time to raise the prices?

one of major P5 competitor in the field of stock audio has recently updated its license scheme, with major prices upgrades for broadcast licenses, up to 300$.

as a non-exclusive seller on both marketplaces, i always kept P5 prices higher than the standard license on the other market but lower of its extended license.

now, with this new broadcast license up and running, buying a song on the other market can be very expansive.

otherwise, on pond5 there is just one kind of license for every use, and with current price scheme one can buy a song on P5 for a very low price, compared to the other marktplace.

so... could it be wise to raise the prices?

a price scheme for p5 would be quite something...

however, i doubt they'll do it willingly, since 2006 (was it?) they have this site
and run it with no price scheme and they are the top rf site. so i dunno
why they should think they have to do it.

although it would be a nice idea...

p.s.: what is that major competitor ur talkin about? i wanna piece of that :D
p.p.s.: you can ask them in an email if they intend to implement a price scheme on p5. let us know too.

It would at least be nice to see an increase in the minimum prices -like $5 for SFX and 20-30$ for Music.

it is very critical for pond5 to create some new levels of license. I've suggested them about license tiers but i don't think it will affect anything. If you guys be more active about the subject, they might consider it again. There could be at least 20-30$ minimum price limit for music as you said.

i dont think they will consider, no matter how many argue about it.
an enterprise acts according to its profits. if their profit is good, they
might not want to risk it (some clients may go away).

it might be critical for us contributors, but i dont know if it's critical for the sites.

about the minimum price:
- the $5 limit does exist. you can't price sfx lower than 5, at least thatz what i knew...
- there's no minimum limit on music, but the good part is that there's no maximum either.

what you should do, is increase your prices and encourage other contributors
to do the same.

i think it is risky for any site to put an obligatory lower limit on anything,
since that might drive clients away. just think of aj. they have sfx a $1,
whereas here, you have it at 5 or so. i think there is a real risk.
imagine yourself as a client. why would you pay 5, when u can pay 1?
and by the way, it's the same file (some people have their files on aj and p5)

plus, some people might really be very content with pricing low.
you just cant tell. there might be ppl in 3rd world countries, where
if you make $50 a month from here, you have a decent life...

the best i think is to have no limits, to not impose an upper limit, or a fixed price,
which p5 doesnt - so it's ok.

what i see as a solution is that the market evolves on it's own and contributors
realize they should price higher. it's a free market. but we should all try to price
higher and stop devaluing the market. but that should be done on all markets,
otherwise clients will drop p5 and go elsewhere, where it's cheaper...

the problem is you can't force ppl into it. you can just hope that they will follow
your example - after you increase your prices.

personally, i increased my prices. but since everybody else (99%) has low prices,
my sales dropped to zero (on music clips, not sfx). i made my sfx at $10, and they still
sell - so thatz encouraging.

i want a minimum limit to music prices too, but if i were an entrepreneur, a website owner,
a company owner, i too would think twice if it's worth profit-wise. so u gotta understand them too.

it's up to us to make the change. to individually raise our prices. and for others to read our
comments and do the same.

the thing i notice is that, as long as people do this (making music for rf sites)
as a side job, as something they do after they get off their real job, then
there's not gonna be much changing.

ppl having a real job are content with 50 bucks here and there, so they dont mind
keeping the prices very low.

on the other hand, when u try doing this as a full time job, you realize you cant
sustain urself with 50 bucks, so you realize u gotta increase the price and stop
devaluing. thatz what i do. but if 99% of the contributors here have a "real" job
and do this just for fun, prices gonna stay low and they wownt realize how
important it is to not devalue their work...

i think we could try settin up a date when all of p5 contributors
raise their prices for like a week or so.

get everybody involved and at that fixed date, everybody would increase prices.

and see how that turns out.

but it's hard gathering all, and a lot of contributors dont even read the forums....

My main concern is the licence type vs. Price

On aj now you can get a full broadcast licence for about 300$. Before someone could spend just 17 $for a licence and legally use the music for a spot seen by million such as during the Superbowl. It actually happened. This mean devaluating music business and I understand this even if I'm in the royalty free market just in my spare time.

Since on p5 you have just one licence type, anyone could buy a 5$ song and use it in a blockbuster Hollywood movie.

So, my thought was to chose a price on p5 coherent with the price/licence on aj... Not too high (otherwise they will go to aj and I get lower commission...) Neither too low ( otherwise my music would be devaluated)

@livingroomclassic

"imagine yourself as a client. why would you pay 5, when u can pay 1?
and by the way, it's the same file (some people have their files on aj and p5)
"

Problem may be that you will not be allowed to use the sfx bought from aj with the standard licence at 1$, depending on the use will do. This could encourage certain clients to rely on p5 instead (minimum SFX price is 2$ and you can use it on any possible means, according to p5 licence)

yes, didnt think of that...ur right.