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[JimH]

As promised, we've raised the price to $49.98.  Upgrades from previous versions are $24.98.

I like what rick.ca said recently:

it seems to me a valid strategy appropriate for high quality items is
premium pricing with no "deals." Maybe the marketing message implicit in
the pricing should be, "If you want to use and support the development of
the best media center application available, you have to pay the price.
We're too focused on development here to worry about those needing a
free lunch

Thanks for understanding.

[benn600]

In my opinion, MC is worth every penny.  My neighbor was really impressed with what MC does and was stunned at its low price.

[MrHaugen]

Very reasonable imo.

[Gl3nn]

In my opinion, MC is worth every penny.

+1  Oh, yes.

[johnnyboy]

At this price I know none of my friends or relatives will be buying it for using with their music.
I mainly use mine for music and a tiny bit for pictures and I know at $49.99 for a new license, I wouldn't have bought it ever.
I LOVE directory opus but only ever use it on a freshly installed machine and have never and will never purchase it just because the price is too expensive for what I will ever use it for.
If they had a cheaper version or something I'd have bought it years ago.

If you use all the features (tv, media server, etc) then its a great steal at that price. But if you just want the music and images side of it then its highly over priced.

I really think the old suggestion I've seen here in the past of doing a set base fee for the app with extras (tv, media server, etc) being addons that then cost extra. Build them into the app body by all means, but just have them need an additional code to activate them as well.
IMO this would be the best way to not totally cut off the LARGE number of people that just want a good music jukebox and image organiser.
I have seen Photoshop Elements for a price similar to what you guys are charging and it has Adobes name behind it.
Feel free to ignore this as it is just my 2c but its definitely how I feel.


$29.99 for MC
$9.99 for TV
$9.99 for Media Server
=======
$49.97 total and with a base of $29.99 you could still tempt in audio/image only users.

[benn600]

Perhaps the novices or those who don't see MC's worth shouldn't be using it?  The home home media/automation systems costs THOUSANDS.  Would this market provide some bulk to MC purchasing?  The price would be the price of installing one speaker in one room, LOL!  Here we go again on this dead-end discussion.

The flaw I find with saying XX won't buy it at $49.98 is that I think the people who wouldn't consider it at that price wouldn't consider it at any price.  What if it was $4.99?  They wouldn't consider it worth the time of typing in their credit card number!  If people do not require features beyond iTunes then they should stick with their application!  As terrible as it sounds, some people just aren't as techie and concerned with their music library/advanced view schemes/etc.!  I, and I suspect a fair number of other active users, would not stop using MC at double or triple the price.  Especially because we're already at half this for the upgrade prices.

[MrHaugen]

I agree with you Benn. This is not a huge problem. Only for those that will probably not buy it anyway.

A few things could be done to attract the normal small media users though.

Upgrade the stripped down version 12 to 14. Even though there are not extremely much enhancements and new features on the plain music sides of version 12 to 14, it suffers a bit from having a lower version number. A free music product might help many users see the great things about MC's music sides, and it can easily replace iTunes for much of this people. Perhaps they also get curious what the 49$ version provides, and ends up like MC freaks like the rest of us

Another approach to this is to provide different versions. A basic MC package for Music, and downloadable packages for Video, Images and Theater View, Server part etc. Or simply have it all in one package and let different keys (depending on cost) unlock different uses of MC. Just as Johnnyboy suggested.

How hard it would be to do one or another I have no idea of though.

[Magic_Randy]

I agree with you Benn. This is not a huge problem. Only for those that will probably not buy it anyway.

I also agree. Those that don't buy because of price were not going to buy anyway.

[prod]

I don't agree that people who wouldn't buy it for $50 wouldn't buy it at any price.... that surely can't be true. It's all about value for money, I'm constantly seeing products I like but not enough to cough up an unreasonable price, particularly when you know that if you wait an x amount of time you'll get a considerably better deal. Most people out there have no loyalty invested in any product, sometimes that is difficult to realise.

That said however, even though I now only use MC for audio, at $50 in my opinion it still represents value for money just for that purpose alone. The rest of the features are just a bonus and easily ignored. So the thing is, for people like me, the motivation to upgrade to each new version is diminishing.

[benn600]

Perhaps they also get curious what the 49$ version provides, and ends up like MC freaks like the rest of us Smiley

You are too kind!

[benn600]

I don't agree that people who wouldn't buy it for $50 wouldn't buy it at any price.... that surely can't be true. It's all about value for money, I'm constantly seeing products I like but not enough to cough up an unreasonable price, particularly when you know that if you wait an x amount of time you'll get a considerably better deal. Most people out there have no loyalty invested in any product, sometimes that is difficult to realise.

That said however, even though I now only use MC for audio, at $50 in my opinion it still represents value for money just for that purpose alone. The rest of the features are just a bonus and easily ignored. So the thing is, for people like me, the motivation to upgrade to each new version is diminishing.

I'm responding from all the people I've talked to about MC.  Everyone I've ran into basically gives me the impression that it is an all or nothing deal.  Either it is free for the user (iTunes or WMP) or they won't go for it.  They just will not spend the money because, again, it is more work to get their credit card out than to just download iTunes

The problem is that people have a different mind set for music.  They are fully aware of the marketing BACKING iTunes and WMP and all the other free players out there so for them to go to all the extra effort isn't worth being PAID.  Seriously, some people I've forced MC onto have actually gotten upset because it is not worth freely getting--for some users.  It depends who you are but honestly, it is more of a pain for certain users depending on their needs and wants.

PS. Why not look at the other products (media monkey) and follow their marketing a bit.  Have a big check list!  I feel that MC doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of marketing behind it overall and that is troublesome -- but maybe not.  I almost prefer the more niche, tight nit group of users to huge adoption where Interact would be a death-trap.  Okay, I've referred to death twice in this thread (now three times)...

[Magic_Randy]

I don't agree that people who wouldn't buy it for $50 wouldn't buy it at any price.... that surely can't be true. It's all about value for money, I'm constantly seeing products I like but not enough to cough up an unreasonable price, particularly when you know that if you wait an x amount of time you'll get a considerably better deal. Most people out there have no loyalty invested in any product, sometimes that is difficult to realise.

That said however, even though I now only use MC for audio, at $50 in my opinion it still represents value for money just for that purpose alone. The rest of the features are just a bonus and easily ignored. So the thing is, for people like me, the motivation to upgrade to each new version is diminishing.

I agree that MC represents significant value which justifies the price. I would only add that those that feel iTunes and other free or near free products do the job just fine and say MC is too expensive don't see the value. Therefore they would not buy anyway. So I would not let feedback from these people drive the price of MC down.

I also agree that existing users may not need all of the new features being developed. That's why I like the approach of offering discounts to upgrade to new versions.  I happily pay the upgrade price just to stay on current software and take any new features I can use as a bonus.

[prod]

Yeah I suppose you're right. I think the perception that iTunes does the job fine needs to be challenged though! It's all relative to your own experiences with media software, I guess.

[JimH]

Tunetyme made a long thoughtful post about pricing, but also about whether MC should focus more on music features for mainstream users. 

I thought it deserved a thread of its own, so it's here.