Pricing On Music Software, Music software prices go all over the place Options

[timmwood]

I've been buying plug-ins for a few years and am intrigued by the pricing practices. I am not criticizing them. I wonder if anyone could enlighten me about how it all works. It appears that the retail prices are fiction, because every software product is discounted from its list price. This is somewhat misleading if the product has never been sold at its list price.
Products seem to settle into a street price after they've been on the market.
One thing that is frustrating is to buy a product and then see it deeply discounted not long after you buy it. The BFD drum software is a respected product and usually sells for $150. Lots of people have paid that price and been fully satisfied with what they got for their money.
But now, BFD is available for $50 for a limited time. If someone bought it for $150 a couple of weeks go, they might be unhappy.
It seems the hottest deals happen about this time of year. So maybe that's clue. Thoughts?