After about seven weeks or, only 38 listeners have chosen to subscribe to the Dave's Lounge Premium Podcast, and I am attempting to figure out where this idea went awry. So I'd like your feedback. What would you like to see out of a Dave's Lounge Premium Podcast? Would you prefer a lower price? A yearly fee rather than a monthly one? More exclusive content? Let me know your thoughts on the premium show here in the show notes. Thanks.
Playlist for Dave's Lounge #239:
- Anthony Valadez (feat. Anna Wise), "Asleep" Buy from: iTunes
- Tensei, "Acid Reign" Buy from: iTunes
- Stemvelta, "Red Knots" Free download from: Archive.org
- Azoora, "Second Sight" Free download from: 23 Seconds
- Sixfingerz, "Brothers And Sisters" Coming soon…
- Mr. Bird, "Future Retro" Buy from: iTunes
- Liberty Klaud (feat. Alex Cable), "My Lawyer" Buy from: iTunes
- Nigel Hayes, "Jazz Funk" Buy from: iTunes
- Ghosts Of Paraguay (feat. Jett), "Hold Me Tight" Buy from: iTunes
- White Blush, "Without You" Free download from: Bandcamp
- Laurie Adams, "Dave's Lounge" Buy from: iTunes
- Merge Of Equals, "My Everything" Buy from: iTunes
Interested in getting a higher quality version of this show? The Dave's Lounge Premium Podcast delivers each episode of Dave's Lounge to you as a 192 Kbps AAC file, complete with chapter markers, album art, embedded links to songs in iTunes and other stores, and no voiceovers in between songs. You can get the Dave's Lounge Premium Podcast for only $2.99/month. Go to daveslounge.com/premium for more details.
The Dave's Lounge app gives you to streaming access all the latest episodes of Dave's Lounge, plus bonus mixes not available in the podcast, for only $1.99. The Dave's Lounge iPhone app is now available from the iTunes app store. The Dave's Lounge Android App is now available from the Amazon App Store.
Enjoy the show!
Yearly subscription would be good for me. I have an aversion to monthly bills. Plus it would be cool to have a community aspect to it, like an exclusive forum for collaboration or something.
My thoughts would be that a yearly subscription would probly be a better bet. $2.99 a month may be a bit steep for most… seeing as I already own both apps I would be willing to purchase the premiun for $10-$15 per year.
I like the idea of the community around aspect… just not sure how you could pull it off with out making more work for yourself.
For the most part I am very happy with the podcast and love to listen. Thank you for all the hard work!
Dave, I have been listening to your show for many years and I love how you find such great music. I've tried looking around on my own and never find the quality stuff you put in the podcasts. With that said, I also enjoy the voice overs and your intros to the shows, so I think I would be missing out on the premiums. That's why I haven't signed up myself (not what you asked I know…).
For me personally, I would find value in the premium if it had extra tracks or some kind of special content I would not get in the regular podcast. My computer that I listen to your show on sounds the same with higher quality audio, so really the only plus I would get currently is the chapter markers and art work, but lose the voice overs which I enjoy.
I also think a discounted yearly option (as well as monthly) would be a good thing.
Either way, keep up the great work!
Still love the show, the monthly subscription was a bit steep for me, I think an annual fee of $10,- would do it for me. I also miss the voice overs, usually I listen when commuting and then it’s hard to read the additional info although I do appreciate it. Additional content wouldn’t be required as I would like just to express my support for your hard work but I wouldn’t say no to just that extra special number each week 😉
I have no problem with the cost, although a yearly fee would be better. I love the current format and haven't sampled the premium version. The iPhone app is a Godsend! It makes my Fridays at work much better now because I have Dave's Lounge to help me through the evening. I hope to contribute with a donation to the website in the very near future as well. Anything to help keep the Lounge up and running! Keep up the good work and keep the faith-it may take it a little while longer to gather momemtum with the Premium subscribers.
Hi Dave I love listening to your show every week and do appreciate the effort you obviously put into producing it. However I must also say that these days, with all the free music on the net (ok a lot of it is rubbish), it will be very difficult to get people to pay for it. I think the best way forward is to get some sponsors on board to fund the shows and offer advert free content to premium subscribers. Seems to work for quite a few other internet operators. Hope this helps and good luck with keeping daveslounge going.
Hi Dave, keep your Premuim Subscription going, otherwise you advertising on it is too massive, keep back your old artist introduction on top on your artists list and make your offer on the sidebar, this is my suggestion. On the contrary your effort on the Premium is great, like artists tags embedded and so on, i don't you iTunes as primary player and my Winamp is not likely to play mp4 and the cover in my CAD is not showing up (perdon my English). I think is a mixed bag. At all keep going your offer and get back to what you were doing before.
