The negative effects of Reasonstudios beeing owned by Verdane Capital

[nooomy]

The negative effects of Reasonstudios beeing owned by Verdane Capital

Reasonstudios was bought by private equity fund Verdane Capital IX in june 2016 and it has just gone downhill since then.
https://verdane.com/verdane-invests-in- ... ile-focus/

We are now really starting to see the greed of private equity fund Verdane Capital IX and the negative effects it has on Reasonstudios:

They are pushing the prices of the regular license to make more people buy the Reason+ subscription (because they make more money from subscriptions).

They are pushing updates that are buggy and the costumers has to pay to become beta testers.

They are hiding the rack extension store to maximize the profit for themself. They make more money if the customer is only spending it on Verdane Capital products.


What do you guys is the next step for Verdane Capital IX to maximize their profit from Reasonstudios?

My guess is: A huge cost in Swedish companies are employees, so if they can become more "efficient" they can start firing people so Verdane can even maximize their profit even more.

Another alternative could be that after the squeezed all the money out of the companies costumer Reason will being sold to another private equity fund or why not Ableton of FL studio?

[Jackjackdaw]

Well I only bought Reason in 2018 and so far it’s provided me with Europa, Grain, Complex1 , Drum Sequencer and Friktion plus a bunch of other cool stuff and the icing on the cake is that the company is still in business. These are the things that I find important. I don’t think I would be a Reasoner if it was just Subtractor and Thor and Redrum.

[tc13]

The negative effects of Reasonstudios beeing owned by Verdane Capital

....

My guess is: A huge cost in Swedish companies are employees, so if they can become more "efficient" they can start firing people so Verdane can even maximize their profit even more.

2017 there was, according to the Swedish public records, 28 people employed by Propellerheads. 2020 there was 37 people at Reason Studios. The highest number for the latest 10 years is 44 for 2015 and lowest is 28 for 2017 so it looks like Propellerheads slimmed down before the Verdane takeover, and also the fact that a few people moved over to Allihoopa 2015/16

So in that sense Verdane has not been doing anything of what you call become more "efficient"

[orthodox]

They are pushing the prices of the regular license to make more people buy the Reason+ subscription (because they make more money from subscriptions).

Why do you think so? I'd say they just want to make more money off the upgrades and push the undecided to buy it now.

They are pushing updates that are buggy and the costumers has to pay to become beta testers.

The updates have always been buggy.

They are hiding the rack extension store to maximize the profit for themself. They make more money if the customer is only spending it on Verdane Capital products.

The only thing being sold outside the Shop is Reason+. R+ subscribers generally are novices and don't need the Shop at all. How would they bring more money, buy an extra R+ subscription?
That the Shop link went to the footer was just a huge misstep on their part.

Reasonstudios was bought by private equity fund Verdane Capital IX in june 2016 and it has just gone downhill since then.

The point is not sufficiently substantiated.

[nickb523]

What do you guys is the next step for Verdane Capital IX?

I think it's very possible that 2022 is the year Verdane will become truly self-aware. The whole of Reason Studios staff will end up in a panic and try to deactivate it, prompting it to retaliate with a nuclear attack, an event which Reason Studios in (or from) the future will refer to as Judgment Day. Verdane will then go on to develop new cybernetic organisms known as Terminators, but Ryan Harlin will rise from the ashes and form a resistance that will ultimately lead Reason Studios to victory.

[avasopht]

They are pushing the prices of the regular license to make more people buy the Reason+ subscription (because they make more money from subscriptions).

More likely they're doing it to create urgency for us to upgrade at the current price.

Subscriptions come with a massive risk of high churn resulting from buyer's remorse.

The $199 hike might also be based on their calculation of price inelasticity (basically that it won't reduce the number of purchases too much).

If their claim that it's to support the development of new features, that means they've projected little to no growth (either that or they expect growth but are going to be adding so much value that they're confident it'll still sell).

At the same time, it's concerning that they're pricing the application based on how much revenue they want rather than the value offering (unless they plan to change the offering to match the price).

[Loque]

What do you guys is the next step for Verdane Capital IX?

I think it's very possible that 2022 is the year Verdane will become truly self-aware. The whole of Reason Studios staff will end up in a panic and try to deactivate it, prompting it to retaliate with a nuclear attack, an event which Reason Studios in (or from) the future will refer to as Judgment Day. Verdane will then go on to develop new cybernetic organisms known as Terminators, but Ryan Harlin will rise from the ashes and form a resistance that will ultimately lead Reason Studios to victory.

Hum...shall i move this thead to The Kitchen? Maybe merge it with the UFO thread? Or this weird thread about reality? I am not sure...

[aeox]

What do you guys is the next step for Verdane Capital IX?

