Adobe Case Study in Why Customers Don’t Like Subscriptions
Adobe today quietly debuted new pricing for its Photography bundle, which has long been available for $9.99 per month. Starting today, Adobe’s website is listing a price tag of $19.99 per month, which is double the previous price.
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Most users appear to be seeing the updated pricing on the Adobe website, but there is a hidden section of the site where one can still purchase the Photography plan for $9.99 per month.
It looks like it’s still planning to bill me at $9.99. That already seemed steep, given that I don’t use Creative Cloud or Photoshop—only Lightroom CC, which was previously a $149 one-time purchase. However, I still like Lightroom (UI weirdness aside), and post-Aperture I prioritize choosing a product that seems seem unlikely to disappear.
Adobe is no longer allowing subscribers to download previous versions of Premiere and is even sending notices to people who still have them installed to say they’re no longer allowed to use them.
I just got an email from @Adobe that I’m no longer allowed to use the software that I’m paying for. Time to cancel my subscription I guess.
William Gallagher (MacRumors):
Users of older versions of Creative Cloud apps, including Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Lightroom Classic, have been told by Adobe that they are no longer licensed to use them, and anyone who continues to use these versions could face “infringement claims” from other companies.
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Prior to the creation of the Creative Cloud subscription service, Adobe licensed certain technologies from Dolby with an agreement based on how many discs of certain apps were sold. Now that the software is distributed online, the companies reportedly renegotiated their agreement to be based on how many users are actually running the software.
According to Dolby’s legal filing, this agreement was subject to the figures Adobe reported being examined by a third-party audit. “When Dolby sought to exercise its right to audit Adobe’s books and records to ensure proper reporting and payment, Adobe refused to engage in even basic auditing and information sharing practices; practices that Adobe itself had demanded of its own licensees,” says the filing.
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Earlier in May, Adobe announced that that users will no longer be able to stay on just any older version they want.
So Adobe has a licensing issue with Dolby or an “other third party” as they put it - and end users who paid for the software as recently as 3 months ago are supposed to switch versions in the middle of a project, or be “subject to infringement claims”(!?) in some IP proxy war?
It seems like this is Adobe’s problem. I don’t know if throwing their customers under the bus was a sad attempt at fomenting pressure on Dolby to capitulate, but it’s really scummy and a bad look for Adobe.
I got my “cease and desist” letter. Adobe continues to make decisions that hurt average customers. It’s unlikely individuals would “face potential “infringement claims” from Dolby and Adobe is just using the wording as a scare tactic.
Previously:
- Productivity Apps and Subscription Pricing
- New Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic CC
- Adobe Jumps the Shark
- Record Adobe Revenue
Update (2019-05-16): Wojtek Pietrusiewicz:
I just want Lightroom Classic and I couldn’t care less about the rest, yet I am forced to pay for unused features. Adobe’s Creative Cloud is a very frustrating experience.
