Selling sample packs? Not yet? If you are buying sample packs you probably never thought of it from this angle. Once you start selling sample packs or selling presets you sure will realize that it's tricky to price your digital download item. In this guide we share some light on how this topic.
The amount of hours counts (well, sort of)
Most jobs are priced by the hour. If it takes you for example two weeks to create an amazing sample pack, mixing the music and doing the artwork then it will probalby take you even longer to promote it and and make people aware that your sample pack even exists. Hint: that's why Roqstar was built, it takes all the technical and most of the marketing workload from your shoulders and frees up your time. Back on track.
It will take you many hours from creating your first digital download item to your first sale. So should you really consider to define the price of your digital download by the hours you put in?
Well, yes and know. Some producers can spend week tweaking on a bass drum and fair enough it truely will sound amazing but who will pay a high price for one kick drum sample?
So time is important. It should help you to find a ballpark of your price range. But you need to zoom out and overlook the total value you are providing. If you for example provide a full Fruity Loops Template (FLP Template) which includes a lot of sounds, new synth presets and automation then this will save other music producer a lot time. Therefore such item can be priced higher.
I am not saying that the producer who spends weeks on tweaking one kick drum is not doing something of worth but when selling the sounds in a sample pack the one kick drum example will not justify a high price for most people. This is just an example but you get the idea behind it.
The value of sounds and melodies
Let's stay with the example of the project template for the digital workstation. It's ready and easy to use for other music producers. They can just import the project file into their DAW and start working. As mentioned you save them a lot of time and provide great value concerning time. But what about melody and sound quality? Did you just provide a poor sounding template or an amazing outstanding quality of sound. Even better a great melody? Then you sure can price your item higher. Think of it like that. What can you do, that others can't or want.
Let's look at another example. You created a great Trap Sample Pack and most people think it's hot when they here it. This is an indicator that your sound is wanted. It allows you to set a higher price because your product is in demand. It means you can give them sounds they don't have or can't create themselves. Or it would take them an awful amount of time - which you saved them.
The psychology over overpricing
Make no mistake. While few people underprice their items many tend to overprice them. Because we give away something personal we think it is of high value to everyone. While this is partially true - it's always great when you share your creations with the world with all respect, but the price of a sample pack is still determined by the value it brings to the table and how "replacable" it is. If many can provide the same thing as you can, then you might want to price your item lower.
Compare your music and price in the marketplace
Make no mistake. If something is popular it doesn't mean that people are willing to pay for it. Here's an example:
Pop music for example is heavily marketed and shoved down our ears in every shopping mall and coffee shop. While people remember the catchy melodies and even sing them it doesn't mean they would actually pay a high price for this music. They might like the song and go on Youtube to listen to the song but they wouldn't spend more than a few bucks on it. Due to the aggressive marketing it's still everywhere.
Music Producers on the other hand think different. They are looking at quality samples. Something fresh and sounds that will help them to enhance their music. They will not buy a sample pack or download synth presets just because they are marketed to them aggressively.
So your sample pack, synth preset pack, stock music or preset must be of high quality. It is important to compare your sounds to the complete niche and compare better sounding stuff to lower quality sound packs. This way you find a low price and a high price for your product.
Now is your digital audio item of the same average quality of does it stand out? This determines whether your price can be above or below average marketplace prices.
A lower price will sure generate more sales but the question is are you willing to place a lower worth on your pack?
The price value dictates sales
Like everywhere else where goods are traded. The price versus the value makes a good deal.
Overpricing your item will lead to less sales while a lower price with high quality sounds leads to much more sales. It's a simple calculation. People will realize that your pack will save them a ton of work and even better is priced very fair so they will see it as a good deal and buy it.
Focus on value and quality
As this post is about product pricing we want to outline that your focus should always be to create a great sounding product whether trying to create the most expensive product in the audio marketplace.
So in total the topics above should give you the right mindset to determine the price for your digital item. It's impossible to tell you what your sample pack, project template or stock music is worth because everybody will put a different value on it. Your job is to determine the average of this value in order to make it sell.
All the best and happy selling!