Why no support for long term customers?

I have also noticed that my pricing options for upgrades on bundles are pretty steep, considering I've been a generous supporter since the MK1 days of Maschine and that most updates/upgrades/crossgrades only provide one or two new products.

Several plugin companies offer rates based on my current library of their lineups, taking into consideration the ones I own, applying current specials and discounts to the ones I don't have, and offering me a reasonable rate for them.

I'm not looking for handouts either. Just some consideration, logic and reason applied to the prices I'm offered, especially during sales and markdowns.

That you cannot "use" it - is your issue to work out.

There are thousands of users who see this (and every other) upgrade opportunity very differently.

I will assume for many - they do some basic math and quickly realize that getting ALL that new content that I listed for £400 instead of say - £3000 (if purchased separately) IS very much a "reward" for being a long time customer and they jump all over it.

But each to their own - if you are not happy with the content (or the price) - that's cool - don't buy it.

Most importantly - no one is trying to "fleece" you either. You don't have to buy anything again - ever - if you so choose.

Just a gentle suggestion to forget playing the "entitlement card" - as if the world owes you something. It does not.

VP

@Milkman

"But it isn't the customer's problem to figure out. It's always the brand's problem. The customers aren't on the market — its the brand that sells itself. Customers do not sell themselves to brands."

NI (as a brand) sold itself long ago. And I am still not seeing an actual problem. The only "problem" (in this case anyway) - seems to rotate around some bizarre expectation that users are not "given" enough - simply because they bought something in the past. Noted - but that is certainly not a "brand" problem.

"This is sort of like saying "this album has 15 songs on it, 10 of which I already own, 8 of which are bad songs, and 2 of them are new and good - so you must pay full price for the whole album because that is how we bundle it. You figure it out" (this leads to no sales, which is indeed "figuring it out")."

Great analogy - but let's say the "brand" in your example is the Rolling Stones. Do you really think Mick and Keith care of you already have 10 of their tracks? "Buy em again Mate!” is what they will say.

They do not care how the product is bundled or what your opinion is of it. Buy it or don’t buy it - is as far as they go. Capitalism at work.

"There is a lot of competition out there lately for NI, so does NI really want to push customers this way? I feel like they wouldn't be smart to do so."

Of course there is - but it's probably safe to say the other 99% of NIs customer base aren't sniffing around these forums feeling left out because it's Black Friday.

Those potential 10's of thousands of users - are probably out there using their tools for their work right now. And they will (most likely) continue to support NI as long as those tools keep doing their job. Deal or no deal.

Like another user posted in another thread earlier in the week - NI simply can't be bothered with 20 or 30 or 40 people who do not like the rules of the game.

While I am certain that NI never wants any of their customers to be disgruntled - sometimes it can't be helped.

VP

We arent talking about "the rolling stones", who are also grotesquely overpriced, overpaid, overhyped — like almost EVERY musician who crawled out of bloated capitalist economics over the last 60 years. We are talking about a recently exploited music software brand… which is making bad decision after bad decision and then relying on the zero historical memory of newer, younger customers to keep this train groaning along its tracks.

Your perspective "…bizarre expectation that users are not "given" enough - simply because they bought something in the past" isnt a perspective that working class people with good economic sense would share, and these conversations about economics(that have been happening here for something like 2 years solid) do not occur in a vacuum.

There has been a history here, and if you think about the THOUSANDS that some have spent to remain up to date with this brand since roughly 2000, it makes all the sense in the world unless you are a stakeholder or you have so much money that you don't consider value when you buy things you desire. Most of us do, indeed, consider value, loyalty, etc, when making purchasing decisions, and describing this basic ethics as "bizarre" kind of pigeonholes you there.