The Great ADSR Sounds Screw Up of 2022!

[James Steele]

Yeah... I don't know what to tell you about that. I'm sure if they asked if it was okay if customers returned the license in exchange for their deal, a lot of people would have said, "Uh... thanks, but I'll keep the Nectar 3 Plus license."

I don't know how they are going to manage revoking a license that's already on an iLok and doesn't have an expiration date. Maybe they can't and they're bluffing? Dunno. But rather than risk one day just having the plug-in disappear, I went ahead and got the crossgrade from Plugin Boutique. Maybe it would never disappear. I did deactivate that particular license so it's up in my account now, not on the dongle, so maybe they will grab it back now. I already did get my refund.

It was a real screw up for sure and, like you, I have really no interest in the drum machine bundle they offered. I do mostly rock/metal and so a pack of expansions for Hip Hop and EDM or whatever have zero appeal to me.

[MrFigg]

Yeah... I don't know what to tell you about that. I'm sure if they asked if it was okay if customers returned the license in exchange for their deal, a lot of people would have said, "Uh... thanks, but I'll keep the Nectar 3 Plus license."

Probably. Like I said though, if they'd written and said sorry for the trouble and asked me I'd have "done the right thing". As it was they TOLD me and that really got my goat.

[Michael Canavan]

Yeah... I don't know what to tell you about that. I'm sure if they asked if it was okay if customers returned the license in exchange for their deal, a lot of people would have said, "Uh... thanks, but I'll keep the Nectar 3 Plus license."

Probably. Like I said though, if they'd written and said sorry for the trouble and asked me I'd have "done the right thing". As it was they TOLD me and that really got my goat.

It's very likely they only pay iZotope for licenses they sell, i.e. they sell Nektar for $129 they give iZotope $99 and keep 30. Probably less of a percentage than that as a reseller but it's a reasonable bet as to what the cut is. So if they sell 1000 copies of Nektar they owe iZotope $99,000.00. Since iZotope never agreed to sell Nektar for $12.90, ADSR would then owe iZotope $86,100.00.

So IMO it's a bad mistake, but everyone acting like it's rude of them are not looking at the facts, they don't own the licenses they gave away, they have a possible lawsuit to look at if they do not revoke the licenses, and it was a mistake, not anything disingenuous, that can literally cost them over a 100,000.

IMO this is a completely understandable situation on their part, the fact their main business is sample packs and you're not interested isn't part of the equation, they made a mistake, in all fairness it could ruin them completely financially to have to honor even my low ball estimate of 1000 sales to iZotope, whose cut is clearly larger than the 12.90 you all paid. It's $12.90 and a slight disappointment that it was a mistake. I'm just shocked nobody seems to be thinking about it from the perspective of the business that can lose tens if not hundreds of thousands on this, that everyone seems to forget they have an obligation to pay iZotope for the serials that are used, and there's no way in hell they only pay iZotope $12.90.

The honest thing to do is to email them directly, ask for a better compensation from their end, their own sample packs are probably not costing them anywhere near 12.90 in royalties etc. so that's why they can offer them. As I pointed out to James, they sell samples for various genres, (not just loops, drum sound etc.), I would ask them to honor me with a pack from a genre I like.

Anyway...

[MrFigg]

Yeah... I don't know what to tell you about that. I'm sure if they asked if it was okay if customers returned the license in exchange for their deal, a lot of people would have said, "Uh... thanks, but I'll keep the Nectar 3 Plus license."

Probably. Like I said though, if they'd written and said sorry for the trouble and asked me I'd have "done the right thing". As it was they TOLD me and that really got my goat.

The honest thing to do is to email them directly, ask for a better compensation from their end, their own sample packs are probably not costing them anywhere near 12.90 in royalties etc. so that's why they can offer them. As I pointed out to James, they sell samples for various genres, (not just loops, drum sound etc.), I would ask them to honor me with a pack from a genre I like.

Anyway...

What I have been saying all along is that it's not about compensation. It's not about the $12.50. It's not about the license. It's about them writing a TELLING me "we are going to do this and you can think what you like." (in other words).
They messed up the pricing. They then messed up the refund as well as messing up the 4 free soundpacks (deposited on people's accounts but with no download links). That's three mistakes.
To be perfectly honest if I wanted Nectar that much I'd just buy it again. I'm only observing the facts and waiting with interest to see what transpires.
Was actually just listening to the Sex Pistol's Flogging a Dead Horse lp 10 minutes before I logged in . Never trust a hippy.

[James Steele]

The honest thing to do is to email them directly, ask for a better compensation from their end, their own sample packs are probably not costing them anywhere near 12.90 in royalties etc. so that's why they can offer them. As I pointed out to James, they sell samples for various genres, (not just loops, drum sound etc.), I would ask them to honor me with a pack from a genre I like.

Good point and I agree with you. I've taken pains to say repeatedly that I have no ethical grounds to stand on IMHO to not surrender the license. Which is why I jumped on the crossgrade deal that came up for $49. That's not a bad deal at all. For example if ADSR had said send us another $36 and you can keep the Nectar 3 Plus license, I would have done it. So no problem. I get my $12.50 refunded, spend another $36 and change and I get what I wanted at still a really good deal. I installed the newer "proper" license on my iLok dongle and removed the one I got through the ADSR mistake and put it back up on the cloud in my iLok account where I presume it will be easier for them to just revoke it.

Stuff happens, and yeah... it could financially ruin them to have to honor a mistake like that. It's a good idea, however, to write them and politely explain that I'm not really into HipHop or EDM, etc. and could they offer me something that might be a bit more useful to me. I definitely think I'll do that. As my momma used to say "It never hurts to ask."

[James Steele]

It's about them writing a TELLING me "we are going to do this and you can think what you like." (in other words).

I understand, but it's sort of a "what-choice-did-they-have" situation. Obviously if 95% of people said "No thanks... I'm keeping it." they'd be screwed. And if some people got to keep it and others didn't, there'd be grousing about it as well. I think the suggestion to write and ask for some sort of compensation more appropriate to one's preferred genre of music is a good one.

Also, if you really want Nectar 3 Plus, Plugin Boutique has a crossgrade deal for which most people will qualify for $49. Like I said to Michael just a moment ago, if ADSR had said to me "Hey... how about you give us $36 more dollars and that will make iZotope happy, we won't lose our asses on this, and you can keep the Nectar 3 Plus license"... I would have ponied up. So getting my $12.50 back and jumping on the Plugin Boutique deal is effectively the same monetarily, perhaps without the satisfaction of ADSR offering it to me.

I think perhaps, if they had offered people who were caught up in this situation more diverse options of "consolation prizes" it would have been better. If I object to anything at all, and I'm nitpicking, it was in the initial email that was sent out. There was a very subtle implication as I recall (I can't scroll back to look as I'm composing this message), that those who bought it knew or should have known it was a mistake. That might imply that those who bought it were trying to take advantage. And like you said, even though the price looked too good to be true, I've seen some crazy sales happen in the past so I figured that maybe there was some crazy reason iZotope was doing this. Although, whenever a developer does that, they risk upsetting their users who paid significantly more, say a week before, etc.

[MrFigg]

Someone reported today on KVR that their license had been removed from their account but not from iLok. Everything still showing on mine.

[James Steele]

Yeah... last time I checked, mine was still working so I probably didn't need to buy it again, but I felt better safe than sorry I guess.