7 ms·

Xfer records is very small, its just 2 people really (Steve and I). It's nice seeing this get so much attention. We are a very small company (if you can even ca

by ylhert 11y ago

Xfer records is very small, its just 2 people really (Steve and I). It's nice seeing this get so much attention. We are a very small company (if you can even call it that, I'm not even full time). Every sale is a big deal for Xfer, and piracy definitely hurts us. We don't have the resources to combat it, and we don't put restrictive copy protection on our software because we don't believe in hurting paying customers to slow down piracy. It's always a sad reminder for us when we see people (who can obviously afford our software) stealing it :(

djhn 11y ago
I reckon this will make you top the charts for VST plugin sales for this day, week and maybe even month. Even if that means you will top the VST piracy charts... In fact, is this just a genious marketing stunt..?
- JonnieCache 11y ago
  It's already arguably the most highly regarded VST synth for modern digital sounds anyway. Serum is basically the new massive. They don't need marketing stunts.
  - djhn 11y ago
    Ah, I see. I've been out of that game for 8+ years.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
KMag 11y ago
> stealing it :( <rant> While I empathize with most of your comment, you lost me at the end. Let's not use hyperbolic rhetoric. The crime is copyright infringement (unlawful copying), not stealing (theft), and not plunder and murder on the high seas (piracy). Yes, the sheet music publishers back in the day were able to convince people to use the language of the terrorism of their day (piracy). The hyperbole still harms discourse. </rant>
- ratsmack 11y ago
  Color it by any technicality you want, but it is taking something from somebody and in common vernacular, that is theft.
  - KMag 11y ago
    I agree that someone is making money using a tool acquired illegally and the creator of the tool needs to be paid. > but it is taking something from somebody Here is where the inaccurate language harms discussion. Nothing is taken from the author. The author still has just as much as they had before the unlawful copying, apart from lost opportunity. They have lost a potential sale. The analogy with theft breaks down quickly, and using the language of theft (or worse, insisting that it is really identical to theft) hinders clear thinking about the issue. Yes, it's a useful rhetorical device, since infringing on someone's physical property rights produces a strong emotional reaction. However, that strong emotional reaction doesn't foster rational discussion. The only thing actually taken from the tool creator is opportunity cost. If you set up a cluster of two machines that illegally copy back and forth as fast as GigE allows, things aren't taken from the tool's creator at a higher rate.
    - wasjosh 11y ago
      It's hyperbole and good on you for calling it out, hopefully we'll see more shifts away from such behavior. Here's a relevant quote on winxp's 'pirated' audio, -- According to Benjamin Kern, attorney at Chicago-based law firm Gordon & Glickson LLC, the use of a pirated version of Sound Forge can result in a copyright infringement claim : "Other legal issues, such as patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation and contract breach may also be relevant, but copyright infringement is the most prominent," -- No high seas murder or plundering involved.
    - harryjo 11y ago
      Two things being different doesn't make one of them irrelevant. Consider if you made ... something to sell. Something great, that you know people want. But no one bought it. But they want it, they just waited you out until you gave up and threw it away, and then yoinked it from your trash. It's a violation of social decency, as much as pilfering something from your home -- maybe more so. The mere act of physical appropriation can't be the most important thing, since we don't complain about stealing some dirt or water from your property, and we don't complain about, say, chopping down a tree. Perhaps a better word for copyright violation is vandalism, not theft. It destroys the value of someone's work, the taking isn't the important part.
dylanz 11y ago
As someone who has purchased most of your products, I just wanted to say thank you! I admit I've pirated a lot of software in order to try it over time, but I end up buying what I start using in my workflow. I don't make money producing music (yet!), so I definitely use trials or pirate expensive plugins (I'll often try to re-trial something if my trial lapses and I haven't yet used it enough). Serum? I downloaded the trial, used it, then bought it. The same with LFO Tool. It is a complete steal at its price point, and an absolute beautiful piece of software. I hope Kanye gets more flac for this. Keep up the great work! I'm constantly blown away at the work you and Steve do.
- JonnieCache 11y ago
  > I hope Kanye gets more flac for this. I see him as more of a 128 kinda guy.
- ylhert 11y ago
  Thanks dude! You rock! And I bet the music you make with Xfer products rocks! :D
- samstave 11y ago
  I'd like to hear the music you made with these tools please.
hackercooler 11y ago
love serum and its the first vst that i've bought personally. thanks
- mayreck 11y ago
  Me too. I was compelled to buy it and it has changed my life!!! :)
michaelbuddy 11y ago
had never heard of it before, but your software looks awesome.
cubano 11y ago
I am almost embarrassed to fanboy-out on you, but Serum is utterly amazing, and I must admit I am happy to be telling its author this directly. I have never heard anything like in my 35 years of playing, writing, and producing music, and altho I am sure there are other synths that perform as well, given the low price and accessibility of it as a VSTi, it constantly blows me away. Thanks for developing it.
- ylhert 11y ago
  Thank you so much! I will relay your message to Steve as well!
k-mcgrady 11y ago
I've just purchased Cthulhu. Easy purchase process, easy installation (no keys required etc.), and a really nice plugin. Keep up the good work.
savanaly 11y ago
Surely you can take heart that in this particular case, since he got caught and it turned into a thing, his piracy is going to generate many, many more sales for you.
aerovistae 11y ago
Serum is by far the most fun to use synth I've tried out. Nothing else compares. The UI is just joyful. And the sound; well, it goes without saying that's it's the best sounding synth on the market. Seriously, every time I adjust that wavetable, I smile.
Sarkie 11y ago
I assume you can tell if he's bought it or someone at his company has? So when he buys it today, you'd be able to tell?
johnloeber 11y ago
Hold on. If you're not Steve Duda, then you're Deadmau5?
- joshmanders 11y ago
  Yan Lhert https://twitter.com/yanismydj https://twitter.com/yanismydj
  - ylhert 11y ago
    hai
- ylhert 11y ago
  Deadmau5 isn't super involved anymore. I suppose we are 3 if you count him, but obviously he's been pretty busy with other stuff the last few years
logicrook 11y ago
But little kaka is very poor, the poor little guy has been reduced to begging over the internet. And you expect him to pay you for your work? Monstrous Thénardier. You should pay such a genius to use your lowly software. Don't you know he's, like, totally the third millennium m0zart? Come on, it's 2016 already.
noonespecial 11y ago
I actually came here expecting this to be a story about production on the road, dongles (iLok), and "look, even the pros don't put up with that garbage". But it was the opposite. You're one of the good guys and it sucks that this happened to you.
jfdi 11y ago
@ylhert I hope you all jump all over this press - have to imagine this could be netted out as an order of magnitude of goodness for you, Steve, & co with some great timely digital campaign/promo work. Maybe you could even find a way to get Kayne in on it?!
Joof 11y ago
Not to knock you, but if they wanted to demo it for a studio session length then 15 minutes is a pretty limiting amount of time. VSTs have varying quality, take a while to learn the workflow, tons of features and are very expensive. It's like Photoshop, but you have no idea if it will be useful to you. Kanye is probably bad with money, but he remembers what it's like to be a poor musician. If you haven't already come out at him outraged, maybe you can talk to him about your product and get some good publicity. Or start a temporary 'Kanye' discount and offer it to him first.
Umn44 11y ago
"It's always a sad reminder for us when we see people (who can obviously afford our software) stealing it" Well, if public domain wasn't stolen by the media/publishing industry I'd feel for you. The entire corporate and videogame world is nothing but a crime syndicate at this point in history, confiscating software and the concept of ownership via bullshit business practices and legal con artistry. Typically business people expand their privileges and take advantage of a gullible and uneducated public.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

