mettelus
Not sure why, but I get this terrible feeling Gibson's marketing had a hand in this product.

Why do you say that?

Alex Westner [Cakewalk]

ZincTrumpet
I had a quick look on my iPad and to be honest it seems like a simple 4 track audio recorder.
There are many similar apps for IOS which are cheap or free. I use LoopyHD which is $3.99 currently but I got it when it was on sale for less.
 
Even the free Apple Music Notes which admittedly only records a single track can then automatically recognise chords, add bass and drums and send the result to Garageband.
 
There's no way I would consider paying a subscription for Momentum and I cannot see myself using even the free version so I have uninstalled it. It should be free for anyone who owns or subscribes to Sonar.
 
One point made over on the AudioBus forum is that users of IOS Z3ta+ feel that it was abandoned by Cakewalk and wouldn't want to get stung again with Momentum.

Momentum is not a single app on a device. If it were, I agree with you, it would just be a free app.
 
Momentum works on every device you own, and any DAW you use. With automatic cloud sync, your musical ideas and snippets are always available.
 
Some people are using Momentum to record ideas on the smartphones and later drag-drop them into their DAW.
 
Some I spoke to are using it as a plug-in in one DAW to make beats, recording those beats into the Momentum plug-in and then loading the plug-in in their primary music production DAW.
 
Soon we hope to add inter-app audio and more collaboration features that will open up even more possibilities.
 
The bottom line is this—musicians we spoke to often complain they don't have time to make music. And then when they find the time, they just don't feel like wrestling with their DAW just to get an idea down. Momentum is attempting to solve that and help musicians get their ideas out and see them through.
 

Thanks for your response Alex. I can see how it would be useful but I really don't find it that much of an issue to transfer ideas from my iPad to the PC using DropBox, Audioshare etc. I will give the free version a proper trial though using the PC version to sync with what's on the iPad to see if the benefits justify the cost but for me somehow I doubt it.

Mesh

Alex Westner [Cakewalk]

Mesh
Thanks Alex for the details.....it's just that subscription model that's putting me off. If there was a way we could purchase it outright, that would definitely change the outlook..... 

Interesting, I'd love to chat with you guys more about this.
 
During some customer interviews we did get objections about subscription models in general. With one guy, in particular, he said he just hated them.
 
So I said, "Would you pay $0/month for Momentum?"
 
He said, "Well, that's free, of course I would."
 
I followed up with, "So then what's the lowest dollar amount you'd pay above $0?"
 
He said, "Something like $3/month would be reasonable, I guess, but I don't think you guys would go for that."
 
I said, "No, that's great feedback, and it's in the ballpark of what we've been thinking". 
 
Then he said, "Well, what happens when I stop paying my subscription? Do I lose all my audio?"
 
I said, "No, the point of Momentum is to get your audio out of the platform so you can keep working on it. You can always drag-drop or copy audio out of Momentum and onto your Desktop or in your DAW. So before you stop paying, you'd just grab everything you want/need."
 
He said, "Ok, that's cool then."

Interesting story.... what's also interesting is he "hated" the subscription model, but still subscribed.....(must've been the money thing). 

I can't speak for others in here, but I personally just don't like being tied down/committed to a monthly subscription plan (even at $3). I understand there are costs in maintaining/supporting it and the subscription model will facilitate that well, but I'd rather pay a "little" extra (when initially buying) for that support and own it outright.
 
I suppose it's probably just having a peace of mind....(just the way I feel about owning Sonar Platinum and all the other software I bought).     

I understand the simplicity and security of owning something outright.
 
With the Momentum Plans, you wouldn't be "tied down" in that you could pay monthly and start/stop whenever you want.
 
And, you'd probably save a ton of money compared to what we'd have to charge as a one-time fee for unlimited, lifetime cloud syncing, which would could be so high as to not make sense. But, we could be wrong about that.
 
I can just ask you directly: considering a $2.99/month, $29.99/year subscription plan, what would you expect to be for a one-time lifetime fee instead?
 
Also, if you don't mind me continuing to dig in, can you say more about what "peace of mind" means to you? I'd love to learn other ways we can help provide this.

ZincTrumpet

Alex Westner [Cakewalk]

ZincTrumpet
I had a quick look on my iPad and to be honest it seems like a simple 4 track audio recorder.
There are many similar apps for IOS which are cheap or free. I use LoopyHD which is $3.99 currently but I got it when it was on sale for less.
 
Even the free Apple Music Notes which admittedly only records a single track can then automatically recognise chords, add bass and drums and send the result to Garageband.
 
There's no way I would consider paying a subscription for Momentum and I cannot see myself using even the free version so I have uninstalled it. It should be free for anyone who owns or subscribes to Sonar.
 
One point made over on the AudioBus forum is that users of IOS Z3ta+ feel that it was abandoned by Cakewalk and wouldn't want to get stung again with Momentum.

