Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
SidTracker 64 & Chipsounds - you want it, but at which cost?
We do realize that there are a lot of dudes out there who thinks 12.99 EUR/USD (gbp 9.99) is too steep for trying out a niche chiptune-thingy, even though it's packed with features.
So what do you think? Is it a good idea to release a free crippled version with IAP?
How much would you spend on an app to just try it out? Free is of course good, but us developers can't eat and live from free 
Please share your ideas and experiences so we can bring SidTracker 64 and the wonderful world of chip sounds to a bigger audience 
Comments
I find it still a bit sad (in general) that in the iOS world many things seems to be underpriced and even then people say that it's too expensive.... what?!
I have no clue about the income of such apps but it seems it could be better for the work which got into it. I have no problem to pay for quality (i want to get payed well too for my work). Sadly the crowd think everything should be for free eh'
Best people to answer this here would be experienced iOS developers in the market (if they want to share something about this). It's really hard to say what will work best.
However, i wish you good luck!
You might consider the Wejaam WR6000 model which is something like a 10 minute session limit and no saving. I downloaded, I played, I liked and I paid the IAP for full functionality (oh and I beta tested it as well) so I for one am happy to pay for your fine work.
Adam Kumpf (developer of the Fiddelwax and Firo apps) had a very good blog post on this topic, with regards to making his app Firo free for a short time. An interesting read on the economics of iOS apps.
http://news.fiddlewax.com/post/122954122694/making-good-apps-isnt-good-enough
I'm sure it's good and a lot of fun but It is very niche, I think at half that price you would tempt people to try it out on a whim, but £10 is a lot when you can get the excellent Sunvox at under half that. Free versions with IAP are always good to try things out of course.
Everyone's always going on about how cheap music apps are, but I've spent at least £300 on them over the last few years and I still struggle to record a tune without crashes, freeze-ups, disappearing audio, crackles, pops and god knows what. Compared to £140 for the unparalleled rock solid quality of Logic.
In this case, I think a tenner's probably fair as it does a lot for the money, but only for chip sound fans. To tempt the rest of us occasional users a price drop would be welcome. Ultimately the market will determine the price - too high and your sales will suffer.
@ sergerfalk ---Sometimes when you give somthing away for free or at a very discounted price you can get more followers of your work . I bought your app at full price of 12.99 and it is very much a quality app so I feel good about my purchase . So your in a "catch 22" as my dad would say .
People just buy the app now ,it's good !!
Make more vids. That last half minute of the last video was dope but you started with that COMMANDO tune which is hardcore chiptune stuff. To me it's not about chiptunes or tracking it is rather just another great sounding vintage synth emulation - maybe it would help if more people saw it/heard it that way.
I'm a big fan of intro sales. Otherwise, I usually wait for holiday sales.
There will always be people who complain about the price and want everything 'for free'.
It's all about the priority, do I want the app and how much is it worth to me?
For me the $9.99 is a 'threshold' meaning that if an app is more than that I think a few couple of extra times before I decide if it's for me or not, apps bellow $9.99 I usually have no problems in getting if I see some use for it.
Some even think SquareSynth is expensive at $3.99 but considering that it's an 8-part multi-timbral synth that works perfectly with Koushion($7.99) or just about any other sequencers it's more than well worth it
We are spoiled with low-price apps on the AppStore but it doesn't have to mean that if a game sells for $1 or free that hi-end music-software should keep the same low prices.
As for the 'Price-Point' of SIdTracker 64 it's not 'too expensive'. In Sweden it's one trip to MAX (Hamburger - Grand de Luxe Brioche mål ~$10) and maybe some nice 'fika-bröd' for later...
One Idea would be to do a 'campaign' on SidTracker 64 and drop the price to $4.99 or so and see if more people would get it?
That came out wrong. I think the whole performance is awesome especially the jamming on top.
The ones that know what a C64 is, or know what chiptunes are etc, will definitely pay the $12.99 if they want it. People unsure of exactly what it is, what it can do, what it can sound like and so on, will hesitate on everything above fiddy cents. I'd love for more people to experience SidTracker64, hear and see how music was made with these weird old 80's computers.
How much work is involved in having a second freemium version up on the AppStore? I'm thinking you probably don't want a too crippled demo, since this is an app people need to spend a bit of time with to "get it all" I'd say(?). A too crippled demo might scare potential customers away? Or a yummy snack sized demo might just grab hold of more peoples.
I apologize in advance if nothing I said makes any sense. Today's been one long heatstroke, me selfie looks awful:(
I'm biased because I couldn't be more enthusiastic about SidTracker64. The fact that $12.99 for a small miracle is up for debate is the darker side of how the masses consume Content (or in this case Tools).
I say more exposure: more videos showing not only the pure Chiptune themed stuff but also SidTracker64's ability to create acidic bass twists, anti-gravity leads etc.
For Mac based drumsynths (for example) one of the first things I look for are audio demos - those tell me a lot about Capability while the promo videos are often misleading or taint the actual product with inadvertently cheesy/overly-serious/vague/etc attempts at marketing.
A SidTracker64 audio demo page with embedded Soundcloud files (or the like) that features genre-specific SidTracker64 audio would be fantastic and help break the notion that SidTracker64 can Only sound "stereotypically chippy".