by ylhert 11y ago

djhn 11y ago

I reckon this will make you top the charts for VST plugin sales for this day, week and maybe even month. Even if that means you will top the VST piracy charts... In fact, is this just a genious marketing stunt..?

JonnieCache 11y ago
It's already arguably the most highly regarded VST synth for modern digital sounds anyway. Serum is basically the new massive. They don't need marketing stunts.
- djhn 11y ago
  Ah, I see. I've been out of that game for 8+ years.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

KMag 11y ago

> stealing it :( <rant> While I empathize with most of your comment, you lost me at the end. Let's not use hyperbolic rhetoric. The crime is copyright infringement (unlawful copying), not stealing (theft), and not plunder and murder on the high seas (piracy). Yes, the sheet music publishers back in the day were able to convince people to use the language of the terrorism of their day (piracy). The hyperbole still harms discourse. </rant>

ratsmack 11y ago
Color it by any technicality you want, but it is taking something from somebody and in common vernacular, that is theft.
- KMag 11y ago
  I agree that someone is making money using a tool acquired illegally and the creator of the tool needs to be paid. > but it is taking something from somebody Here is where the inaccurate language harms discussion. Nothing is taken from the author. The author still has just as much as they had before the unlawful copying, apart from lost opportunity. They have lost a potential sale. The analogy with theft breaks down quickly, and using the language of theft (or worse, insisting that it is really identical to theft) hinders clear thinking about the issue. Yes, it's a useful rhetorical device, since infringing on someone's physical property rights produces a strong emotional reaction. However, that strong emotional reaction doesn't foster rational discussion. The only thing actually taken from the tool creator is opportunity cost. If you set up a cluster of two machines that illegally copy back and forth as fast as GigE allows, things aren't taken from the tool's creator at a higher rate.
  - wasjosh 11y ago
    It's hyperbole and good on you for calling it out, hopefully we'll see more shifts away from such behavior. Here's a relevant quote on winxp's 'pirated' audio, -- According to Benjamin Kern, attorney at Chicago-based law firm Gordon & Glickson LLC, the use of a pirated version of Sound Forge can result in a copyright infringement claim : "Other legal issues, such as patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation and contract breach may also be relevant, but copyright infringement is the most prominent," -- No high seas murder or plundering involved.
  - harryjo 11y ago
    Two things being different doesn't make one of them irrelevant. Consider if you made ... something to sell. Something great, that you know people want. But no one bought it. But they want it, they just waited you out until you gave up and threw it away, and then yoinked it from your trash. It's a violation of social decency, as much as pilfering something from your home -- maybe more so. The mere act of physical appropriation can't be the most important thing, since we don't complain about stealing some dirt or water from your property, and we don't complain about, say, chopping down a tree. Perhaps a better word for copyright violation is vandalism, not theft. It destroys the value of someone's work, the taking isn't the important part.

