Wow. Do you have any idea how much time and effort went into writing those ‘bits and bytes’ that allows so many people to translate their creativity into music? Who the hell are you to put a value on that? If the bits and bytes happen to come in its own box, like a VA for example, then suddenly the cost of the code (it’s calculated in there, wake up) isn’t retarded?
Good points by all, but to me, one of the many reasons why Renoise is one of the best things out there IS the price. If other people have extra money to contribute to the Renoise team for well-deserved effort, that’s great, but some of us don’t have Aphex Twin’s bank account.
I agree… If Renoise was much more expensive, I probably wouldn’t have bought a license. Not because I think it isn’t worth more, but because I don’t have that much money.
Totally true.
Sometimes i wonder if ableton themselves actually made cracked versions to make it so popular.
There’s nothing wrong with the renoise price. I would’ve have bought it if it was more expensive.
Hey, you know me, and I bought a license. 
At least I got a student discount. I don’t regret buying it, even if I use Renoise just as much. They both have their own strengths and weaknesses. And as everyone knows, it’s not the program you use, but the music you make. 
On topic, I agree that consumer psychology could make more people buy Renoise at a higher price. But this would entail marketing Renoise in an entirely different way, and becoming more like a “big business”, and making decisions based on profit expectations instead of user-input, and in the end it’s just not Renoise’s style to go the way of other DAWs.
maybe this have been mentioned before:
what if the minimum cost of Renoise would remain 49 euros, and you could pay more if you WANTED to - anonymously of course, to avoid the classic “hey, I supported you by paying 1000 euros, now where’s my Nibbles?”
and bragging about it on the forums should lead into automatic rickrolls on the users next 500 login-attempts. (sorry… tired) 
could something like this work? like a decent support option for those who feel it’s worth more?
Technically, as of a few weeks ago, you can now do this by logging in to the backstage and buying ‘upgrades’ until version 99, for example.
In practical terms, upgrading before your version expires is a bad idea. In ‘donating’ terms… Well… That’s what it’s there for?
Good times.
Personally I think the pricing is about right and around what more software should be. I think Reaper (and some others) have the right idea with a personal and commercial licence and that is maybe something worth considering. Of course it again comes down to a user being honest and saying “I’ve used this software on music I have sold” and therefore paying the additional licence off their own bat. There is also the question of when you deem commercial usage. A single release on vinyl? Using it for a few paid live gigs? Having it installed on a professional recording studio? Whatever, it would at least give people the option to pay for a commercial usage if they felt their usage warranted it and leave it at a price where the majority of the users would still be willing to buy.
A different price for commercial use is the only difference I would agree on. As of the definition of “commercial use”, it’s of course a bit vague, but then probably the best way to define it is “even a single release means you are making commercial use of renoise”
“Hai! I heared you make money using my soft. Can I haz ur money?” 
Adding a “Made with Renoise” and a Renoise logo on the cover art of the whole issue-series, would imho also suffice as extra donation instead of paying a commercial license. But usually that is more expensive (depending on how many copies are being pressed) than just cough up 4 times the private usage fee.
yeah a big price increase would detract from the awesomeness of renoise. i have spoken to several people interested in trying renoise out, and you know what they ask? either “how much is it”, or “can i get a cracked version?”. when you tell them its cheap as peanuts and the demo is almost fully functional, it encourages them to check it out and buy it if they like it. the end result is everyone makes great music and the world is a better place for it.
the idea of bundling renoise with midi controllers or getting a decent “artists who use renoise…” list or something could be a good way to promote the software to more people though. people tend to be very influenced by what gear their favourite artists use. i’m sure i’m not the only one who got into renoise as a result of that venetian snares video…
how about selling renoise lunch boxes instead?
I have one word for you: Midi sequencable Renoise branded USB wireless vibrators.
I’ll be honest with you dude, I couldn’t disagree more.
I will be the first to admit that Renoise is amazing value for money and actually worth more than it’s price tag, but matching a product to its real cash value is a dangerous commercial game to play.
The best way I can illustrate my point is with this:
In this month’s PC Gamer UK there was an article examining the Steam sales model where they reported that reducing the price of a game by 50% boosted sales by 3000%.
For more commericial success Renoise just needs more publicity and awareness. The price tag should stay the same or halve I reckon, to net bigger massively bigger profits.
3000% for a short time? Or for ‘ever’?
You have no idea how the word ‘sale 50% off’ affect ppl. No matter what the initial price was.
People are in general very afraid to miss a good deal So the sales make ppl act faster.
Another thing to think of is that a renoise license currently last quite a long time before you have to pay for upgrade.
And we are not selling games with potential of millions of sold copies. But a rather geeky music creation tool…
I’m not saying renoise should increase in price though… but it makes logic sense it will increase a bit in price as the program gets bigger and cover more features.
IMO, as discussed earlier here, I like the reaper approach to this. A commercial license could make sense.
It’s not like we would act as internet police and hunt down everyone that make money with renoise without the proper license. But it’s an ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ that larger commercial users will do this.
I wonder if this goodwill would be enough to make this work. Or if the only way is to cripple and make different version (pro version etc). I tend to believe that the latter will just make most ppl pirate the best version instantly…
That would be my stance too.
I like the commercial license idea… preferably “when you actually sold something”, not “when you aim at maybe selling something at some point in the future”
@renoise accountants - can we have sales figures and profit/loss accounts projected for next three years please?
then we can talk about raising the price…
These statements are contradictory. You right-off the “cheap to avoid piracy” by arguing that renoise is a niche product that few people would want to pirate. If it really is such a niche product, a price hike is never going to help attract people. The other ideas such as getting more renoise using artists to “come out the closet” would help greatly.
Personally I would never consider buying any of the insanely overpriced audio software I see on the market, and not just since I use linux and can’t run it!
linux is for cheapskates 