stratman70
Guitar center is dying because of the INTERNET. Not because guitar sales are down.

mister happy

 
SONAR X1 was repeatedly excused as the most successful version of SONAR ever. That year ended with a gain in losses of 220,000 dollars for a total year end loss of $426,000.
By the time X1E had furthered this great success the total loss for the year was $891,000 and the companies assets had been scuttled.
 
The fact is that Gibson, probably the infamous CEO himself, stepped in as an ANGEL INVESTOR and provided Cakewalk with several more years of opportunity to balance the situation.
 
Cakewalk then proceeded to execute a litany of transparently desperate attempts to secure revenue at minimal expense, but it seems to have cost too much to do so. 
 
Gibson is a privately held company so the facts about Cakewalk disappeared from public view. Meanwhile, the minister of propaganda lambasted anybody that commented about the business and the obvious situation with insulting rhetoric.
 
The perspective, as I see it, is that Gibson saved the day for Cakewalk, but that was several years ago, and Gibson can no longer afford to prop up a operation that will not support itself.
 
I still rely on SONAR 8.5.3 for my work, but paid my way through to Platinum Lifetime updates hoping that someday someone would emerge and lead the company with common sense. It always seemed to me that if Cakewalk merely focused on the DAW, and not a smorgasbord of free goodies that cost a lot of resources and money to serve up, the company could find efficiency and prosperity by serving the customers who realize how dependent they are on timely and effective service. Users such as myself, who want to continue to capitalize on the skills they have learned using SONAR and will gladly pay to support an operation focused on maintenance rather than bloating.
 
Witnessing Cakewalk's downward spiral caused by its insistence on catering to, and cultivating the patronage of, a community of cheapskates has been disappointing. I am not surprised by the vile backlash targeted at Gibson which is being voiced by this community. It was focused on getting something for next to nothing and now it has panicked at the realization that there is nothing more to get.
 
I have also been and continue to be perplexed by the myopic focus on a popular myth that electronic music has replaced traditional forms of music. Guitar and acoustic piano sales remain strong and the sales numbers for those categories dwarf the sales activity of electronic music devices by twenty fold. Digital audio software companies that entertain the interests of musicians that use staff notation seem to be doing as well. Presonus is a good example. Electronic music may seem popular on the "charts", but It has seemed obvious that any business in the music instruments industry that chooses to ignore the opportunity to serve the millions and millions of people who already know, and continue to learn, how to play traditional forms of music is operating with an easy to identify opportunity cost.
 
In any event, Gibson was an angel investor that saved Cakewalk and gave it a chance to survive. It bought Cakewalk when no one else could afford to touch it. It must have been a great struggle to justify a sponsorship such as this. We will never know how much money Gibson wasted in an attempt to keep Cakewalk afloat while users continued to enjoy receiving product.
 
I appreciate Gibson for having tried. 
 
Thank you.
  
 
 
 
 
 

Noah330
I would bet you anything that Sonar lost a ton of folks to Avid, who aren't doing all that well these days.

Mystic38
Guitar sales have plummeted,  Both Fender and Gibson are in dire straights due to this one single fact. bottom line is, millenials wont pick up an instrument that you actually have to spend time to practice on
 

Cactus Music
If you were in the market for a high end acoustic, you would only buy a Gibson because you "thought" they were a name brand, not because it was actaully worth it. Anybody with common sence and knowledge of what makes a great acoustic will walk out the door with a Taylor or one of the other many better guitars made here in Canada under the Godin company. 

tenfoot

vintagevibe
Regardless of their business practices, Gibson makes superb acoustic guitars.

Haha - they really don't! Even most Gibson players I know dont like their accoustics, much less anyone that has ever held a decent guitar:) Fender accoustics are equally as horrible, and I love me a strat or two:) 

tenfoot
 
2.  You see a lot of people eating Mcdonalds too. Doesn't  make it fine dining.