Pricing
So the most asked questions I'm getting lately are 1) will there be an upgrade path for registered users of 1.2 and 2) how much for Cantabile 2.0 when released.
The first question is easy. Yes there will be an upgrade path which will be exactly $25 less than the full purchase price of Cantabile 2.0. ie: it makes no difference if you buy 1.2 and upgrade or just wait for 2.0. To keep the administration simple, donations will not count towards upgrades. So if you donate when purchasing 1.2 your credit towards 2.0 will still only be $25.
The second question is not so easy. Currently I'm thinking about the $100 mark. This is obviously a big jump on the current price of 1.2, but here's the reasoning:
- Most feedback I've received suggests Cantabile 1.2 is actually under priced - to the point where it makes the product seem of less quality.
- It's been almost two years (yikes) since 1.2 was released and there's been financial changes such inflation and changing exchange rates. I actually make less on each sale now than when I first released it.
- The target market for Cantabile has shifted with this version. Previously it was aimed at hobbyists, single instrument musicians and users taking there first interest in computer based music. Now I'm aiming it more towards live performance and professional musicians.
- I'm considering removing the option of donating when purchasing. I'm not a charity and suspect it gives an unprofessional impression. Also, a considerable proportion of purchasers do make a donation which reinforces my belief that 1.2 is under-priced.
- Even at $100 I know I'll never earn back the time I've spent on it, but getting a little more in return makes it a little more rewarding.
- Finally, I'm no expert in marketing and really have no idea how to price a product like Cantabile. Talking to other who've been through similar exercises though, the general advice is to make sure you never under sell yourself.
So I'd be interesting in getting feedback on this. I'm trying to make Cantabile a viable product in it's own right and really need some "wise words" on all of this. What do you think - $100 - too much or too little?
Posted on September 11, 2008
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Sylvain says:
I'm currently an owner of Cantabile 1.2. The reason I bought the full version was that the price was cheap enough to make it a no brainer and the extra features I was getting were well worth ot. On top of giving the devleopper some credit for a tool I use.
At 100$ I wouldn't have bought it, that's pretty much certain. It takes the product into an other category and I have several other things I need to buy in that price range. The use I make of the product doesn't justify putting that much money on it.
Maybe you could think about activating certain extra fonctionnalities so that users of Cantabile 1.2 would get a basic 2.0 (with the same functions and a bit more) for something like 15$, then an extra 15$ would add sessions and 15$ would add somtheing else, making a full upgade 45$. The sell the new release for 75$. That way people will get an insentive in buying the 1.2 right away to save 5$.
I think 75$ is pretty much the highest you could ask for it. 50$ would be even better. This evaluation is not base on the amount of work you've put on it or the quality of the product, but only based on how much I would pay, considering I'm a user.
Stephan says:
I don't think it's a good idea to split a product into subcategories like standard, plus, pro, ultimate with different feature sets. I find that approach absolutely repelling since one is always bound to be a second class user if you can't (or don't want to) afford the "full" package.
Okay, I see Sylvain meant something different here. A stepwise upgrade path. I don't like that idea too much either. Let's keep Cantabile straight and well maintained.
But I agree that 75$ would be the most reasonable price I can think of. I don't think that this would fall into "underselling yourself". It just looks like it's a very nice and affordable software.
It's true that Cantabile is a program in its own right. And it might very well be that it's worth 100$ or more. But in the end, all that counts is how many people will buy your product. And you should not estimate that a higher price automatically brings more income - it might just be the opposite...
Lawrence says:
At $25, I would buy it in the "no-brainer" spirit.
At $50, I would have to consider what I'd do.
At $75, I would probably not buy it at all.
I know it's definitely not worth $100 for my uses. No offense is intended; I am just an amateur casual user.
The thing is, I am happy enough with Cantabile 1.2. While a rationalized handsome interface is worth something, I don't seem to need the features you've been working on. I don't grasp how sub-sessions would help me in the least. I don't need multiple media players. And so on.
Pricing it high will turn away an undemanding customer like me, even though I like the program very well.
John-E34 says:
I agree with the previous comments, and actually wondered why you have spent so much time with all the extra stuff... I would purchase an upgrade for $25, but that would be the limit. I use Cantabile for testing and playing vst's, when not trying to create music. When I wish to do more than just play a few vst's, I generally turn to FL Studio or Reaper. In short, Cantabile 1.2 works perfectly for me, I do not wish to play mp3's etc, so although looking forward to version 2, I would rather continue using the current version, and keep my $100.
Stephan says:
Hello Brad, Concerning the heat and criticism you're just taking - please let me emphasize that none of us actually knows how good Cantabile will be when it's finished.
