I‘m a bit shocked about the new prices for rehearsal rooms. For 3 hours (which to me is reasonable for band rehearsal) you charge ~50% more now! (Before: 23,50€, now:34,50€). To me, this means I‘m going to book less, or go elsewhere. Please consider at least to re-introduce the discount starting at 3 hours. Best, Uli
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Hey Uli,
Thanks for reaching out - we’re sorry to hear this. These changes are necessary right now to help us cover the rising operational costs we face. We’re still committed to being an accessible creative space and are offering discounts on longer bookings to offset some of these changes. We’re also developing new in-studio tools to help people get their recordings out faster than ever.
I hope some of these changes might get you back to the studios, but totally understand if not.
Amber
Yup, more then disappointing. We’ll be booking elsewhere now.
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Same! I’m a solo instrumentalist and I don’t have any need for anything longer than a 2 hour block. The price increase feels punitive to me.
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… I have to say this caught me out too. I’d literally just booked my first (solo) session, liked the setup, and wanted to book again the next week, only to find the rates had gone right up!
I Whatsapped Prirate (who responded quickly 
) as I thought I’d misread the rate structure, and was told about the new policy.
It feels a little scatter gun, especially as I was already booking off peak as a solo beginner and the studios were mostly empty (morning time). Maybe the rates can be fine tuned a bit more, as this will personally affect my use as a single user and learning time. Of course I do realise that I’m not going to make Pirate rich by myself(!), but certain aspects of the new pricing could be potentially self defeating.
Do reconsider incentivising solo musicians as they are the life blood of new users further down the line. (But I do sympathise with the recent tough times, it’s been a mare).
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Thanks all, we really do appreciate the feedback and I’ve passed this on to the powers that be. If anyone would like to discuss further, we’re all ears — our CEO, Borrie, would be happy to chat.
@ Ambz_Pirate
Thanks, and good to hear you’re all listening etc. It’s been a tough time for all of us.
From my own point of view, I’d be happy to be able to book slots as a solo user at maybe less than premium times (ie. not best hours weekends, evenings, super ‘peak’ periods) akin to say airline bookings. Where demand is high, I naturally appreciate ‘block bookings’ command more revenue (in one go), but the dead time could surely offer some opportunities for better rates…
I know an algorithym like this might be awkward, but a more nuanced approach to booking may yet be beneficial to Pirate over the longer term 
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Yip we are looking for another studio, we use pirate because we can do 7 till 10pm but we thing we may get a studio that we have used before for 4 hours at the same as pirate for 3 hours, better studio too, no spill over from other rooms, lights that you can see if you drop something on the floor, and manned so any problems are sorted our there and then, no time wasted with online chat.
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Hi John, thanks for the feedback. Which location do you usually visit? We’re upgrading several and I understand, lighting is on the top of my list too.
Glasgow
I was also surprised to see this as I already noticed an increase earlier this year for the DJ studios, so to add another one seems a bit crazy. Seems like a mad thing to do considering how difficult this past year has been for musicians. I’ll definitely have to think about looking elsewhere.
If there is an increase then I hope there’s some reflection of that in the quality of the studios. For example: not limiting the CDJ-3000’s to the Pro DJ studio (a £55 studio), bringing back the tablets as I haven’t seen one in ages, better lighting that works etc. If the studios don’t improve with the increase, I don’t think I will return.
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Hi Sophie, thank you for sharing. The tablets are being replaced by a new mobile connected app for recording, which we’re really excited about. The 3000s are on back order - with the recent global microchip shortage and supply chain issues we’ve been struggling to get enough for the entire network. Rest assured that we are doing everything we can do improve the experience for you. Again, I’m happy to chat with anyone or likewise Borrie.
We’ve only used Pirate for one session so far and were happy enough to book another (especially since I had a discount code) - even with the discount applied, our next session will be costing more than the first one. At first we thought this might’ve been because we booked it during ‘peak hours’ (Friday evening) but I see the overall prices have risen quite considerably - it’s now more expensive for us to book a three hour session at Pirate than it is at our local rehearsal studios… going forward, we may well return to the cheaper (and just as good) local option as a result…
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