PG Music Home Forums PG Music Product Forums Band-in-a-Box for Windows marketing observation

In reading through posts on this forum, posts on forums for other music software, and advertisements for music software in general, I've noticed some trends that might be useful in a marketing sense.

In general, users of all products have conflicting attitudes about upgrades. On one hand, they want to be on the cutting edge, but they have limited cash for upgrades, and almost everybody who makes music electronically uses more than one program (each of which offers regular upgrades)

The dilemma for developers is that, unless they can retain the loyalty of their customers by offering new value (as perceived by the customer) at EVERY upgrade, there is a high likelihood that customers will divert their upgrade dollars to another product.

Best case is that your customers are so loyal that they upgrade every time.
Next best case is that they upgrade "regularly" to stay within a version or two
worst case is if the customer decides to get by with an older version and stop upgrading altogether.

So the KEY is to keep people current as easily as possible without forcing the question of whether they can afford to PAY to stay.

Having said that, I am intrigued by FL Studios "lifetime free update" plan. This approach completely solves the customer loyalty question, because once you're in you can always be current, and you'd be foolish to walk away from lifetime free updates by abandoning the product.

So the question arises: How to they generate new money? I think they do it by selling their proprietary plugins, effects, samples, instruments etc. They have literally hundreds of cash generating products that are highly desirable to people who own their core product.

A similar situation exists for PGMusic. You offer free DL patches which bring any previous version up to the current version already. People really upgrade to get the proprietary real tracks, styles and companion products.

If you were to offer lifetime free updates (and you already do for the core program, you just don't advertise it in those terms) it would accomplish the following advantages:

1) it would eliminate (or greatly reduce) the possibility that people would abandon the product

2) With smaller payouts, more people could afford to buy into the product, which would increase market share. It would shift the cash flow model from a reliance on fewer sales at higher amounts to more sales of smaller amounts, at whatever margin you choose. (If you want a million dollars, Its always easier to sell a million things for a dollar each than it is to sell one thing for a million dollars, because there are more people who have a dollar to spend than there are people who have a million dollars to spend)

3) The upgrade path would shift to ACCESSORY packages, that can be custom tailored to individual taste. People who were reluctant to pay for bluegrass real tracks when all they really wanted are Jazz real tracks would not feel like thay had to buy stuff they don't want. An EVERYTHING PAK might include all styles real tracks and accessory programs. A BLUEGRASS PAK might include all the country and bluegrass styles and realtracks plus the flatpick guitar licks etc etc

4) smaller transactions would make it feasible to deal mostly by download, which would eliminate the cost of the USB drives, except for new customers.

SUMMARY:
1) start advertising "Lifetime free updates" (to the core program)

2) sell newly released realtracks for approximately what you currently get for an upgrade, so your current cash flow would not change

3) emphasize the individual sale of accessory programs, effects and styles/real tracks, and also the availability of specialty packages to make initial purchase easy (bluegrass, country, pop, jazz, MIDI only, RT only etc. could all have a unique entry level package)

4) packages could come bundled in a variety of ways.. Jazz package could come with or without JABB, any package could come with or without FORTE DXi etc)

you already do ALL of this... the only real change would be to publicly say "lifetime free updates to the core program". I think the change in customer's perception of being a lifetime member of the PG community would have enormous implications. And offering a variety of low priced specialty entry level packages would get more people in the club. Those who buy in at a reduced package price would have many upgrade purchasesto make.

The forum creates a good excitement builder to make people want more than they currently have. It's human nature to want more pie once you've taken the first bite.

You buy.

Then $10.00 per month, phone support and free updates. Or 12 bucks.

After year one of course.

A 6 mo window with monthly email remind ers.

Access to users only forum.

I notice that on the YAHOO groups BIAB forum, there are a lot of "MIDI ONLY" people who have stopped upgrading to punish PGMusic for not adding the features they want. Once a person feels like they are no longer a customer, they stop considering more purchases.

Using a sociological model, People who feel alienated can be reclaimed by a group if the group reaches out to them and gives them a point of re-entry that enhances or maintains their self esteem, and does not make them feel like they had to abandon whatever convictions led to the alienation.

Offering retroactive free lifetime updates would be a gesture of good will that (I believe) would provide an easy point of re-entry for alienated customers. Once they see themselves as being current users, it reopens the consideration of new purchases.

People who haven't considered real tracks in the past will definitely be surprised to hear what's possible now. Once those folks have the latest engine, and the ability to purchase a few specialty real-tracks for a reasonable price, I think they will want more pie.

There are so many people who show up here having downloaded the software and who are just ignorant of music, styles and lyrics and they either hate it or want it to be simple and turn them into Paul Simon later in the day. That otoh can put the wind on me. I swear some of them have a laneway that doesn't make the road.

