What you're seeing is part of a long-term strategy that no one in the forums has figured out, and that's excellent...because it means the competition probably hasn't figured it out either.
 
A lot of people here claim to understand business and therefore say concepts like lifetime updates can't work. But there have already been proofs of concept of lifetime updates...last time I looked, Image-Line, Microsoft, Apple, and others are still in business. They make more from compelling add-ons than they made from OS updates. It's not rocket science.
 
But also, you can't claim to understand a business if you have no access to the data involved in that business. The speculations in this forum have virtually no value because they're based on no facts, no figures, and no idea of the road map that's planned for the next few months and years. 
 
I've been poking around Cakewalk and have a pretty good idea of all of the above. And no, I'm not going to tell you, any more than I'm going to email all of Cakewalk's competitors and say "Listen up, folks! You better be ready to counter these upcoming initiatives, so here they are!"
 
People say "How can SONAR possibly compete with Logic, which is subsidized by Apple so it costs only $199?" Well, maybe there are areas where Apple is not paying attention.
 
For what it's worth...
 

• People said that Cakewalk would be out of business in a year after Gibson bought the company. I disagreed. Cakewalk is still in business.
• People said Cakewalk would never be able to deliver monthly updates. I disagreed. Cakewalk delivered monthly updates. 
• People said staff view was a dead issue and there would never be any fixes. I disagreed. Several Staff View fixes have been made. 
• People said Cakewalk would just take the money from membership and once they had the money, not feel obligated to deliver anything. I disagreed. Look what Cakewalk has delivered in the past year.

 
Feel free to believe the negative people who have been consistently wrong in the past. Just hope they're not financial advisors 
 
Granted, nothing is ever a slam dunk. A meteor could hit Boston and wipe out the dev team. Look what happened to the economy after 9/11. An antibiotic-resistant bacteria could kill 80% of the world's population, and people would have, shall we say, other things on their minds than whether if they signed up for membership in April 2015, skipped three months, rejoined, then changed their socks while upgrading from Artist to Platinum and changed to monthly payments, are they still eligible to save $46.12 on lifetime updates.
 
For those who really are musicians, just remember any time spent speculating without data is time that could have been spent making music.
 
Peace out. I need to work on some things you don't know about 
 

Anderton
 
 
For those who really are musicians, just remember any time spent speculating without data is time that could have been spent making music.
 
Peace out. I need to work on some things you don't know about 
 

This is basically me.  I don't have time for all of the drama.  I am so happy to have these tools that were not available to me back in the 80's.  Why waste all of the time whining when I can have fun creating.  

After 12 hrs of thinking on it, I can see that an OSX version of Sonar is great for Gibson Brands. It's been clear for a long time that Gibson has no interest in being just a guitar company. When you look at the acquisitions they have made it's clear they want to be everywhere in the music chain. They have instruments, microphones, monitors, I/O hardware and everything in between. There are a lot of unknowns as Craig has pointed out. But if Gibson now want to be everywhere in the recording and production chain, they need to be on the desk at as many recording studio's as possible. So IF a majority of studio's run Mac computers, then they need Mac software. I have no idea if Macs are that big, but if it's true then I'm willing to bet Gibson told Cakewalk to get them a Mac DAW.
 
The rest of the announcement is something that will shake out. Cakewalk has delivered a lot in the last year. But people generally hate change and we've experienced a lot of change in the last 18 months. I personally don't think the Platinum price point really lived up to my expectations, but that's me. I can only speculate that they will flatten the product structure so that there's just a light version and a flag ship, all in Mac and PC formats. Things like the LP comp and EQ will never be part of a monthly update cycle again. Everything that can be  bolted on will cost money, and that makes sense as well. IT's going to replace the annual renewal money. As changes are made there will be under the hood mods required to run the new stuff. I think that is what will become our core product updates. Changes that are made to optimize the system and handle new add-ons.
 
But as Craig said, I/we don't know, and aren't privy to the inside information. But it sure makes sense to me from a business perspective.
 
(EDIT) - This is not meant to be a critical series of statements, I'm actually pleased to get the lifetime deal.

I'm actually happy about a constantly updated core product.  I bought the lifetime upgrades.  I just don't get the complaining.  At all. And the fact that they've spent so much time and effort to port it over to Mac should prove absolutely how Sonar isn't going away any time soon.  All of these announcements are excellent news.

Clearly Cakewalk is not standing still or stagnating; it appears quite the opposite. I find that reassuring, and I'm anticipating great things. Thank you Craig for the "inside baseball" glimpse into how CW is approaching the future. I think this new direction will be great for users ( old and new) and the company overall.

Dear Craig,
 
With respect your statement -
 
"People said staff view was a dead issue and there would never be any fixes. I disagreed. Several Staff View fixes have been made."
 
As a staff view user forever, I think one could make one of two comments about your statement either

1. Making a mountain out of a molehill. OR
2. Gilding the lily (apologies to Shakespeare)

I hope in the new direction you make a micropayment real staff view plugin/extension.
 
Kind regards
vmw
 

It's a sad fact that society complains all the time but rarely says well done.
Okay the MAC announcement is of no use to me but come on as the song goes "2 out of 3 ain't bad"
Well done Cakewalk you hvae listened to us and I think you are going in the right direction.

I might not have been long term user by some peoples standards, but iv used Sonar since Sonar 7 after switching from Cubase. I've tried pro tools, while its a great program that i will not bad mouth, it didnt work with me like Sonar does. Sonars grown greatly in my eyes and when my clients and friends ask what program i use and say "sonar" they usually stare at me blankly not knowing what it is, but they soon find out ;). Ill be working on a project and someone will come over and say like "Wt* program is that? that looks dope"(i deal mostly with rappers), and iv managed to convert a few people over to it and haven't had any come back and complain yet.
 
Job well done Sonar, i appreciate everything y'all have come out with and helping me prove to all these DAW fanboys that its more your knowledge and how you use the tools available to you rather than just using "industry standard". My clients cant tell what program it is after the finished product comes out lol.

Well said Craig. I did however notice that my Lifetime Membership is valid only until 2037. Is that a clue as to when the world will end? You guys have inside info, doncha?

Cakewalk to my knowledge has never gone back on their word. Of all the companies around CW has shown great integrity and stands head and shoulders above all the others. Its also clear that Graig would never associate himself with a company that stretches the truth or leaves their customers wanting.
 
Contrast CW and Gibson with support for Apple Macs with how Apple adsorbed Emagic than dropped all PC support in all software and hardware Emagic sold. CW is offering lifetime updates to its loyal members at a very modest fee and when the Mac version is out it will be available to all lifetime users.  People this is the very essence of integrity.  
 
I don't know how CW can afford to do this but I do believe them completely that they will. When one has this kind of relationship with a company it makes sense to treasure it.  
 
I am proud to be a member and also a host here because I completely believe in this company. I have watched it grow through the years. I have seen it weather some hard times. (Recall the roll out of Sonar X1.)  Recall how much they were attacked. All they asked was our patients. There were a number that could not or would not do that.
What you all see here is the fruit of you patients and loyalty. But it would have not been possible if the company itself was not fully committed to its customer base.