Hows it going AudioSex & AudioZ community,
Here is a video we made with hopes to help reduce illegal downloading of software.

StudioLinked feels many big companies have made mistakes trying to scare people to stop illegal downloading. We believe their is another way. Give music producers more options than paying full price for a piece of software they feel is overpriced. Illegal downloading can't be stopped but can be reduced. For the month of April we are trying something different. Get 30% off any # of products for the whole month. We hope this can help make it less tempting to resort to illegal downloading. Our goal with this experiment is to show that making products more affordable can convert more music producers to get software the legit way. Will a product that takes thousands to create ever be FREE? NO does not make sense for business. Can software music producers want, be at a more affordable price ABSOLUTELY. STUDIO LINKED hopes this thinking can inspire other software companies & music producers to follow.

COUPON CODE: LEGIT30

www.StudioLinked.com

 

Yes. A brainless brainy idea! A one month 30% off sale should do the trick, and effectively nip piracy of your product in the bud FOREVER! I am surprised that other developers haven't thought of this brilliant strategy in their quest to thwart software piracy. Best of luck to you!

 

Last edited: Apr 3, 2016

haha never seen a company take it to this level before. I fuck wit StudioLinked for this one. Too funny to post this and AudioZ will see this.

 

other companies do not use this strategy because it seems something desperate, it shows not affected to minimize the "damage", and try not to harm those who already paid for the product at full price.

 

How about investing in iLok3 or other forms of securing your product rather than still leaving your company vulnerable to pirating?...Encoding libraries etc just a thought

 

While I appreciate the idea, I think devs need to realize that warez downloads are very rarely lost sales. Of course it does happen. But the vast sweeping majority of warez users are total amateurs whose material is utter garbage. They don't make any money from music; and they probably won't be in the hobby for long anyways. Then there are the hobbyists: people who stay long term but don't make a dime from the music--and don't get any serious attention from anyone. Then there are the professionals: a puny minority (who due to label pressure, etc buy most of if not all the software they actually use).

My point is that you can't think of every download as a lost sale. Let me repeat that: you can't think of every download as a lost sale. It doesn't work that way. Not even remotely. I do agree that you deserve to be paid for your work. But when you see that X software has been downloaded X thousands of times, stop multiplying that figure by the sales price and assuming this is lost revenue. It isn't. In fact, you're more likely to generate customers by having your software in front of them. In the world of libraries, there are a plethora of high quality options to choose from. Better to have some downloads than to get lost in the swarm of "me too's."

Take it for what it's worth. But you should know that I represent your potential customer base. I am exactly who you should be marketing to.

 

Army i dont think you are understanding why we made this. We agree that many of the software on the market today is overpriced. We want to inspire other software companies that its possible to reduce illegal file sharing and downloads. By showing customers that you are not just trying to get another dollar out of them. Products more affordable might = more sales and less illegal downloading & file sharing.

 

I guess it's a thin line between saying downloading illegally because the initial download that is shared has to be Paid for so somebody Paid for it once and then shared it so StudioLinkedVST did get Paid for it just not as many times as they would like then you could go back to the topic and say they do not own the sounds they only own the container that they put the Sounds in To like the VST instrument or the Kontakt Library container that they made but they don't own the sounds

 

Last edited: Apr 3, 2016

With all due respect, I don't think you understand my argument. I never mentioned price. You make the mistake of thinking that price is what holds back purchases. It is certainly part of the story--but nearly entirely applies to people already buying their plugins. Nearly all warez users are amateurs and won't buy a plugin at ANY price. I think the sale will help increase sales--just not from the people you are trying to get sales from. You are just giving 30% off to people already on the fence or who would buy it anyways. You won't increase the amount purchased by the targeted demographic.

I'm not saying it is a bad idea to have a sale. I'm saying that this will do little to nothing to combat piracy. You may even hurt your bottom line by reducing the marginal revenue per unit sold without selling enough additional units to compensate for the per-unit loss.

This will get about 5 more guys to buy your product--and those people were likely just waiting for their next paycheck to buy it anyway.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way. I really am trying to offer advise that will help you see greater financial success. Instead of worrying about illegal downloads, you should simply worry about producing the highest quality product possible. There is always a market for quality. When the market is this saturated, you face significant barriers against entry into the market. You are competing with a lot of big name companies. You need to be concerned with standing out from the crowd and getting people to know who you are.

Believe me, I know how difficult this business is. I put in about 150+ hours into creating two synthesizer soundbanks that only made enough money to purchase the synth I made them with. I made about a dollar an hour of work. But, curiously, of all the soundbanks I've ever made, the ones that sold the best were the ones that were released to the warez world. I can only assume that by getting the sounds in front of more people, I was able to benefit from the exposure. The majority of my customers likely wouldn't have seen/heard the quality of the sounds otherwise--and decided to purchase. There is always a market for quality.

 

Army thats awesome...I would love to hear your work do you have a link?

 

Last edited: Apr 3, 2016

Sure. This is the most recent one. It was released here. It's collaborative but mine are all the sequences (except for one).

https://audiosex.pro/threads/the-audiosex-community-soundbank-is-here.24006/

 

Those of use who make/made it, buy it! When I produce a video or flyer, I lease Adobe products for the final renders. I own an iLok and a handful of Waves and Slate plugs. Im just saying. When we make money, so do the developers.........

 

StudioLinked is the type of company that should not exist IMHO. I didn't even bother to download for free their products shared on the sister site. I mean, for the producers out there that rely more on libraries than their own sound design, Nexus does and have everything. Seriously, sometimes good developers are suffering from piracy, but many times those who suffer should not be in the biz in the first place.

 

Army of Ninjas is 100% right.

 

I love this community. Thanks honestly everyone who takes the time check out threads.

 

I think it's a good idea to run this experiment. Best of luck. If your conclusion is to reduce prices permanently, great. You're on the right track (sic)

 

@StudioLinkedVST ... you are effectively saying that your products are overpriced. That is inherent in your definition and your logic by envisioning that other software developers will follow suit by lowering the cost of their "overpriced" products. Also, what is by the way, your definition of overpriced, as any good argument needs solid definitions? If for example, Bobbi Studiochick has a software budget this year of $4000 after her tune went viral on youtube and she is looking for an in the box delay unit, SoundToys Echoboy seems reasonably priced for the quality and options at $199, whereas for Hitomi Kneesox, a teenage girl with only enough cash to buy a nickel bag and a bit of tobacco, papers and filters, your Imitation Delay for $49 is a "no fucking way", "I can download it from Magesy". No lost sale from Hitomi, but definitely you have lost sale with Studiochick. I guess I am trying to say is, to me you you are "just trying to get another dollar out of them", but marketing it in such a way that you hope folks envision you riding into town on a white horse to save the day. It doesn't work on many levels. Into the future I emplore you to just frame your products in the light of their own merits; a certain quality and feature set at a price your chosen demographic can afford, no more, no less. Amen.

 

What is IMHO? Thanks

 

I'm gonna buy Tapestop with this. Thank you. 60$ was too much for me, and I was leaning towards Vengeance sound's Tapestop. But I want both lol. Now I can get both. ;)

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 3, 2016

It's just an acronym for "In my honest opinion".

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 3, 2016