dylanz 11y ago

As someone who has purchased most of your products, I just wanted to say thank you! I admit I've pirated a lot of software in order to try it over time, but I end up buying what I start using in my workflow. I don't make money producing music (yet!), so I definitely use trials or pirate expensive plugins (I'll often try to re-trial something if my trial lapses and I haven't yet used it enough). Serum? I downloaded the trial, used it, then bought it. The same with LFO Tool. It is a complete steal at its price point, and an absolute beautiful piece of software. I hope Kanye gets more flac for this. Keep up the great work! I'm constantly blown away at the work you and Steve do.

JonnieCache 11y ago
> I hope Kanye gets more flac for this. I see him as more of a 128 kinda guy.
ylhert 11y ago
Thanks dude! You rock! And I bet the music you make with Xfer products rocks! :D
samstave 11y ago
I'd like to hear the music you made with these tools please.

hackercooler 11y ago

love serum and its the first vst that i've bought personally. thanks

mayreck 11y ago
Me too. I was compelled to buy it and it has changed my life!!! :)

michaelbuddy 11y ago

had never heard of it before, but your software looks awesome.

cubano 11y ago

I am almost embarrassed to fanboy-out on you, but Serum is utterly amazing, and I must admit I am happy to be telling its author this directly. I have never heard anything like in my 35 years of playing, writing, and producing music, and altho I am sure there are other synths that perform as well, given the low price and accessibility of it as a VSTi, it constantly blows me away. Thanks for developing it.

ylhert 11y ago
Thank you so much! I will relay your message to Steve as well!

k-mcgrady 11y ago

I've just purchased Cthulhu. Easy purchase process, easy installation (no keys required etc.), and a really nice plugin. Keep up the good work.

savanaly 11y ago

Surely you can take heart that in this particular case, since he got caught and it turned into a thing, his piracy is going to generate many, many more sales for you.

aerovistae 11y ago

Serum is by far the most fun to use synth I've tried out. Nothing else compares. The UI is just joyful. And the sound; well, it goes without saying that's it's the best sounding synth on the market. Seriously, every time I adjust that wavetable, I smile.

Sarkie 11y ago

I assume you can tell if he's bought it or someone at his company has? So when he buys it today, you'd be able to tell?

johnloeber 11y ago

Hold on. If you're not Steve Duda, then you're Deadmau5?

joshmanders 11y ago
Yan Lhert https://twitter.com/yanismydj https://twitter.com/yanismydj
- ylhert 11y ago
  hai
ylhert 11y ago
Deadmau5 isn't super involved anymore. I suppose we are 3 if you count him, but obviously he's been pretty busy with other stuff the last few years

logicrook 11y ago

But little kaka is very poor, the poor little guy has been reduced to begging over the internet. And you expect him to pay you for your work? Monstrous Thénardier. You should pay such a genius to use your lowly software. Don't you know he's, like, totally the third millennium m0zart? Come on, it's 2016 already.

noonespecial 11y ago

I actually came here expecting this to be a story about production on the road, dongles (iLok), and "look, even the pros don't put up with that garbage". But it was the opposite. You're one of the good guys and it sucks that this happened to you.

jfdi 11y ago

@ylhert I hope you all jump all over this press - have to imagine this could be netted out as an order of magnitude of goodness for you, Steve, & co with some great timely digital campaign/promo work. Maybe you could even find a way to get Kayne in on it?!

Joof 11y ago

Not to knock you, but if they wanted to demo it for a studio session length then 15 minutes is a pretty limiting amount of time. VSTs have varying quality, take a while to learn the workflow, tons of features and are very expensive. It's like Photoshop, but you have no idea if it will be useful to you. Kanye is probably bad with money, but he remembers what it's like to be a poor musician. If you haven't already come out at him outraged, maybe you can talk to him about your product and get some good publicity. Or start a temporary 'Kanye' discount and offer it to him first.

Umn44 11y ago

"It's always a sad reminder for us when we see people (who can obviously afford our software) stealing it" Well, if public domain wasn't stolen by the media/publishing industry I'd feel for you. The entire corporate and videogame world is nothing but a crime syndicate at this point in history, confiscating software and the concept of ownership via bullshit business practices and legal con artistry. Typically business people expand their privileges and take advantage of a gullible and uneducated public.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]