I was just reading KVR and the head guy at Audio Damage was saying that he thought only 1 in 20 people who use their products pay for them and alluded that that is why they are starting to make hardware. Audio Damage use a similiar copy protection scheme to Cakewalk.
 
Do you guys think that there is an argument that piracy diminshes profits and that lack of profit drives talented people away from VST development. 
 
And also do you think that vicious competition is good for innovation? Where companies just produce really cheap products (and can't hire the top guys cos don't make any money) and hope they can outlast the competition and cannabilize the other company when it goes tits up. Why make super high quality stuff when you can't afford the talent to make it, and even if you did make it, people would download it for free.

A quick look at the Audio damage site suggests to me that they don't make any dsp that I have a need for.
If a vendor confines their offerings to stuff that people who actually buy stuff don't feel they need then the vendor may end up with the 1:20 ratio.
 
It seems like making something people think they need would be an effective way to elevate market share above the I-don't-really-need-it-but-I-can-get-it-for-free crowd.
 
If you think the guy is crying the blues now... wait to see what happens when he saturates his *I really need it* hardware market and ends up with a whole bunch of physical product sitting in boxes that is desperately in need of a new home.
 
best regards,
mike

uh yeah piracy hurts the small plugin producer more than it hurts bigger companies but it all hurts.
 
saw a video interviewing Moby a while back ago and he was talking about how easy it is to make music now with a laptop and plugins with a crack.  I was kinda disappointed that he said that.
 
DJ Steve Aoki was recently caught in a piracy controversy where he did a video and in the video you could see the cracked warez group in the video.  He later explained that his assistant had put the crack on and he didn't know it - showed his receipts etc.  still - a high profile DJ or a member of his team using a crack?!  come'on.
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2013/20130824aoki
 
Piracy is rampant, cheaper prices on plugins and software does help - but it hurts producers bottom line.
 
I also will not buy full price.  way too many sales and ultimately get it a cheaper price.
 
Nobody is ever going to stop piracy.  But if ya use it - buy it and don't give to your friends.

It would be interesting to compare bottom lines between ValhallaDSP and ExponentialAudio Mike.

I think I see what you mean.
 
If I learned that one of my friends was stealing from Sean Costello I'd be really disappointed.
 
best regards,
mike

Many estimates have been published regarding the loss from software piracy, but most are from self-serving organizations and the numbers are always over-inflated. First of all, where would that number even come from? Secondly, they are starting with a false assumption: that every stolen copy represents a lost sale and therefore represents quantifiable monetary damage.
 
You've 3 kinds of consumers: 1) those that never pay, 2) those that pay sometimes, and 3) those who always pay. Groups 1 and 3 can be ignored. Group 1 was never going to give you money anyway, so you can't count them as lost sales. It's only Group 2 that matters, the ones you might sway through effective copy protection and/or very reasonable pricing. Like everyone else, I don't know how big that group is, but it's not 19 out of 20.
 
The industry has been struggling with this for as long as there has been a software industry. It affects my own business, too, so I've thought about it a fair amount. The only workable strategy for a small software business is to a) make a quality product with frequent updates, b) price it as low as practical or competitively necessary, c) take good care of your paying customers, and d) forget about piracy.

It is surprising how much of the top lines goes to theft - even brick and mortor stores.  Built-in costs, somewhere's around 10% or more.  I can see software being higher, the loss anyway.  A lot of people wouldn't use an effect etc. if it wasn't free.
 
A sad commentary.
 
@

I'm a pirate on crack.
 
But all my software is paid for all legal like.

I think it's funny that people debate theft.
 
1. The US was founded on theft and still does it.
2. We live in a capitalistic society so you have to accept that theft is a given. If you think it won't be, I have a few bridges I'd like to sell you.
3. I only wanted to put 3 down since I like counting.
 
You have to take the good with the bad. It's not fair to those who write the software but that's life in capitalism.

Agree 100 per cent with Bit...as per usual. The world is the world is the world. And the majority of the most odious windmills can no longer be tilted at. Get used to it chillun.