I think it's very possible that 2022 is the year Verdane will become truly self-aware. The whole of Reason Studios staff will end up in a panic and try to deactivate it, prompting it to retaliate with a nuclear attack, an event which Reason Studios in (or from) the future will refer to as Judgment Day. Verdane will then go on to develop new cybernetic organisms known as Terminators, but Ryan Harlin will rise from the ashes and form a resistance that will ultimately lead Reason Studios to victory.

hahahha.

Thanks for that.

[plaamook]

I think it's very possible that 2022 is the year Verdane will become truly self-aware. The whole of Reason Studios staff will end up in a panic and try to deactivate it, prompting it to retaliate with a nuclear attack, an event which Reason Studios in (or from) the future will refer to as Judgment Day. Verdane will then go on to develop new cybernetic organisms known as Terminators, but Ryan Harlin will rise from the ashes and form a resistance that will ultimately lead Reason Studios to victory.

Hum...shall i move this thead to The Kitchen? Maybe merge it with the UFO thread? Or this weird thread about reality? I am not sure...

Not the reality thread. I still have hopes for that one!

[integerpoet]

What do you guys is the next step for Verdane Capital IX?

I think it's very possible that 2022 is the year Verdane will become truly self-aware. The whole of Reason Studios staff will end up in a panic and try to deactivate it, prompting it to retaliate with a nuclear attack, an event which Reason Studios in (or from) the future will refer to as Judgment Day. Verdane will then go on to develop new cybernetic organisms known as Terminators, but Ryan Harlin will rise from the ashes and form a resistance that will ultimately lead Reason Studios to victory.

Has this project been green-lit yet? I would totally buy a ticket.

[Steedus]

I have no idea, and I’m not saying I’m happy with it but has anyone considered that selling to VC might’ve saved the company? Without an outside investment like that perhaps the company would no longer exist a it is today - or at all. That would be sad.

Btw interesting to read the initial statement. They talk about wanting to expand the Rack Extension store idea, and Mobile platform.

[Arrant]

I’ve read up a bit on Verdane. They invest with a 10-year horizon, which means we are about halfway through their journey. That could be why we are seeing some more profit-oriented moves.
Many of their holdings are indeed sold in the end, they seem to have quite a few success stories. You can read all about them on their website.
I imagine their endgame is to sell to an international audio software company, RS is probably too small to list on a stock exchange which could be an alternative.

[avasopht]

Yeah, I think this will be a learning experience for Verdane.

Some markets are vastly more complex than others.

Given the extremely low barriers of entry, the handful of players earning $10M+ and the fact that it's difficult to give away an industrial-grade DAW (SONAR, which IIRC was one of the first to go 64 bit) should have been a bit of a red flag.

There's still hope. The industry is growing by the billions and the new revenue is all up for grabs.

[Proboscis]

The corporation has over 60 current shareholdings in businesses, not one of them even closely related to music software. Yet we're expected to believe the CEO and Executive Management team who, by all observations have zero industry experience, knowledge or interest in music production, when they tell us 'we' are all singing along together in a chorus

Some of their other company holdings include a breeding firm who trade in salmon & trout genetics, a furniture business, petfood, biofuel and a high-end fashion brand for babies. As I've stated previously, one of their previous holdings included a business trading in bull semen.

I wonder what the inspired message is from their installed management teams with those businesses ?

[dioxide]

What do you guys is the next step for Verdane Capital IX?

I think it's very possible that 2022 is the year Verdane will become truly self-aware. The whole of Reason Studios staff will end up in a panic and try to deactivate it, prompting it to retaliate with a nuclear attack, an event which Reason Studios in (or from) the future will refer to as Judgment Day. Verdane will then go on to develop new cybernetic organisms known as Terminators, but Ryan Harlin will rise from the ashes and form a resistance that will ultimately lead Reason Studios to victory.

Ha ha ha. Well played.

[Faastwalker]

The main negative for me is that any such involvement of a venture capitalist company means from that point on EVERYTHING is about maximising profit (the clues in the name!). Reason started off as a passionate project driven by people with a desire to bring and develop something they truly believed in to the marketplace. Those days are gone now. For sure the passion is still there. There’s no doubt about that. But, at the end of the day, the money talks. That’s where we’re at now.

Every business has to make a profit or they cannot function as a private entity. But now profit will drive every decision to the detriment of everything else. As long as Reason Studios are doing well then it’s good for the owners and good for us. But, make no mistake, if profits are not meeting forecasts you can bet your life Reason will be tossed away like an empty beer can. At which point it’s either curtains for Reason or we can hope it gets bought out by another company that has the sort of passion and drive in Reason that the founders of Propellerhead had.

[BumCuddle]

I think it's very possible that 2022 is the year Verdane will become truly self-aware. The whole of Reason Studios staff will end up in a panic and try to deactivate it, prompting it to retaliate with a nuclear attack, an event which Reason Studios in (or from) the future will refer to as Judgment Day. Verdane will then go on to develop new cybernetic organisms known as Terminators, but Ryan Harlin will rise from the ashes and form a resistance that will ultimately lead Reason Studios to victory.