I am looking for something that enables me to set up a kind of one-man-band. Like John-E34 I found Cantabile v1 mostly useful to quickly test drive new VST(i)s and jam along.
But regarding the level of detail and functionality you've put into v1, I am confident that v2 will be a power horse and perhaps exactly what I won't dare to miss...
You should refer to your beta-test team to evaluate your product. They should know better than we. It is hard to judge just by reading your blog (which I appreciate). But I am very glad to hear you put a lot of work into Cantabile. Because I will too, once it's available!
Brian Levine says:
I think you need to be careful here. If you're trying to make the jump to "professional" product, then there are costs associated with that, but there is a significant segment of the market (already mostly made up of starving artists) that you will lose. Cantabile 1.2 is a great product, and 2.0 looks like it will be fantastic. I really like the features being added for live performance. Will I upgrade? Probably.
grymmjack says:
Hi :)
If you charge $100 for it, there would have to be VST and VSTi versions to justify the purchase for most I'd wager.
Whatever you charge, I'll be there upgrading :)
Looking forward to the new version if you need beta testers email me :)
mQ says:
You'll have a competition: http://www.wusik.com/w/wredfuse.html. It's a little bit pricey ($129.95), but there'll be pre-order and - probably - cross-grade options for Wusikstation users.
But $50 for v.2 should be ok for me as upgrade from 1.2. Also think about pre-order as a good bargain for both sides...
A. says:
Pricing is a difficult thing... I think your technical work is brilliant and V2 propably worth even more than $100 from a commercial point of view.
Another story is who should be ably to afford it and finally purchase the product... If someone is a pro and can make a living from music it's easier to spent some hundreds on essential software. But I geuss there are more people occasionally playing gigs or being pure amateur musicians who can't adjust the expense that easy... simply because there are many other things too, like a PC, plugins,...
Anyway, coming to my personal opinion, I would say $50 would be fine to me or upgrade price of another $25. My personal limits maybe $75 and $50 upgrade. I also have to admit that I hesitate buying the current version 1.x because the upgrade price policy isn't quite clear yet and the intended price jump looks quite immense. I don't think maybe two upgrade paths to a standerd V2 and full V2 would be a bad idea if there is an upgrade path at all, maybe of $25 increments...
Another personal add, take care to not overfeature the product so that it keeps it's excellent performance and maybe take some closer look on the gui and easy of usability from a players point of view.
dhoffmanz says:
A fundamental issue here is who you are marketing to. It is obvious that most of your current market is the hobbyist/amateur who bought your product because it was decent quality and rediculously (sp?) affordable. This was my case. I bought Cantibile for live performance (ie church) and easy experimentation. Being squarely in the hobby/amateur slot, even $75 would pretty much price me out of the market no matter what the functionality. $50 would probably be mighty tempting for the new version. $25 for 1.1 was pretty much a no-brainer.
However, you have said that you are trying to shift markets. So, that changes the game considerably. Then you have to look at competing products, and how you are going to let that market know you exist. If you can get serious musicians and/or bands interested in your products, $100-$150 is not at all out of the question. If you want the impression of high quality/functionality, I would say you should probably be closer to $200. But now you really have to get your product out there in the public's eye. Unfortunately, Like Brian Levine said above, then you'd also be leaving 90% of your current user base in the dust.
You may really want to consider a normal version for hobbyists and a pro version for professionals. Many of your respondants above also said they didn't need additional functionality, but they like the new look. The normal would pretty much have the current functionality with the new interface (which in my mind is worth it because it appears to be WAY more intuitive and flexible). Then aim the pro version at the people who really need the extra oomph.
If you price the normal version anywhere under $45, it would probably fall into the no-brainer category which equals more sales, and a solid future footing in your current market. The pro version: probably somewhere between $90-180. It is a monster step-up, but it also appears it may be a significant change in functionality, and a significantly different market.
The final idea: Charge $120 for the new version, and go for the professional market. But then have pity on your current loyal, adoring, dedicated (and tight-fisted) current user base and make our upgrade from 1.2 only $25!! :)
Thanks for all your work, Dave
Adam says:
As a student who knows very little about music, my uses of Cantabile 1.2 were restricted to occasionally rendering a Midi file. I fire it up maybe once a month at most. $25 was at the point where I could have seen myself paying it if I used the app more frequently. At $100, it's way outside my price range.
Hopefully there will still be a free version for people like me.
dean baker says:
$100 Still seems extremely good value. The higher the price, then support is expected to be of a high quality. If the new version of cantabile turns out to work well then you'll give some of the large companies a few nightmares. The new version sounds ideal for giging musicians.