Is it nuts to purchase my yearly Sonar now?

kitekrazy1

Anderton
I had originally suggested that content be available only in "real time" - if you sat out for six months, although upon resuming you received the program updates, you got none of the content. I thought that would be a good way to reward those who keep up with the program. Content has taken a bit of a back seat the past few months because of the concentration on optimizations, but I have quite a bit "in the can" that will hopefully appear in the months to come.

 That's like a punishment.  Updating most versions of Sonar never had something removed unless it was a 3rd party extension.

slartabartfast
The whole concept of "upgrade" may need to be re-thought. Presently the only upgrades would be from the immediate prior version (X3 appears to be the only thing that qualifies as a prior version now) traditionally set at the lowest tier price and  previous versions or any Cakewalk product at different price tiers. At some point X3 may no longer be treated as the cheap "upgrade" product, but just fall into the previous owner discount tier. The new membership model seems to lend itself to the concept of a "renewal" rather than an upgrade. Like magazine subscription renewals that price could vary depending on how Cakewalk wants to drive sales, with a lower price for loyal customers or if sales are lagging. How long a user can let a membership lapse before a new subscription (or prepaid 12 month "ownership") is required has not been clearly stated. Current users would like a simple way of judging what their price (actually their loyalty discount) will be.
 
But the need for simple to administer policy is even more important if Cakewalk is planning to continue to use independent distributors. The distributors provide a valuable free and invisible sales force in that a clerk in a music store is unlikely to recommend a product that his store does not sell. For a distributor to sell a new prepaid membership requires nothing except a list of authorization codes, but if they are to sell "renewals" it needs to be clear what previous ownership status qualifies, or the distributor may find himself facing disgruntled customers who bought a product that Cakewalk will not authorize. Technically, a user who has bought only eleven consecutive months of a monthly membership has no Cakewalk "ownership" history at all, and if he has bought interrupted monthly periods even over several years he is in the same situation. It is pretty simple for Cakewalk to administer member records and make an on the spot determination of the discount eligibility at the Cakewalk Store, but it would be cumbersome for distributors to do so. 

stickman393
I seriously expected that the change to monthly/annual membership fee and monthly updates would make this whole argument about "should I take advantage of the sale price now or will I be screwed out of some perceived better deal on the next version" completely moot.
 
I guess I was wrong.
 
No matter what Cakewalk does with respect to sales, they'll be folks complaining about it.

CANNIMAGINE
Those of us that have been using Cakewalk products for years should be rewarded with discounts and incentives.