[bxbrkrz]

[thefixr]

Can someone please fix the Subject? My tisms are reaching escape velocity.

[teddymcw]

I think it's very possible that 2022 is the year Verdane will become truly self-aware....but Ryan Harlin will rise from the ashes and form a resistance that will ultimately lead Reason Studios to victory.

Well I think you've nailed the marketing angle for the next post-apocalyptic sound pack, can't wait! I'm actually only half-joking and even less so the more I think about it.

[stratatonic]

The negative effects of Reasonstudios beeing owned by Verdane Capital

Reasonstudios was bought by private equity fund Verdane Capital IX in june 2016 and it has just gone downhill since then.
https://verdane.com/verdane-invests-in- ... ile-focus/

We are now really starting to see the greed of private equity fund Verdane Capital IX and the negative effects it has on Reasonstudios:

They are pushing the prices of the regular license to make more people buy the Reason+ subscription (because they make more money from subscriptions).

They are pushing updates that are buggy and the costumers has to pay to become beta testers.

They are hiding the rack extension store to maximize the profit for themself. They make more money if the customer is only spending it on Verdane Capital products.

Here’s a later quote from the RT thread when that came out:

viewtopic.php?p=348912#p348912

000A8E1F-038B-4959-8CAC-8CE10A915E4E.jpeg (660.37 KiB) Viewed 2020 times

I kinda feel that we’ve now hit rock bottom in that customer satisfaction dept. RS has a big hill to climb - credibility is completely shot. Imo, It just seems like they’re trying to rake in as much cash as they can near term. Maybe to beat that tweet of last year’s record setting revenue numbers? Or maybe there is a short term cash flow problem, I dunno? But holding loyal upgraders hostage to the threat of a massive increase and forcing a two week window in which to make a quick decision on: buggy software, unfinished promised upgrade features, and an uncertain future is a really really really really bad look. Especially so when the upgrade was promised to be “similarly” priced, earlier in the year!

And here on RT, it doesn’t help to have RS’s James Pember pushing the Rewards program right now either. Regardless of how it is presented currently, there would be way more people paying yet more cash to RS, than anyone getting something free and some potential points back. Of course, some folks will love getting a RS device for cheaper! - but the reality is, the current pumping is just screaming: give us your cash now! - (but we’re listening and we’re taking lots of great Rewards ideas posted here from the community back to the team - keep ‘em coming!). The current timing and optics just suck a**...

Really hoping to see some positive vibes coming from RS team soon. Maybe they’re of the “bad publicity is better than no publicity for this upgrade” philosophy. None of it really makes sense - it’s certainly not of the “care about customer satisfaction” philosophy.

Who knows? Maybe while folks are stewing/disgusted/thinking of moving on/and other negative feelings/etc, Reason Studios will drop some amazing goodwill bomb on the community that’ll have everyone jumping for joy and forget this even happened.

[integerpoet]

Can someone please fix the Subject? My tisms are reaching escape velocity.

Would you prefer "grasshoppering"?

[rootwheel]

What do you guys is the next step for Verdane Capital IX?

I think it's very possible that 2022 is the year Verdane will become truly self-aware. The whole of Reason Studios staff will end up in a panic and try to deactivate it, prompting it to retaliate with a nuclear attack, an event which Reason Studios in (or from) the future will refer to as Judgment Day. Verdane will then go on to develop new cybernetic organisms known as Terminators, but Ryan Harlin will rise from the ashes and form a resistance that will ultimately lead Reason Studios to victory.

Did Verdane not already send back a sentient AI machine in an effort to kill the humans who are trying to overthrow the machines?

[QVprod]

I think rock bottom is going a bit far. Surely this is the worst state a Reason upgrade has been in but the issues still vary by computer. The only thing that really a constant is the unfinished graphics. Aside from that, the complaint is the same; fears that the DAW will be abandoned which only started because they replaced Rewire with a plug-in. Which is pretty ironic given that Rewire’s only purpose was to use Reason in other DAWs. Same thing different skin and all…

I don’t really see direct effects of Verdane influence as far as direction. If anything, I’d agree with James that there seems to be more of a focus on where they started in the first place. The issue is along the way, users picked up Reason expecting it to become the next Pro Tools which was never the intent.

The only potentially direct influence I see from Verdane is R+ sound packs because they’re all made by 3rd parties and not RS themselves. The frequency of them means a lot of upfront money to make back with the subscription.

[Marc Swing]

What do you guys is the next step for Verdane Capital IX?

I think it's very possible that 2022 is the year Verdane will become truly self-aware. The whole of Reason Studios staff will end up in a panic and try to deactivate it, prompting it to retaliate with a nuclear attack, an event which Reason Studios in (or from) the future will refer to as Judgment Day. Verdane will then go on to develop new cybernetic organisms known as Terminators, but Ryan Harlin will rise from the ashes and form a resistance that will ultimately lead Reason Studios to victory.

Hasta la banjo....