would be discounted heavily and be added to the plan when bought.

Crossgrades are important to mention as there have been several plugin evolutions. Lampthruster became HarmoniEQ and Analogflux Suite is being transformed. Maybe including them is a bit much, but if not included then definitely no-brainer pricing on them.

[masterhiggins]

Interesting. So if users buy the membership and then get a discounted license on a new plugin in the future, is that license bound to the same membership? Or can it be resold? That's a possible loophole you might want to consider closing if so. Otherwise people could buy a bunch of discounted licenses and resell them. Also, if the membership gives people discounts on other plugins on the site (like a second license if an already included plugin) that could be abused.

Will the bundle raise in price with new plugins that you release? Otherwise, new purchasers of the bundle will get better pricing than early adopters. Maybe some people would wait it out to see what else you release and then potentially jump on the bundle.

[twolegstoneworks]

I think that what he means is that the "lifetime upgrades" part carries more risk than necessary. Look, $10 a plugin is a great price for a bundle of quality plugins. That's competitive today. Personally, I think that you could do better by offering several smaller bundles at $20 a plugin as well. Provide upgrade paths that split the difference in some sense. That is, if you buy a smaller plugin bundle at $20/plugin, then your upgrade to the full bundle ends up, in total, costing you something like $12 to $15 a plugin. This then provides incentive for people to get the full bundle right away, but reduces the risk of buying a smaller bundle.

I can tell you that as a bargain hunter, the lifetime updates doesn't sway me, in fact, there is an element of distrust of anything with a lifetime label attached to it.

Offering various bundles is complicated, in Voxengo practice bundles never sold well, so I can't count on complicated scheming. Brand loyalty decreased due to extreme competition, and it's difficult to come up with a bundle that will meet most needs.

I don't pretend to know what will or won't work for you, of course. I do wish you well with this.

Same here. Best wishes!