Reply To: Mini Review of Musio, My Pick for Best BF Deal of 2024; $149 Sale Ends Dec 10

[peter]

More than anything, the fact that Cinesamples gave Piano in Blue to a contractor involved in making the library (and a fairly minor contractor who processed samples) and a few other libraries to another contractor looks a lot like they may have:

1. Transferred the rights to the libraries due to unpaid fees in a licensing agreement due to cash flow issues OR they may have transferred the rights to the libraries to raise cash due to cash flow issues.

2. They’ve retained the rights to the Musio versions, and are selling Cinesamples directly and through retail channel partners, but it definitely doesn’t look like the moves of a financially healthy business. That’s purely speculation, but there are enough red flags where I’d recommend considering that before purchasing from Musio. The new CEO clearly doesn’t have the qualifications one would expect for such a role.Mike Barry exited the business; Mike Patti has been quiet about the transfer of leadership to someone who was a graphic designer a short while ago; several former Cinesamples libraries ownership rights have gone to contractors; I find it extremely likely that this business is struggling.  There are far too many signs that indicate the business has serious issues.

Now people can look at Mike Greene going after Cinesamples like he has 8Dio and other competitors and credit him for bringing attention to Cinesamples struggles. However, Greene’s platform sees more than a half million visitors per month. Spreading rumors that a competitor is having problems will cause many potential customers to not purchase. It does damage like wildfire. I did a brief assessment of the damage Greene’s attacks on 8Dio caused to the brand reputation and it was profound, reaching to the major social media platforms and major and minor forum communities. I had discussions with two popular influencers in the space who had concerns about Greene’s allegations, while being aware that Greene has a habit of malicious attacks on competitors. Greene targeted 8Dio and Cinesamples more than any other competitors. 8Dio is still going strong, but the damage he did has made many sample developers more hesitant to partner with them as a result of Greene’s attacks and their concerns that they may be attacked if they come aboard the SoundPaint platform. It’s without question that Greene has greatly worsened Cinesamples struggles by putting obstacles in the minds of sample buyers and contractors.

Weaponizing a major platform in this market to attack competitors has a serious impact.  I don’t think it’s the core cause of these problems, but it is gasoline on the fire. What, IMO, is the takeaway for sample buyers? Musio 1 represents the best value on the market by leaps and bounds, however, because these libraries are formatted for a proprietary sample player plugin, the purchase entails a degree of risk that if the developer closes its doors, there will be no updates for that platform. Of course, if these libraries were formatted for Kontakt, this would be far less of a concern. So if you are considering purchasing Musio 1, at this point, with what I’ve just learned — and I have contacted some developers to get their takes — I would weigh the possibility that Cinesamples’ financial state appears questionable at this time. There is risk that comes with any software purchase, but that risk is much more significant when the entire ecosystem is reliant on proprietary software made by the sample developer.

LinkedMusicians Founder. Your friend who keeps the beat.

Check out my music. 

2