I haven't liked this whole thing from the start even though it may well be the best offer ever. Glad I didn't purchase the lifetime offer as I was short on cash and figured if that was it then forget it. Might jump on it before the end of the year but this whole thing reeks of cash grab. If nothing else Cake should have brought it back as a later offer instead of just extending it like this. My 2 cents.

Cakewalk had no idea what to expect when they introduced lifetime updates, which was a great deal to reward the loyal Platinum members. But Cakewalk didn't want to commit to doing it forever, so they put a time limit on the offer.   
 
If it had been an indefinite period of time some people some would have complained that they couldn't plan accordingly.
 
If it had been shorter, some people would have complained they didn't have enough time to get their finances together.
 
If it had been longer, it would have been problematic if too many people bought at the incredibly low prorated price. 
 
As August 31st drew closer Cakewalk received a lot of emails from people who couldn't afford to buy before the deadline ended, and were unhappy. Many wanted to know if there was any chance there would be a special. Cakewalk said sorry, the offer would end on August 31st. Which it did.
 
But even though some people will always prioritize being dissatisfied no matter what a company does, Cakewalk does like to keep the majority of the customer base happy. So they created a new offer which wasn't as good a deal, but still allowed people to have lifetime updates through the holiday season.
 
One would assume most people would think "That's cool, there's a company that's really considerate and listening to the people who couldn't afford the original Lifetime Update offer. It's fair that many (or most) of them will have to pay more. After all, they missed out on the original deal."
 
But obviously, not all people.

I upgraded to Platinum in the beginning of 2016 too! And they wanted $199 from me too..... been a Sonar/Windows evangelist from Pro Audio 9.... I didn't bite, still considered on 8/31 during a gig of buying it anyway...... something felt wrong.....didn't do it. Wow, I guess I got lucky this time!

My annual renewal for Splat was good thru Jan 2017. I would have preferred to have had the option to wait until the end of the year to take up the offer.

MBGantt
If nothing else Cake should have brought it back as a later offer instead of just extending it like this. 

 
They didn't extend the offer. It's a different offer.
 
But suppose they brought it back in November. Think of all the people moaning and whining "I bought it in September or October. You just did that to squeeze more cash out of people. If I'd waited I could have had it for less." Not to mention adding incredible complications to the accounting end of things...what would happen to the monthly people who then upgraded during the non-LTU time, or if someone bought SONAR in October and then decided to upgrade in November, or what stores selling SONAR would do about raising and then lowering the price...
 
It's much fairer to the customer base to say "Okay, you missed out on the great deal, but here's a pretty sweet deal as a follow-up."
 
Cakewalk's only product is NOT renewals to SONAR Platinum. It's one source of income out of many.

There was something special in the air in the summer time, but not anymore. I get that special price offer and now it's like nothing. Some body's just fishing the money. Not a big deal. My wallet is closed now.

im am very surprised at the suspicion level (then again not really). with this offer.
im still trying to figure out how one would feel slighted if they did extend the offer ?
what you got was a great deal..but now you feel slighted because they would extended that deal ?
who cares.
 
Please just let this be. I don't know about the rest of you..but I enjoy being thrown a bone once in a while. I enjoy being given a good deal. im not rich.
I paid the same as you did...am I upset if cakewalk would extend this offer ?
not at all.

chuckebaby
im am very surprised at the suspicion level (then again not really). with this offer.
im still trying to figure out how one would feel slighted if they did extend the offer ?
what you got was a great deal..but now you feel slighted because they would extended that deal ?
who cares.
 
forgive me if im wrong but I don't see the slight there. all this moaning and complaining, some people you can't give them anyone anything without them trying to look for a loop hole.
 
those same people with suspicions who will miss out on this deal will surely be complaining later on that they missed out on the deal and "why weren't we given more time".
Please just let this be. what your doing is possibly screwing up future great deals from Cakewalk in fear of causing a hysteria on their forums like with this lifetime upgrades. Please don't mess it up for the rest of us who want to take advantage of these deals. 

It just does not feel incredible deal or special deal anymore.

Thank you Cakewalk for giving Mac users a chance to actually test drive Sonar for Mac before taking the plunge.

odyssey70

chuckebaby
im am very surprised at the suspicion level (then again not really). with this offer.
im still trying to figure out how one would feel slighted if they did extend the offer ?
what you got was a great deal..but now you feel slighted because they would extended that deal ?
who cares.
 
forgive me if im wrong but I don't see the slight there. all this moaning and complaining, some people you can't give them anyone anything without them trying to look for a loop hole.
 
those same people with suspicions who will miss out on this deal will surely be complaining later on that they missed out on the deal and "why weren't we given more time".
Please just let this be. what your doing is possibly screwing up future great deals from Cakewalk in fear of causing a hysteria on their forums like with this lifetime upgrades. Please don't mess it up for the rest of us who want to take advantage of these deals. 

It just does not feel incredible deal or special deal anymore.

that's your opinion and I respect that. but with that being said...
im signed up for life.  If your paying monthly, annually, yearly, in 2025 I will still have free sonar updates.
sorry you don't feel the same.