Hi
Just wanted to share a bit that maybe is of use for Cakewalk - when am I ready to pay again?
 
Short version - when there is something I really want or need - then I am ready to pay up.
For me it's not enough with knowing about all these updates and things that don't matter to me.
 
Not sure if this is human nature over all - but it's how I work.
 
For various reasons I jumped to Cubase in june last year - since buying Cubase Pro was about the same money as good notation.
And I have headroom with many things that I might need, like VCA faders etc. And I can place busses withing track folders etc.
 
Now as my Sonar membership expired in feb, I have looked to see what major stuff was saved up for one year anniversary and probably the largest crowd of users are to open their wallets again.
 
To my disappointment - nothing was saved up - not a single surprise feature?
 
The major things introduced on sonar 2015 was upsampling synths, and patchpoints - and patchpoints was one thing that might have made me go up to Sonar Pro and just do notation in Cubase.
 
So if other people work like me - Cakewalk, be smart on how you release major stuff?
Sales psychology is like that - you are ready to pay if there is something you really want.
So this general thing with rolling updates does not work to pay up again - not for me.
 
So if Forum Hosts can avoid moving this to a forum where nobody participate - it could be good feedback to Bakers how you feel about the same thing.
 
Are membership for rolling updates working for you to pay up again?
These endless campaígns from Cakewalk tells me it's not quite working for them as anticipated.
 
Sonar is a fine daw, and I have the longest history with Sonar from Sonar 4 Studio, before that Cakewalk Pro 3.0 late 80's.
 
So chime in how you feel about it....
Best regards
Lars

I don't think so. As in not in agreement. As in I do think the people at Cakewalk are smart. As in I wish they would move this thread to the designated area. As in I suspect your disappointment is familiar to you. As in paid up buckled up and moving on, how about doing the same.

Hey Lars. That's the cool thing about the membership system though - you can opt out for a while until you see something you like. With such a broad range of users I imagine it would be difficult to choose features to 'save up' for the anniversary of the programs start date when most users will be re-uping for membership. On every release it seems that what some love, others dismiss as useless.
I considered the previous year as a whole and thought it was great value for money. Given the meagre cost, for me renewing was a no brainer:)

tenfoot
Hey Lars. That's the cool thing about the membership system though - you can opt out for a while until you see something you like. With such a broad range of users I imagine it would be difficult to choose features to 'save up' for the anniversary of the programs start date when most users will be re-uping for membership. On every release it seems that what some love, others dismiss as useless.
I considered the previous year as a whole and thought it was great value for money. Given the meagre cost, for me renewing was a no brainer:)

Thanks for your comment.
Good terms and incredible determination by Cakewalk - not saying anything else.
Just when it comes to paying up again - you really want something major - at least I do.
 
The greedy part of me did not want to upgrade to Sonar Pro in sept/okt when patchpoints came - as I had 4 months membership of Sonar Artist left. Another part is that it's not main daw anymore, but if having had that release in Feb I might have gone with it.
 
I assume the largest part for membership came beginning 2015 as rolling updates started then.
Wouldn't it be good business to have something major saved up for then - is my thought.

tenfoot
I considered the previous year as a whole and thought it was great value for money. Given the meagre cost, for me renewing was a no brainer:)

This.

Before Cakewalk switched Sonar to the monthly update schedule, they had an system that saved up lots of new features for one big annual release associated with a new version number. Many software companies do that. I find it much better to have monthly updates. I get the new stuff faster. I have time spread out all through the year to learn the new stuff a chunk at a time. But I can control the timing of new feature installations. If I want a big batch of new things all at once, I can decide to install updates quarterly or even annually. At the same time, Cakewalk has a schedule of many opportunities to implement any required bug fixes, so they don't have to save them up for a batch fix-it release. Anyone curious about the extent of improvements each month can look at the extensive details posted in the e-zines. Each individual can decide which parts are useful for their own projects and which to ignore.
 
I continue to purchase with an annual payment as a way to get a discount. Those who like smaller monthly payments can do so. New users can start with just the monthly payments instead of a big lump sum amount, but they still own the software after the first year of payments. New users can start any time during the year without any worry about when the next big release might come out. I think Cakewalk made a good marketing decision that takes full advantage of psychology that applies to many purchasers. I would not be happy if they went back to the old approach.

notscruffy2
I don't think so. As in not in agreement. As in I do think the people at Cakewalk are smart. As in I wish they would move this thread to the designated area. As in I suspect your disappointment is familiar to you. As in paid up buckled up and moving on, how about doing the same.

That's cool - it's what forums are for - expressing your view.
As I said, I'm not paying up until there is something major - that is how I work.

lfm
The greedy part of me did not want to upgrade to Sonar Pro in sept/okt when patchpoints came - as I had 4 months membership of Sonar Artist left. Another part is that it's not main daw anymore, but if having had that release in Feb I might have gone with it.

hey lars - to be sure, you understand that patchpoints was also included in the february release? the updates are cumulative, apart from some (not much) content along the way...

rwheeler
Before Cakewalk switched Sonar to the monthly update schedule, they had an system that saved up lots of new features for one big annual release associated with a new version number. Many software companies do that. I find it much better to have monthly updates. 

But is that theory - how do we really work, what is the psychology of getting someone to buy something?
 
I could have renewed one month in advance(dec 31st), getting another year Sonar Artist for $25, and I didn't go for it - 50% off.
 
And I asked myself why?
 
My conclusion was that nothing is in there - like Mixrecall and stuff one year earlier.
Not even an apitizer - that would be the announced improvement for support just recently.
To quickly have a dialog over a problem, and see if there is a workaround until fixed - that is part what I am ready to pay up for. So far support has not improved a cent since rolling updates, unless you want to spend a annual membership on a single phone call.
 
Bottomline - what is human nature when it comes to opening your wallet?
I think one major feature needs to be saved in a smart way to where maybe 70% of members renew.
 
Thinking about the turbulence with Avid and ProTools - for a year they had such severe penalties not buying in on subscription that they made users mad over the terms. Then stock went from $18 to $8 and they shifted policy suddenly to very reasonable terms. Now stock is down on $6 so they are not doing well anyway.
 
Is it subscription/membership style that does not work with human nature?
 
I'm seriously interested in how it works, and since I like Sonar as daw and could very well be top daw on market with some additions - I am closely looking at what is happening.

pwalpwal

lfm
The greedy part of me did not want to upgrade to Sonar Pro in sept/okt when patchpoints came - as I had 4 months membership of Sonar Artist left. Another part is that it's not main daw anymore, but if having had that release in Feb I might have gone with it.

hey lars - to be sure, you understand that patchpoints was also included in the february release? the updates are cumulative, apart from some (not much) content along the way...

Yes, thank you, I do get that.
But I mentioned in later post - that membership of Artist kept me from updating to Pro - since I had four months left. I saw no update alternatives for doing that - where four months left made a discount.
 
And that is where my dive into my mind started - why do I reason like that?
Is membership a good idea or not?
 
If it really was a good idea - all these major discounts would not be needed - as I see it.
 
I did not mean to offend anyone - I am seriously interested how we work and if that might give Cakewalk a clue how to proceed with updates.
 
Maybe keep one major thing to where the largest crowd is renewing?