Another rally in the wall ?

Dick, as a relatively new joiner (and supporter!) I can't say I have any great ideas but I'll throw some thoughts out...

Firstly, I suspect that although there are >45K registered members, the number of 'active' users is significantly smaller. (I myself first registered in March last year but then went into hibernation until December.) It might be more realistic to promote the message that 'if all the _active_ users gave $X each, we'd be covered' in case anyone is really sitting there figuring their fair share is only a dollar a year.



Are there any significant aspects to the operating costs that could be reduced? I imagine that bandwidth costs may be significant. Perhaps these can be reduced by turning off autoplay in the media player or considering a CDN or alternative backend? I've already made the offer by PM but I'm sure there are plenty of other developer members who could help with this or just give your a second opinion.

It's worth considering this on a cost-per-active-user-basis - although I've done my bit to encourage others to join, you might find yourself losing money even faster as the number of users grows and they download more! I don't know if you have stats on this but if so, they'd be worth examining.

Finally, I'll say that one of the reasons I subscribed was, perversely, because it's clear this _isn't_ a money-making venture. Having said that, perhaps there are ways in which costs might be controlled by limiting the number of available downloads for non-supporters (again, assuming that bandwidth costs are significant).

It might also be worth trying to nudge people to contribute by getting them to compare the donation cost relative to other costs in their musical lives - to me it seems entirely reasonable to chuck what amounts to the cost of a set of strings at you every month or two! :)


Anyway, I'm sure you've already thought of many of these points :)

---

Hey GrooveEnth,
good questions & thoughts there. I will be offering updated data in the upcoming annual transparency report 2016 which shall answer some of your thoughts.
Generally speaking, the server cost development is -at this stage- not a major budget concern (see the 2015 report to get an idea).
We already are using a CDN service, too, maybe I should give some technical details for interested people like you, too :) Please give me a little time to offer these details, and feel free to ask if you feel like there must be a missing puzzle piece.

---