Unless I am missing or not seeing something, the last time I was approached about this was February 6, 2015 according to my email records. A lot has changed since then, however I do not feel it appropriate to continue this conversation as public debate; this is a topic to be discussed between myself and Fractal Audio Systems.
Though I would be wise to leave it at that, there is way too much wild speculation going on here to not drop a few extra breadcrumbs, so here goes...
Yek hit the nail on the head, only I know the business impact of engaging in this kind of activity as I have done it multiple times in the past for multiple different platforms. In addition to having access to the sales trends and metrics, I also have opinions based on experience with perpetuating the lack of perceived value that intangible goods have (for example, would it be thought logical that I be allowed to give out free EV-1's, or if some of my prize offerings are requested, MFC's with my libraries at no cost to myself?), and the procedures that should be involved when one company uses property from another for (mostly) single ended gain. In typical business arrangements these kinds of inclusions typically incur recurring licensing costs to make the gain mutual for the various reasons it could be. "Exposure" is no longer an applicable list item gain for the OwnHammer brand.
When it comes down to it, street credit doesn't put food on the table, and there is careful consideration to be made on what is appropriate to use as throwaway property, and thus direct revenue, and what should be guarded as commercial only, with consideration to the trade off between lost direct revenue and gained revenue from that loss used as advertising. Anyone I know that has taken the Pepsi challenge with the V4 libraries is an OH lifer without hesitation, and there is value to that which should be utilized properly. I do realize that despite the incredibly high value to cost ratio of these types of products not everyone is willing to take the plunge on faith, and again is a sign of the times in how backwards intangible goods are thought of with regard to their inherent value and the sales process. For example despite the similar price point, I don't get to try my burger from my meal before I buy it, or a grouping of burgers, and at that those burgers aren't going to last me a lifetime and be the possible reason for career changes and advancements. I know of several people using my products that because of them make more money or engage more lucrative industry opportunities than I do! Then there's the fine line between putting your best foot forward and putting it TOO forward, as there are no shortage of freeloaders that will only take what they don't have to pay for, legally or illegally so and do nothing to promote the brand in return, but may have bought something if they had no other option than to pay for it if the buzz behind it was strong enough.
This isn't a snap of the fingers decision or something that does not require compromise and benefit to both parties. As I am a multi-platform capable vendor, there may or may not be things going on with other platform vendors I need to consider or even abide by in order to walk the straight and narrow path.
If I were amenable to this, the Fractal platforms would be gaining unmatched content that would give them an "out of the box" advantage in the marketplace, so there would have to be a justifiable kick back. This isn't because I'm greedy, it's because I work my tail off to put out the best content available for this market, I have significant investment in this, made incredible sacrifices, and have a family to provide for which after being laid off from my day job this past March and divorcing recently, OwnHammer is currently my only source of household income on top of an increased cost of living due to the latter. I need to be properly compensated for my work and my contributions to the market and world at large, unless I manage to win big on a lottery I never buy a ticket for. The sure, the site will go freeware!
Point being, it's not as cut and dry as it looks from the outside...
However, as previously stated, this will be the extent of my contribution to this thread, I hope it was informative!