The midi guys will find things tough when the win 9 has no midi, and xp and vista are pulled and unsupported. I understand the attraction but spending a half hour firing cc s at uncle joes midi dreadnought vst will never be my cup of herbal tea.

For now if you're a single or duo act doing classic 70s' and 80's stuff then how do you create those song specific licks without midi? Current Real Tracks only go so far. I call them groove tracks. Once you get past the one or two bar hook that made a particular song a hit, then the RT's are great.

There are several possibilities down the line to take the RT's to the next level of being able to create specific licks like some version of Melodyne or something. We'll just have to see what happens but until then it's only midi that can do that if you're not playing it yourself.

True, the winds of change may be blowing through the computer world and you may be right, down the road midi may not be part of it. For performers there should still be all the keyboard workstations but consider that lots of folks still use a 10 year old OS for music so if Win 9 has no midi there's still Win 7 or Apple but if they give it up too we're still talking at least 10-15 years before it becomes a major problem. You know PG will not sitting still all that time and who knows what kind of fantastic audio manipulation will be available then?

Now that I'm fantasizing here consider the advances with optical recognition and speech recognition. What about music recognition? We have the ACW now. Lets say it's really primitive. Fast forward 10-15 years, what would the ACW look like then? I think we could import any song from a single guitar player to a full orchestra and the software would break it all out to individual instruments and notes. You could then have the Berlin Phil or Tower of Power play your own composition with all the different styles still available. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy playing a country waltz? Sure, why not? There would be some kind of AI to smooth the notes out and make it sound like real humans playing. Don't know about the legalities of that but from a computers point of view I don't think we're too far away from that right now. How about that as the engine inside a future Biab? I could have some fun marketing that.

Bob

Here's another one that has me wandering somewhat. I have the audiophile version and the upgrade path for me if I want the latest real tracks is the hardrive upgrade. Thats $199 USA and after Canadian exchange and so on it's a $250 upgrade path. No single RT style in audiophile version so that leaves me out. It would seem that PG Music does not want to pay for bandwidth so I can download the single audiophile style I want. I am forced to buy the hard drive to upgrade. Make sence, not in the least. I do realize that it cost money to create these RT, not disputing this one. I'm willing to pay for what I want and only the RT styles I want in audiophile version. So, if I want to upgrade twice a year, do the math. RT are unique and unlike anything out there right now and one can't really compare other software path or cost. So when I upgrade my audiophile version I get the whole package, right?, I don't need the whole package just the base software and the new RT styles I want in audiophile version, but I can't. Make sence?????, you tell me.

All the best.

I find this discussion very interesting, particularly some of the thoughts in the OP. I have mentioned elsewhere that I am a marketing manager for a non-music software development and marketing company. I too am struggling with ideas on how to retain our market lead and stop customers from drifting away to other products. I'm going to give that "lifetime free update" idea some more thought. Currently we only give support and upgrades to those that invest in a yearly support/maintenance agreement. The problem is that, without that extra income, can we afford to keep on the support and development staff?

As far as BB is concerned, I have mentioned in another thread that I believe upgrades should only be once a year. I believe the twice a year system does make one think carefully about whether there are sufficient features to make the upgrade worthwhile, especially in these really tough economic times. And I say that when Australia's economy is about the strongest in the world - according to the IMF anyway. Perhaps they should "come on down" and try it for themselves.

I think I would be prepared to pay a yearly support/maintenance fee to PG Music in exchange for getting every ‘update’ and ‘upgrade’ (there is a difference) plus all the new Styles, rather than paying individually for each upgrade.

There is one other marketing dilemma that I think PG Music have got with BB. There are their old customers who use BB for practicing, working up tunes, even the first steps in arranging. I put myself in that category and many of us are jazz freaks. But then there are those, the deadly duos etc., who use BB in live gig situations for backing tracks, or at least creating backing tracks. I am not sure that a single product is suitable for these two types of customer. Just a thought.

I don't like how PG rolls out RealTracks (RTs). Bits and pieces here and there trying to please everyone. For example, buy a Jazz Acoustic Bass set @140 bpm (range 125-160). Any other tempo, you have to wait. Then another set @140 becomes available. I want that set but have to buy other instruments included that I'll never use. Later, another tempo comes out...etc. And how many RTs do we have that will most likely never be used? Some will say that it is a 'great bargain' to buy the BIAB EverythingPAK rather than the BIAB Pro - but bargain is relative to the individual. It is not worth $400+ to me.

RealDrums (RDs) were handled much better offering a wide range of tempos of a particular style. Buy one and you set for that style. I know RDs are much simpler than RTs but this topic is about how the marketing of the product is handled. The bundling of RTs in the PAKs is helpful but worthless to someone that prefers to buy selectively and/or a long-time user.

