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Post by M57 on Sept 3, 2015 9:09:53 GMT -6
I meant cash cow in the sense that it keeps delivering with little or no maintenance for as long as people are buying. My Relab reverb hadn't changed for something like five years, long after development costs were recouped I think. I'm not against cash cows, I wish I had one in my barnyard! I disagree with this. The original code might be there, but the code needs to be continually massaged for all of the different operating system upgrades, otherwise it goes obsolete with your old machine. The companies that are staying in business, need to keep addressing these changes even if people aren't buying more plugins. Just because the plugin is already created, it doesn't mean the costs are gone. Not that there's money in it these days, but music and recordings are cash cows in the sense that once recorded, the work is done. Once released, musicians don't go back to the studio to 'fix' things. Remember, the delivery format for music AND plugs is the same - It's all just 1s and 0s. CDs are dinosaurs, so be careful what you wish for. Of course, the delivery landscape is changing so fast that the laws, and compensation mechanisms just can't keep up. In a fashion not dissimilar to how people expect music to be free, once someone codes a high quality 1176 clone and gives it away, that part of the industry will dry up and disappear in no time, or at a minimum the ones made by companies are out to make a buck will start to become dirt cheap, especially if it's a 'consumable.' We're already seeing it in the plug business where 50 - 70% off deals are starting to become the expected, not the exception. You pros here may not be seeing it as much on the pro end, but when people like me see Logic Pro coming with 6 or 7 compressor emulations, and a bevy of other plugs for $199, that's gotta hurt the high-end businesses. They have to compete with that. For example, I'm thinking long and hard about picking up a FabFilter package, knowing that for quite a bit more than I spent on my entire DAW set-up, I'll be upgrading what is already a pretty damn good set of tools. I haven't even even picked up something like Melodyne because I'd only need it to fix polyphonic instrument parts - Logic comes with some very nice pitch correction functionality, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if the next version can deal with polyphony. |
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Post by Martin John Butler on Sept 3, 2015 9:19:52 GMT -6
That makes sense to me too , but I still think it's a lot less costly to have a few guys sitting at a desk working on computer code, and an entire manufacturing team, including the space it takes to do that
I'm not saying it's easy for any business to thrive in today's marketplace come, but it doesn't change my feeling that software companies like UAD, could do even better with more flexible customer service
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Post by Martin John Butler on Sept 3, 2015 9:24:58 GMT -6
I meant to say instead of an entire manufacturing plant. I can't edit typos from my phone.
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Sept 3, 2015 11:23:31 GMT -6
Bob, with all respect idk about that. When Forbes is writing articles about how dudes sell $500k in the first day of release on certain plugs I think they may be cash cows for some people. I strongly suspect that somebody Forbes wrote about is seeking an IPO. IPOs are all about perceived value. |
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Post by 79sg on Sept 3, 2015 12:38:34 GMT -6
I would add that IPO's are about selling your risk to an unsuspecting public.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Sept 3, 2015 12:38:50 GMT -6
It would be interesting to know the financial details of companies we talk about so often, like UAD, Slate, Waves, etc.
On the other hand, one benefit I've enjoyed is where a single person or a small group of people are able to market something useful without needing a huge chunk of change to start up. I use plugs by Kush Audio, Blue Cat, Sound Toys, LVC Audio, Klanghelm, and some others, and I don't think they're big companies, but they make some great products.
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Post by mobeach on Sept 3, 2015 16:33:14 GMT -6
As long as you're not copying and pirating software you should be able to sell anything you like, if you're no longer using it. You would think..
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Post by b1 on Sept 3, 2015 16:49:12 GMT -6
From what I remember, Sony doesn't allow transferring the license to someone else... Don't know why.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Sept 3, 2015 19:15:13 GMT -6
As long as you're not copying and pirating software you should be able to sell anything you like, if you're no longer using it. You would think.. That's what I'm talkin' about mobeach. |
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Post by popmann on Sept 4, 2015 15:02:34 GMT -6
I'd like to put up my collection of virtual instruments. I won't have any use for them moving forward.
easily got $3k in them....and that's not counting the Gigastudio stuff which has already been written off and tossed long ago. Another several grand.
Some I'm not allowed to sell. Some have transfer fees that end up being prohibitive to there being any profit in resale. So, they sit unused. Ironically, taking up an entire hard drive....and a big chunk on the backup drive!
It's not so much that it's a "scam" as it's a business model that doesn't allow for musicians to take advantage of second hand pricing. It was always a solid choice to buy great gear used rather than "ehh" gear new--same dollar invested. No longer the case. It also doesn't allow monetization to change priorities. I would love to convert that VI money into a portable band capable interface. But, I can't. If it were a keyboard (hardware) I could. But, hardware digital emulation keys mostly stopped progressing when software took over around 2000'ish. Oh well. Just like there's no real option for a hardware recorder now. Software has "won" the marketplace. We now have to find a way to deal.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Sept 4, 2015 15:30:15 GMT -6
Great post popmann. I used "scam" to cut to the chase. More accurately, I think it could be said companies are getting away with some things that are borderline cheating. I agree that if we've paid good money for something, we should have the right to transfer or sell. Calling it a license doesn't change it. Maybe the new Slate format is more fair, and calling it what it is, a rental, rent it if you want to use it, I haven't look into that in detail though.
I think from a legal perspective, companies shouldn't be able to say you bought a plug-in, they should only be allowed to say you're purchasing the rights to use it. I'm sure that's in the fine print, but "buy" implies ownership, doesn't it. And with ownership, the right to sell, give away or trade is inherent.
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