My vote: couple wider examples of what SidTracker64 can do along with periodic sales and see how the public responds.
In europe $10 might just be a hamburger or a cup of trendy coffe. I am in a developing country where $10 could feed my entire family of four for a whole day. Just to compare..
Maybe a save/export disabled free version? I think £10 is spot in personally and didn't even question it.
You can price it $30 dollar in U.S. , You should also price it $2 in China and India. Forgot to mention, if these two nations offer you half million people playing SidTracker 64, You and your boss are millionaires going to be!
So my answer is why not price it in $2, $5 or $10 dollar term, Apple won't let you pricing it different in different nations! Why not you make periodical discounts! You should make more video demos in Chinese and Indian channels plus interesting gaming demos to find your way of "Gangnam Style".
So, the world is big, bigger than you could possible thinking it, why not give SidTracker a shot to gamble it's existence! Don't be stubborns only in your terms and standards! Good luck!
$16 for us lucky UK-dwellers.
If I was into this sort of thing I'd snap it up, but it's a niche product so the developer needs to weigh up if they want to drop the price to attract a wider audience. $16 is more than I'd pay for an app that I might just play with for a couple of hours. Value for money for me is determined by how much use I'd get out of it, and not a reflection of the app's quality or my consumer darker side.
I'd recommend the developer put together a better website - a half-finished Wordpress job with the 'sample page' still showing is not doing the product justice at the moment.
Feature-Disabled or Time-Limited versions of apps give at least me a sour after-taste.
I'd have to agree that running 'discount-campaigns' is good way go. The 'timing' for the discounts could be linked to events in C64 SID-MusicHistory to make it more interesting.
IAPs for new features (Additional SIDs, 'Galway Noise', Samples etc.) could also be a good way to keep things rolling. The IAPs could be fully usable in the 'demo projects' but be save-disabled until the IAP are purchased.
I say again, don't use your traditional way of thinking to do mundanes!
Making Mario Brother short term song demo! Teaching how to make a lot of varieties! Make it cheaper periodically! Don't cheat much on IAP for adding this or adding that! Gaming music has full history, it is not fashion short term shows!
Promo-wise I love everything so far from the Musikmesse bathroom preview on up but there needs to be more advertised Evidence of what the app can do because it can do much more than the pigeon-hole-y Chip stuff.
SidTracker64 is Great at chiptunes being as it's a c64 emulator with a tracker UI but because of guys like Jahtari I've seen c64 sounds as the basis of Dub (as one example) so the idea of taking this micro-phenomenon and stretching it into other places / genres / territory is what's really making me excited about it and my gut is that I'm far from alone (assuming that people are exposed to the app .. which is far easier said than done.)
Repeating what I've said above periodic Sales would be a useful indicator to the developers how much the price tag is affecting customers pulling the trigger.
@yaknepper I know some parts of the world are more 'spoiled' than others, and believe me it hurts sometimes when I purchase 'stuff' here in Sweden and know how much more the same amount would be worth somewhere else. (My 'heart' when it comes to charity-work is located in Antique area on Panay Island located in the Western Visyas of the Philippines).
one very good way of doing it is what aps like Oscilab or Musyc do -- offer a free version that has enough features to be a cool app to try and keep, then people who like the offering will try it, play it, finally happily buy it. Yonac Steel Guitar did the same thing; very effective marketing
-- of course the 5$ that the above mentioned apps cost might still be an impulse buy for many people whereas 12 maybe not so much, so a different price tag might be required to attract people who don't need the app and just want to play
SidTracker 64 is the easiest most user friendly way to create 'SID-Stuff' regardless of platform as far as i know.
On the desktop we have GoatTracker, CheeseCutter and DefleMask and under Emulation(ex.using Vice) the 'Original' C64 apps and those ca hardly be called 'user friendly' by modern standards.
$4.99 is another price point that is used fairly often when an app is on discount.
@Segerfalk Why not run a poll here and check what people would be ready to pay for SidTracker 64?
Maybe a good model for demo versions of iOS music apps could be a fully featured version without Audiobus, IAA and without audio export.
Hehe!
In this way, not many going to play it second day! Complex machine leave it to experts!
You got to tell Jap gamers how Mario & Luigi can dance on this 3 tracks! How to dance with Tabla for Indians! If you want that many buyers in India, you wouldn't play it with electro guitar for your show. In that case, you better priced it at $1 on Indian festivals! Otherwise, you stay in Sweden, eat your own meat balls! Indian won't afford it! trust me!
@firejan82 The problem with that model would be that once iOS9 hits the market it's possible to stream lossless signal out of the every single app straight to the computer so in effect there would be no need for the 'full' version if a computer is part of the work flow...
@Samu That I did not know. Is that for real?
+1
@firejan82 Yes, It's for real at least when using iOS9 together with Mac OS X 'El Capitain' 10.11, both will ship later this year.
The technology was demoed at this years WWDC(Apple Developer Conference) in the 'What's new in Core Audio' session.
@Samu Whow whow whow!!! SynthX straight into Reason? Wow! I believe it when I see it... and then celebrate.