Momentum is not a single app on a device. If it were, I agree with you, it would just be a free app.
 
Momentum works on every device you own, and any DAW you use. With automatic cloud sync, your musical ideas and snippets are always available.
 
Some people are using Momentum to record ideas on the smartphones and later drag-drop them into their DAW.
 
Some I spoke to are using it as a plug-in in one DAW to make beats, recording those beats into the Momentum plug-in and then loading the plug-in in their primary music production DAW.
 
Soon we hope to add inter-app audio and more collaboration features that will open up even more possibilities.
 
The bottom line is this—musicians we spoke to often complain they don't have time to make music. And then when they find the time, they just don't feel like wrestling with their DAW just to get an idea down. Momentum is attempting to solve that and help musicians get their ideas out and see them through.
 

Thanks for your response Alex. I can see how it would be useful but I really don't find it that much of an issue to transfer ideas from my iPad to the PC using DropBox, Audioshare etc. I will give the free version a proper trial though using the PC version to sync with what's on the iPad to see if the benefits justify the cost but for me somehow I doubt it.

Fair enough, thanks! 

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]
Why do you think its half done? We have all the features we intended to release in the first version fully baked in what we released. Perhaps you are confusing early access which was done last week. Yesterday we released the full app.
Also I'm not sure what you are expecting from this app. It is NOT intended to be a DAW but its a quick access capture device for ideas and as such the features are streamlined for fast and easy capture without burying the user in features that are not key to this task. 

You are correct. I don't have my device so I've not been able to install it, myself and didn't know the companion tool was already released as I thought that was a "coming soon but not yet" feature so I was mistaken in that. That said, hopefully it works as intended without hitch in all DAWs and that they got extensive internal testing so as not to bugger up when someone goes to use it. I see far too many products released these days without the proper testing time to work the kinks out.

Alex Westner [Cakewalk]
We've done enough work with customers throughout this entire process to know that we are delivering value that people want... today.
 
It may not be interesting to you, and that's OK.
 
Of course we will continue to grow the product and reach more people.

 
Would it be possible to offer a version of the application that can save work to an SDCard or internal storage and connect to the DAW via a wifi or USB connection but without the limitations so you could save as many ideas as you want to the device in lossless quality at any length as long as you have the storage space and be able to work with the DAW connect tool? I'd be more than happy to pay a flat fee for something like that.

I don't have a subscription to Izotope, but they manage to take at least £100 a year off me in upgrade costs if not more. I paid a year upfront subscription to Noiiz and am no longer tempted by sample packs as they have more than I will ever need and it keeps growing, so I don't think there are any wrong answers with either model, You either see it as good value for you personally or not.

Well .. for $2.99 a month or even less - $29.99 a year AND with promise of more stuff added this could develop into something very useful surely? Eventually maybe A Sonar app on phone by another name .. Plus maybe community chat and collaboration eventually?
 
BUT at the moment even the FREE plan with 3 ideas / 5 mins each is useful surely? Just move them to Sonar to clear these 3 ideas out and start another 3?
 
I would say the PRO option could be priced a tad keener. Maybe $59.99 per annum and $5.99 per month?
 
 

Mesh

Alex Westner [Cakewalk]

Mesh
Thanks Alex for the details.....it's just that subscription model that's putting me off. If there was a way we could purchase it outright, that would definitely change the outlook..... 

Interesting, I'd love to chat with you guys more about this.
 
During some customer interviews we did get objections about subscription models in general. With one guy, in particular, he said he just hated them.
 
So I said, "Would you pay $0/month for Momentum?"
 
He said, "Well, that's free, of course I would."
 
I followed up with, "So then what's the lowest dollar amount you'd pay above $0?"
 
He said, "Something like $3/month would be reasonable, I guess, but I don't think you guys would go for that."
 
I said, "No, that's great feedback, and it's in the ballpark of what we've been thinking". 
 
Then he said, "Well, what happens when I stop paying my subscription? Do I lose all my audio?"
 
I said, "No, the point of Momentum is to get your audio out of the platform so you can keep working on it. You can always drag-drop or copy audio out of Momentum and onto your Desktop or in your DAW. So before you stop paying, you'd just grab everything you want/need."
 
He said, "Ok, that's cool then."

Interesting story.... what's also interesting is he "hated" the subscription model, but still subscribed.....(must've been the money thing). 

I can't speak for others in here, but I personally just don't like being tied down/committed to a monthly subscription plan (even at $3). I understand there are costs in maintaining/supporting it and the subscription model will facilitate that well, but I'd rather pay a "little" extra (when initially buying) for that support and own it outright.
 
I suppose it's probably just having a peace of mind....(just the way I feel about owning Sonar Platinum and all the other software I bought).     

I have to agree here, I already have a lot of monthly payments to deal with. I would rather own my software than rent it, just sayin.

I’m thinking $50 as a one-time lifetime fee instead. At least offer this during an introductory period to gain, well, momentum.