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Thread: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

  1. #1
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    I started my subscription around the New Year with the 50% off discount. Lately I've gotten a couple of offers to renew for $169, which is $30 more than I paid last year.

    The persistence of the offers is making me wonder if this is the best discount that will be offered this year. $30 is $30, but I'd hate to get stuck paying any more.

    Anyone have any thoughts or opinions?

  2. #2
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    They changed owners, I expect the price to not go lower.

    The price did remain the same for a few years, and its an inflationary time.......
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  4. #3

    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    I didn’t see it going lower and so I caved just last week - a bit over a month before my (6mo) subscription expires.

    Maybe if I held out I’d have gotten lucky, but for me, even in my “don’t buy any green bananas” frame of mind, I didn’t want to risk paying more. I still expect I’ll continue to get more than my money’s worth, given the empty vessel I’m working with…

  5. #4
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    I went for it last night. I had forgotten about it and had to get out of bed to make the transaction

  6. #5

    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    The have always had good deals around Black Friday and there biggest sale around Christmas or New Years. They always have some sort of deal going though.

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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    I agree with Josh, they're always having deals and they've had the 50% off at Christmas time for about 10 days and that's when I always (re)subscribe to the course's I'm taking or want to take. That being said they now have Chris Eldridge as another bluegrass guitar teacher and Sierra Hull for another bluegrass mandolin teacher but as of now they're "new" courses and any discount offer is not usable when subscribing to one of their courses. I'm hoping that at Christmas time the newness will have worn off and the discount will work towards those courses. I am a total artistworks geek, I love the teaching method, the teachers, and the whole idea of their schools.

  8. #7

    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    So the "deal" that was wiggled in front of my nose (and I bit) was $100 off + $10 (really - supposed to make me feel special?) because I was a current subscriber. I didn't have until Black Friday or year end to wait and see if it would get better because I started with a 6mo subscription back in May.

    But, I'll watch and see if they do that again. Maybe anybody who uses TruFire lessons can shed some light on their sale pricing practices, though even those are probably "subject to change." (I don't even begin to understand the economics of buying companies, but usually there's a big loan somewhere that needs to be paid off.)
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  9. #8
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    Yeah, it was kind of a tough call.
    But as I was going to look at a $1600 mandolin today, $30 didn't seem as big of a deal vs. the risk of new policies.

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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    I hate that Artistworks plays games with the 50% off stuff as if they are giving you an exclusive. That said I think it's worth $169 a year

  11. #10

    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    Their automatic renewal policy is awful.

  12. #11
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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    It's easy to undo the automatic renewal by just going to your account and hit the cancel under auto renewal. As far as the playing games with the percentages off or dollars off a lot of businesses will have sales at varying amounts off during the year. Most of the sales seem to be for the annual memberships but sometimes they have some for the 3 month and 6 month subscriptions.

  13. #12
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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    Quote Originally Posted by Deblues View Post
    It's easy to undo the automatic renewal by just going to your account and hit the cancel under auto renewal. As far as the playing games with the percentages off or dollars off a lot of businesses will have sales at varying amounts off during the year. Most of the sales seem to be for the annual memberships but sometimes they have some for the 3 month and 6 month subscriptions.
    They are counting of folks forgetting and then getting auto renewed at full price. After I manually renew I go right that page and turn it off and take a Screenshot

  14. #13
    Registered User Louise NM's Avatar
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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    I signed up for six months last winter, and added another six a month or so later when they offered a good deal. They auto renewed me six months after that, while I still had five months left. To their credit, they immediately refunded the money for the too-early auto renewal when I contacted them. Keep an eye on the timing, though.

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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    I have been thinking of signing back up to kicks start me on my practicing/playing. I have not read anyone that has been using Sierra's lessons so curious as to how they contrast Mike's lessons, which is what I first used a few years ago.
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  16. #15

    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    As soon as I read that ArtistWorks was bought by a bigger, more corporate-sounding outfit, I wrote to Patricia Butler (CEO/Co-founder). I expressed concern that this might mean no more 50% holiday discounts. She wrote back to say that they have re-assessed the 50% holiday discount every year. She implied that the discount would "probably" happen again this year, but no guarantee.

    I'd wait and see.

  17. #16

    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    Quote Originally Posted by Joed View Post
    Their automatic renewal policy is awful.
    Not much different than any other service you sign up for anymore, or at least most of them, from my experience.

    But, if you pay with PayPal, they also record the auto-renewal and let you know right away it's been done, and you can cancel it from within PayPal immediately. (This time, AW then sends you, a few seconds later, a survey wanting to know why you quit, even though you didn't *quit*!)
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  18. #17
    Registered User Drew Egerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    Just a note to add that if you find a great discount code you can go ahead and add time to your subscription before it expires. My Mike Marshall membership was originally to expire in August one year I think and I bought the 50% Christmas deal anyway. It will add a year or whatever the length on top of your expiration date.
    Also note that they aren't allowing the discounts on Sierra's class yet since it is brand new.

