Posted: 11-18-12 9:01 am
Now that Synthesia for iPad is so close to being finished, I've started thinking about the best way to sell it to you guys. (Arguably I've done things out of order... a businessperson I am not. ) Anyway, I've settled down a bit since my last outburst, so I'm not proposing anything so drastic this time.
Now of course every user wants everything for free. And everyone selling a product wishes people would give all their money for it. The interesting part is what happens somewhere in the middle.
The desktop version of Synthesia has a long legacy of giving away a lot of value for free. I like that. Really, if there were a way to survive while giving you guys everything for free, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I continue to be honored that people enjoy and use Synthesia and I love hearing stories about how it has changed your lives. Still, I have to charge something if I want to keep working on it full time and the $35 price point for the desktop Learning Pack feels great. It's less than a single piano lesson, competitive with everything else out there, and still gives me a little breathing room to have a sale here-and-there.
Unfortunately (for me ) $35 doesn't work on the iPad. The culture in that marketplace dictates that even the $5.99 I'm shooting for is still considered a little high. Though it's interesting to consider because not only are you getting all the same value as the desktop version, but things like portability and being able to put your iPad right on your keyboard's music stand make it even better! I daresay Synthesia makes more sense on the iPad than the desktop.
It is exactly that point that has me worried.
I've joked with my wife for months now that all this effort is going to result in less revenue because people that would have otherwise bought the desktop version will now go for the iPad instead, which ends up being a net loss for me.
I've spent some time thinking about how to offset that. Personally I can't stand ads and don't think I'm ever going to do that to you guys. I've been contacted by a few of those "Are you sure you don't-not want to absolutely, maybe prevent installing this browser toolbar that is going to cripple your computer and force you to use our search engine forever" companies (to be bundled with the desktop version). While those offers sound lucrative (being dishonest and tricking customers usually is), I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
Like I mentioned before, I still think users are more used to the idea of buying content than they are features. Though finding high-quality content partners is hard. I do have some content stuff in the works, but it's not ready yet.
Still, thinking about the "content instead of features" problem some more, I came up with an idea. On the face of it, it sounds similar to the other thread, but it's actually a lot simpler. Check this out:
When you download Synthesia on the iPad for free, you can play 20 different songs (about three hand-picked from each difficulty category of the built-in set). All the features (melody practice, sheet, etc.) are always available in every song.
Then, if you are enjoying yourself and would like to play more songs -- any song, in fact -- you can do the unlock for $5.99. The rest of the included set become available and loading external songs starts working. Every song continues to have every feature always available.
In fact, it starts to sound strange to talk about features like sheet music being or not-being available, because all of the little padlock icons go away in every case. You'll never see them. The "Learning Pack" is effectively integrated into the base download. Instead of you having to keep track of which piecemeal bits of functionality you have access to (and me trying to communicate that to you), it's a much simpler question of "can I play just these songs or can I play all songs ever, anywhere?"
Of course, this is obviously more restrictive than the model the desktop version uses. Though it seems like a really cool way to balance just how much value you're getting with how much less $5.99 is compared to $35. That is, it would hopefully be a purchase that more iPad users would end up going for, vs. if it went out the door using the desktop's model.
The reason I'm even writing any of this is because it sort of feels like I should ask you guys for permission before making that decision. In my salesman role, what I'm doing right now is trying to figure out how far I can twist your iPad arms before it hurts. The very last thing I ever want to do is exploit any of you, so I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Is that too restrictive a change? How many of you weren't going to buy the Learning Pack on the iPad anyway? Do you think "everything Synthesia has to offer for these songs vs. every song ever" is easier to understand than "these features from column A vs. this list of features from column B" for new iPad users? Does it feel like I'd totally be taking advantage of everyone? I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Thank you!
Now of course every user wants everything for free. And everyone selling a product wishes people would give all their money for it. The interesting part is what happens somewhere in the middle.
The desktop version of Synthesia has a long legacy of giving away a lot of value for free. I like that. Really, if there were a way to survive while giving you guys everything for free, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I continue to be honored that people enjoy and use Synthesia and I love hearing stories about how it has changed your lives. Still, I have to charge something if I want to keep working on it full time and the $35 price point for the desktop Learning Pack feels great. It's less than a single piano lesson, competitive with everything else out there, and still gives me a little breathing room to have a sale here-and-there.
Unfortunately (for me ) $35 doesn't work on the iPad. The culture in that marketplace dictates that even the $5.99 I'm shooting for is still considered a little high. Though it's interesting to consider because not only are you getting all the same value as the desktop version, but things like portability and being able to put your iPad right on your keyboard's music stand make it even better! I daresay Synthesia makes more sense on the iPad than the desktop.
It is exactly that point that has me worried.
I've joked with my wife for months now that all this effort is going to result in less revenue because people that would have otherwise bought the desktop version will now go for the iPad instead, which ends up being a net loss for me.
I've spent some time thinking about how to offset that. Personally I can't stand ads and don't think I'm ever going to do that to you guys. I've been contacted by a few of those "Are you sure you don't-not want to absolutely, maybe prevent installing this browser toolbar that is going to cripple your computer and force you to use our search engine forever" companies (to be bundled with the desktop version). While those offers sound lucrative (being dishonest and tricking customers usually is), I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
Like I mentioned before, I still think users are more used to the idea of buying content than they are features. Though finding high-quality content partners is hard. I do have some content stuff in the works, but it's not ready yet.
Still, thinking about the "content instead of features" problem some more, I came up with an idea. On the face of it, it sounds similar to the other thread, but it's actually a lot simpler. Check this out:
When you download Synthesia on the iPad for free, you can play 20 different songs (about three hand-picked from each difficulty category of the built-in set). All the features (melody practice, sheet, etc.) are always available in every song.
Then, if you are enjoying yourself and would like to play more songs -- any song, in fact -- you can do the unlock for $5.99. The rest of the included set become available and loading external songs starts working. Every song continues to have every feature always available.
In fact, it starts to sound strange to talk about features like sheet music being or not-being available, because all of the little padlock icons go away in every case. You'll never see them. The "Learning Pack" is effectively integrated into the base download. Instead of you having to keep track of which piecemeal bits of functionality you have access to (and me trying to communicate that to you), it's a much simpler question of "can I play just these songs or can I play all songs ever, anywhere?"
Of course, this is obviously more restrictive than the model the desktop version uses. Though it seems like a really cool way to balance just how much value you're getting with how much less $5.99 is compared to $35. That is, it would hopefully be a purchase that more iPad users would end up going for, vs. if it went out the door using the desktop's model.
The reason I'm even writing any of this is because it sort of feels like I should ask you guys for permission before making that decision. In my salesman role, what I'm doing right now is trying to figure out how far I can twist your iPad arms before it hurts. The very last thing I ever want to do is exploit any of you, so I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Is that too restrictive a change? How many of you weren't going to buy the Learning Pack on the iPad anyway? Do you think "everything Synthesia has to offer for these songs vs. every song ever" is easier to understand than "these features from column A vs. this list of features from column B" for new iPad users? Does it feel like I'd totally be taking advantage of everyone? I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Thank you!