I'd like to see the RT offerings re-worked to include both existing and new buyers. RDs could be easily changed in a similar style. For example, I want to purchase a modern Acoustic Jazz Bass RT and modern Jazz Drums. At purchase, PG gets the serial number from my BIAB and associates it with those items 'forever'. Any additional tempos or variations to those sets will be included 'forever' in future updates. This I would not mind paying a yearly fee. It would also prevent pirating - keeping the cost down for paying customers.

For you folks that feel the EverythingPAK is a bargain, this would work for you too.

I could get a lot more specific on market and sales offerings but will save it for another day. I'm sure a lot is constantly being discussed at PG. Supporting and growing the same product for many years is a daunting task. Once they reach the ultimate solution (which they probably have reached many times), another completely different ultimate solution will be required in a few years.

R

I'm not so sure that an a-la-carte marketing model wouldn't be less cost effectuctuve and ultimately more costly to the comsumre. Right now we all cover the cost of producing a wide variety of new real tracks. Go to an a-la-carte model and maybe some of those tracks don't get produced at all because PG needs to think about how many they are going to sell.

It's an a-la-carte model now - just broad options.

So when they bundle something like a Hip-Hop sax in with a Jazz piano, how do they know which one is really selling the bundle?

FWIW, the free update concept is also part of Reaper's popularity... Except their updates are not for life, they last for a certain amount of time and then you have to pay another low fee to continue receiving the updates.

I mention this because FL Studio and Reaper are both relative newcomers to the world of computer based music, and their innovation in marketing has propelled them past many established companies. I think that's why SONAR is offering the $99 upgrades... they're trying to reclaim the customers who are abandoning them for Reaper (whose entry level price is still lower than Sonar's $99 upgrade!)

PG Music's products are so innovative that they are not a direct competitor with any other music software company. But they DO compete for dollars, and IMO that's why taking note of evolving marketing techniques is a good idea.

Amplitube does the same thing. They give away the core program, but the gear models that make it useful must be bought in one of two ways:

1) you can buy them "a-la carte" at their online store or

2) you can buy packages like Amplitube FENDER, AMPEG, METAL etc and get a special interest combination of value adding content that is cheaper than buying all the same items one at a time at the web store.

My biggest marketing question is why the cookies aren't right by the milk? I mean the nachos are right by the salsa, which are both by the bottled soft drinks.

Oh, wrong kind of marketing?

What I don't like with ANY company, not just PG, is when there is no discounted price for current license holders. (i.e. the way I DESPISE Microsoft for the way they handle OS licensing.) I now have BIAB 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. All 4 are on external hard drives that become obsolete the minute the new one shows up. I will never ever ever ever go backwards "to test". Most people who are on the computer side of the employment world wouldn't either because going backwards doesn't fix the present. You KNOW last year's model works. What are you proving by wasting the 3 hour installation time?

My suggestion would be that we buy BIAB new, when we get it and are satisfied with the installation that we have an option to return the old version, hard drive and case intact, and PG credits us some percentage of the purchase price. They can then reformat and reuse the old drive and case for next year's model. I know that for me, I have little or no use for a pile of small laptop sized drives outside of reformatting them and having a spare drive for my laptops. (But I only need ONE spare drive.)

For me, unless there is another manna from heaven like last year when I won a copy of 2012, I simply don't have $300 to shell out every year for a new version no matter what bugs it fixes. Real Track and Real Drum updates MAYBE, but to be honest, there are too many styles now to a level where I will never even have time to even sample them all, much less use them. I was looking for a style last week, and FIVE HOURS LATER had not found what I wanted, largely because the "sample song" listed was NOTHING like the groove of the style. One style said the sample song is "Take It Easy" by The Eagles. Maybe in the years they were doing acid, but not what was on the album. Not even close. Of course, some of you are full time musicians and have nothing else to do but sit and study styles all day, but your typical 40 hour work week guy who does this as one of several hobbies may not find 50 subtle nuances of the same style attractive or useful.

I also have this dream that cable and satellite TV companies would come up with a "Roll Your Own" plan where we can say I want this list of channels and they build you YOUR bundle. DirecTv has these packages where I see 2 channels I would watch in the "next" tier up from where I am and I have to then make the value judgment if moving up a tier to get DIY network is worth the additional cost. This is similar in concept to upgrading BIAB.

Little things like that can alienate people.

Pat, you did not factor in the "Cheap Slovenian" factor. Slovenians, as a nationalized trait, are not permitted to EVER throw anything away that once had value.

I wonder if I can find a buyer for this motherboard with the Pentium 100 chip? And these size 10 Bauer hockey skates? The tough one will be that non-working chest freezer in my basement...

Geeze it took me 2 years to throw away an old synth that had absolutely no value even for parts to the most sentimental collector....

Cheap-o-Meter

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