Yes, if you use it for a year, two years, or even a little longer. But if you’re a loyal customer who’s been paying for the subscription for many years, things look different at some point.
You could certainly keep the subscription model, but what’s stopping you from also offering a one-time payment option for those who want it? Maybe that could even help attract new customers, since many people simply rule out a subscription for things like this.
I wouldn’t say they’re giving it away for free but for the cost and all of the updates and bug fixes they provide they’re way way way better than the “free” engineos dj software.
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I own Serato DJ Pro, and before that, Serato Scratch Live, I’ve owned a Rane SL1 and I still use a Rane SL3. I downloaded DJay to try and I hate that I need to use it as a Microsoft Store app, and that it is subscription only. I refuse to do ANY subscription - in my life. I have no netflix, spotify or whatever. I never will pay a monthly fee like this. Give me the option to buy it, and I probably would.
The other thing I hate is that I am using Windows 10 IoT LTSC and I use Privacy+ (aka Ameliorated) script to strip out the crap like Microsoft Store, and I disable networking and other fluff I don’t need while DJing, for absolute best optimisation, stability and performance. So even installing this software and updating it without Microsoft Store will be complete PITA. Why not just be like a regular software, and allow a regular installation exe download, instead of UWP M$ store app?!?
Lastly by not doing this, users have no option to downgrade version.. what if someone wants to use an older version of software, or one day their hardware no longer supports a new version…? You have no download archive of old versions..??
I prefer an affordable subscription model with ongoing service and continuous updates and ongoing development to software with a one-time payment that is discontinued because the developer can no longer cover costs. What doesn’t work is expecting a customer to pay €50 once and then anticipate that the software will run forever on every device. What distinguishes a system where major updates also require payment from a subscription model?
Native Instruments only partially introduced a subscription model for Traktor very late and is currently in insolvency proceedings (though I’m convinced it will continue). I also know that NI’s problems stem primarily from private equity, but I certainly understand a developer’s decision to adopt a subscription model.
Or consider the computer games market, which is currently experiencing massive disruptions. If a developer can’t adequately refinance game development, the game is quickly sidelined, and the customer suffers.
I think the current subscription price is more than justified for what DJ Pro offers.
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Can you confirm what exactly you’re referring to here? Because Engine Dj software is merely a desktop app for preparing music.
Specifically I’m referring to the engineos software used in standalone controllers but also the desktop software is also very barebones
So what is it that is missing that makes you think the OS inside the standalones is ‘bare bones’?. And what devices are you using to obtain this opinion?
I use, and mostly love, the numark mixstream pro go as my practice/casual mixing controller. I do use it in computer mode often because I prefer djay pro over engineos although getting it into computer mode is a point of friction.
Regarding the barebones description is primarily due to the way you cannot customize or remap any of the bottons or knobs in engineos and for me specifically the stems. On top of the stems not being the best quality. Also in terms of bells and whistles engineos, at least on the mixstream, doesn’t have any of the smart, auto sync, features djay pro has and the beat grids are decent but nowhere near as good as djay pro. And editing the beat grids is also a minor pain. Oh also stems aren’t allowed on streaming music platforms like tidal or SoundCloud go +.
After seeing the demo of djay pro wave forms being able to be displayed on the rane system one screen I had hopes of seeing that function come to other engineos controllers but at this point I don’t think it’ll ever happen. I do hope just one more engineos software update to add stems to eq knobs and or stems echo out effects, like djay pro, will happen but I don’t think it’ll ever happen.
Even after all that. The mixstream checks off many boxes for me even in computer mode junas long as I can use djay pro on it.
@eyeseeyou01 and @STU-C, please create a new topic for this discussion so we can keep this one focused on Subscription vs Purchase. Thanks!
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Hi @Slak_Jaw , I’m not going to do that as I don’t think we should really be discussing Engine at all on this forum, they have their own forum for that.
I will say though, that based on the previous comment, I completely disagree with the use of the phrase ‘bare bones’, it’s not even remotely accurate.
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Sounds good STU-C. Thanks!
In short:
without flying off tangent, are you pro subscription, or one-off buy?
It’s £26.49 a year in the UK, I’m absolutely fine with that, most people pay more per month for a mobile phone contract.
I wouldn’t however sign up to something like the ridiculous monthly cost of other dj software pro packages (Rekordbox for example).
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Because they are a business at the end of the day. They have to have a model that keeps a consistent revenue stream to keep the lights on and keep future development consistent and reliable.
It’s literally only $30/yr and you get EVERYTHING the software offers. You’re paying 4x that amount or more with Serato, VDJ, and Rekord Box.
It’s crazy to me that people are complaining about $30/yr for superb software, updates and tech support.
That comes out to only $300 over 10yrs… that’s peanuts compared to what you pay for record pools which most are around $200-$300/yr.
I don’t know about yall, but i believe in supporting companies that care about their customers overall experience…especially when they offer more than the competition at an extremely lower price.
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Djay Pro literally costs 8 cents/day. It costs more to feed a starving child in a 3rd world country @ 30 cents/day. Lol
I would consider 8 cents/day basically free for the value Algoriddim offers lol
My only argument against the whole subscription model thing (on a more widespread view) is it’s crippling if someone has several interests. If you paid £10 a month for every single thing you’re interested in, you would be broke even with a good income.
But in this case, the amount Algoriddim are charging is so much less than pretty much every single other sub model that it’s not worth complaining about. It costs 3 times as much just to post DJ mixes to Mixcloud, what are we getting from that? Pretty much nothing.
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Im usually against subscriptions but djay pro is the rare exception especially if you’re making money off of it.
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Agreed, imo my point was that with djay pro that small monthly subscription gets you so much more and provides consistent updates and innovation that makes other dj software seem barebones.
The couple of dollars a month is worth it.
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I would say it’s unfair to point the finger at InMusic if you’re trying to compare to a company who aren’t providing updates and innovation. They are the one brand/company who are actually doing regular and innovative updates to existing gear. My Prime 2 has had at least 30 new features added in the 5yrs I’ve owned it, and countless bug fixes.
So I would say that Djay Pro and Engine are more comparable than you think they are, only one is free after point of purchase and the other isn’t.
Staying on the topic of subscription, and maybe comparison, for the amount of updates and innovation that djay pro provides and is known for I’d say it’s worth it especially compared to other free djay software.
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