    It's kind of a funny game they play with changing the discount % almost weekly from 10-50% but typically around 30% is the most common on 1 year memberships. I do think a membership is worth it even without a discount, but I certainly try to play the game to maximize value.

    Pretty common thing these days it seems. I always laugh at certain ads that say LAST DAY to save 25% when I know that next week it will be 30%.
    I downloaded some free video editing software and in the same day I had 3 emails bullying me to upgrade for the last chance at 50% off and another email offering me 60%....
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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    Hey Drew, I'm with you on adding time to my membership(s) every Christmas, I've been doing that for the past few years. I sure hope by Christmas that they take the "new" off of Sierra Hull's and Chris Eldridge's classes. Like you I like to get the biggest discount I can and that's at Christmas time. I'm just such a big fan of Artistworks, you just have to learn how to play the "automatic renewal" game. Which is so easy by just taking "auto renewal" off in you account once you've signed up for the class.

  20. #19
    Registered User Marcus CA's Avatar
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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Lackey View Post
    I have been thinking of signing back up to kicks start me on my practicing/playing. I have not read anyone that has been using Sierra's lessons so curious as to how they contrast Mike's lessons, which is what I first used a few years ago.
    Me, too. I was expecting an interesting and somewhat lengthy thread during the first few weeks after the class opened, but I've noticed nothing.

    Looking at the curriculum list, I think that there is a bit of overlap, but there still is plenty of different material. Sierra's course goes deeper into bluegrass, and Mike's goes wider into musical genres. I can easily see someone spending a fair amount of time in either course after starting with the other one.

    Quote Originally Posted by DaveGinNJ View Post
    I hate that Artistworks plays games with the 50% off stuff as if they are giving you an exclusive. That said I think it's worth $169 a year
    Yup. That's a little over $3 a week.
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  22. #20

    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    The Artistworks teachers (I've done Marshall, Daves, and Sutton over the years) are awesome. They content and feedback are great and at the sale prices (even not the full 50%) its a good deal, but I never seem to utilize it as much. Personally I prefer a teaching experience where I have to show up prepared and it is easy for me to not log in. But I still re-up it every year.

  23. #21

    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    Quote Originally Posted by Marcus CA View Post
    Me, too. I was expecting an interesting and somewhat lengthy thread during the first few weeks after the class opened, but I've noticed nothing.

    Looking at the curriculum list, I think that there is a bit of overlap, but there still is plenty of different material. Sierra's course goes deeper into bluegrass, and Mike's goes wider into musical genres. I can easily see someone spending a fair amount of time in either course after starting with the other one.
    I was actually able to get a discount on Sierra's course as a subscriber to Mike's and Bryan's courses. If you're a subscriber, just keep an eye on the home page. Without the discount, I probably wouldn't have signed up for Sierra's course as well, but I'm happy with it so far. I'm maybe 1/3 of the way through her lessons, and there's definitely a lot of overlap with Mike's class in that first basic instruction part, but she has a different style and a different perspective and I've found it useful to get that different perspective. For example, I found Sierra's posture and fret arm suggestions in line with what's comfortable for me, or maybe she just explained it in a way that resonated with me. It actually really improved my dexterity.

    Otherwise, there are some song overlaps, but again, different styles and teaching approaches, plus she has a few octave lessons that I hope she builds out a bit more.

  24. #22
    Registered User Drew Egerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    I have been in Mike's class since 2017 and now also in Sierra's.
    There is a little bit of overlap on the tunes (the standards like Red Haired Boy, Old Joe Clark, Nine Pound Hammer, etc.) but of course they teach them in their own way and have different styles for explaining things and some variations in the melodies.

    There are also a lot of differences. Sierra has some of her original tunes, some stuff on the Octave, lots of emphasis on technique.
    Mike is more emphatic about posture. Sierra is basically a bluegrass course whereas Mike gets into choro, classical, jazz, etc.
    The other big difference is that Mike's course has been established for 10 years and has 8,000+ video exchanges while Sierra has only been there for a couple of months, so there is just less there as far as seeing other people's videos.

    Both are excellent and I am finding value in having both. One particular technique tip Mike had given me had not really stuck with me until Sierra also mentioned the same suggestion so I figured if both of them said it I should really work on it!
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  25. #23

    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    If you pay with paypal you have to arrange with paypal to shut off autorenew

  26. #24
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    Like some, I subscribed for a few years but didn't partake very often so I finally stopped renewing.

    But they are now spamming me like crazy
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  27. #25

    Default Re: ArtistWorks discount - What do you think?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill McCall View Post
    ...
    But they are now spamming me like crazy
    Does the Unsubscribe link at the bottom not work? (Possible the sale to TF included a mailing list that wasn't scrubbed...)
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