A loyal follower.
I like the premium concept and would pay for the added value. But you need to overcome some implementation hurdles. For me the big one is the ability to listen while using my iPhone for other tasks. I use the Downcast app on my iPhone for all audio podcasts, then stream them over Bluetooth to my car radio while driving. Dave's Lounge is best in the car where I can raise the volume. But the premium version displays albulm art, which I like except that hitting the home button to use another app kills the audio. Not so for the standard podcast. This is a deal breaker for me,
Also I like the idea of in-app song purchases, but can not see how this works. It would be great to tag songs while listening for purchase at the end of the show.
Keep working on the formula, Don't give up. And thanks a lot for what you do.
Hi dave! I just discovered your podcast early this year. I listen to lounge music when I work, study, and also when I just wanna relax and take a walk around town. Its really easy listening and mentally stimulating. I posted a response on your facebook page. I hope you get to read it (not that my opinion matters a lot). Thanks so much for the great music and I hope to hear more of your voice too. I think that's what makes it special and I like it better compared to the free premium sample you uploaded last week. I don't know how you'll react to this but there are also other lounge music podcasts which are free but I find yours the best and that's what makes me visit and download it every week. I know its hard to conceptualize and make a weekly podcast, and make it free for the fans. But I really appreciate what you do, even if I'm not from the USA. More power to your show and I hope a lot of people find ways to give back, even from listeners like me who already appreciate it for free but can't do so due to financial or location constraints.
I purchased countless songs from listening to your podcast in the past, so maybe you should consider monetizing it from affiliate links also. In that case you should release the direct link info to the free edition, because its just easier than browsing your shownotes.
I also like the yearly subscription idea and if the preimum version had extra 30 minutes of music I would subscribe it.
Hi Dave
I tried to subscribe… I Actually thought I was able to.
But I never got any of the high quality episodes.
I guess I never understood how it works…
Would love to have high quality mostly to chip in regularly.
thx
jonathan
Hi Dave,
I do love the the idea of a high-quality subsciption, but as many of your followers I do agree that a annual subsciption would be right. The price? Perhaps between $15 and $20 maybe right.
While some exclusive contents and remixes will be a plus, I have to agree that we don't need the "novoiceovers", your voice is a key component of the show, so here is my vote to keep the same format you have been delivering for year.
I will addere Dan Cox: "Keep up the good work and keep the faith-it may take it a little while longer to gather momemtum with the Premium subscribers."
Thanks
Carlos
Hello! Thanks a lot for playing Azoora in your latest show.
Cheers from Sweden
Johan Lundin, 23 Seconds Netlabel
http://www.23seconds.org
Hi Dave,
for me its two things:
first of all, maybe "the internet", including me as a student, is not used to paying for good content yet. especially when there are free alternatives like the public version of your podcast (still, the main reason for me to go premium would be the higher quality).
Second, for me as an android/beyondpod user, some of the benefits of the premium edition don't work (all that metadata-stuff, i replied to your testpost).
I still consider going premium, keep up your excellent work!
Greetings
Jan from germany
Hello Dave,
I have no idea how many people listen to your podcast each week, but in the open source software world, 3% of people paying should be considered as a success.
Furthermore, the album art and chapter markers don't work on my device (iPod 5th gen, 80 GB, using gpodder on Ubuntu 12.04)
Cheers
Dave,
I LOVE listening to your show and, as others have said, one of the key elements to the show is you. I love the personality you put into it and look forward to your opening thoughts from the podcast. I have my ipod set up with a custom playlist that has all my music-only podcasts that plays throughout the day at work. It's so great when yours comes up and I can hear you lead us into a great ride of fantastic music. I would love to send money (and plan to) to support the show in the current format for all your hard work, but didn't see a need for the premium subscription because i really love the format it the way it is. In my mind, loosing your voiceovers takes away from my enjoyment of the show.
Thanks for all that you do and keep up the fantastic work!
I agree that the music you play is great, but the reason I listen to your podcast above all others is simply because of you. We are the same age, so, I like being able to connect with the ideas and memories you share. I do think a yearly would be easier, (less to think about in our busy lives). Maybe only giving your voice to the paid subscription would allow you to make a shorter, less personal podcast for free, and let your fans pay to support, listen, and connect with you, “the Dave”. Just a suggestion. I like the idea of changing it up, and making sure that you are compensated for your hearts work.
P.S. Why can’t I access way earlier shows? I think it’s episode #13 or #15, the one with the Hailey Oaks Trio? Love that one, and would like to be able to search for it but the search feature won’t let me!
The biggest impediment to me is that the Premium format is targeted for the iOS technology ecosystem. Not everyone is an iPhone owner.
For example, I'm an Android smartphone user. I don't own an iPhone or iPad, and I don't use iTunes to purchase my music or manage my podcasts. I use the BeyondPod app on Android to manage my podcast feeds via direct RSS URL, including my Dave's Lounge subscription. And when I do purchase new songs heard on the podcast, I predominantly use Amazon's MP3 store, sometimes others, but never iTunes. So the direct purchase links don't work for someone like me.
None of my audio player apps picked up the embedded special features that were in the premium sample. The only way I could even see them was to download it to my Windows desktop and play the program in the QuickTime player. But that's not how I typically consume my media. I do it almost exclusively from my mobile on-the-go where the Premium features don't work, given that its an Android environment.
Overall though, Dave, I love your show. I only discovered it a few months ago, but I appreciate all you do, and would like to support you where possible.
Only, definitely keep the voiceovers. Don't doubt that you yourself are a premium value-add.
Kev in PA, USA
Dave,
I love your show and appreciate listening to it while I work. I have the premium subscription and don't mind the monthly charge. I figure it's a token of appreciation from my side for what you do.
Thank again,
Nadja
Hi Dave,
Came here to say that I like your show quite a bit, but I actually prefer the voiceovers and the commentary, so the premium podcast would be a downgrade for me.
I'd love to pay you money, though, even for the "free" podcast, and would happily set up a small monthly recurring donation through PayPal like I do for other podcasts if you provided the option. The tip jar is great but frankly without auto-recurring payments I'll just never remember to donate regularly. If there happened to be extra content that came with the monthly donation that wasn't just a talk-free version of the free podcast, something like guest mixes or a "second hour", that would sweeten the deal incredibly. This is a model that I see – and fund – in several other popular podcasts that are near your genre.
Regardless, good luck. I really enjoy your show.
Jon
I'm a loyal Dave's Lounge listener, but I think the subscription price is just too high. $3 a month? For no additional music? It's just a tough sell.
Hey Dave,
Been a fan for a while and love the podcast. As for the premium podcast – it depends on what people are looking for. If you want an hour of uninterrupted music to listen to, the premium style could be good. I actually like your chatter, and giving us some information on the artists. The current feed founds just find on my ol ipod classic, so higher bitrate won’t do me much good. Same for the embedded track information. Since I personally don’t listen on a computer/ipad, I can’t do much with the embedded information.
Not sure what would get me personally to buy the premium podcast, but honestly for me I don’t think I would. Some of the other suggestions here are nice. Extra tracks. Maybe longer podcasts. But not sure if the extra work for you to do a larger podcast is worth the little money you’d get in return. I know Angie has the sponsored ads – I could live with that if it helps support the podcast… And of course, I continue to buy through the links on your web site…
Keep up the great work!
– J
Thanks for your comments and suggestions everyone! It seems pretty clear that this current model isn't going to work, for multiple reasons, and based on your feedback, I believe I have a new plan for moving forward. I'll make some announcements on the next show, which should be out on Saturday.
Dave,
As some of the other posters have mentioned, we enjoy your commentary and comments between tracks.
You may want to try something like the Mac Geek Gab podcasters (http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/features/mac_geek_gab_free/). Every other week, they publish a free podcast, and in between a "premium" version. A semi-annual subscription of $25 gives you access to the premium podcast and a couple other features. Your listeners can choose to continue to receive the free podcast, or pay for the additional content.
Please keep up the podcast. It introduces me to a lot of great new music, and it gives me a way to relax and reflect on the way to work. I look forward to every episode.
Steve
I guess everyone else has pretty much said it, but the reason we listen is you Dave… enjoying your unique perspective is what being a DJ is all about to us .. connecting with listeners, The choice and serenity of the music brings like minds together and is the "mindshare" of all the listeners, I am happy to contribute annually $15-20 just for the thoughts, and the always good to often great content. I buy one or two albums every month either directly from your show links, or from the other "other buyers people listened to these albums" links… many thanks, great show…
I think more content might convert me. Say if you made the "free" podcast a sample and the paid version was full length. But then again I'd hate to subscribe to a "sample" podcast then find out its not worth my time. Guess it depends on how well the "sample" part is done. Hard to say what would work best. Best of luck and I really appreciate all your hard work.
Also post AmazonMP3 links and I'll use those if that helps. Not an iTunes customer.
Jeffk: Amazon canceled its affiliate program in North Carolina, so I pulled the Amazon MP3 links a while back. Sorry.
As all the others I also have to say that the main reason for not subscribing the premium version is that it doesn't contain the voiceovers.
I also would include some music that you don't get in the free version to give the premium subscribers something special.
Keep going, I'm enjoying every second of Dave's Lounge. 🙂
I actually like the voice overs so premium would be a downgrade to me.