@noynekker, totally!

mariogag
facebook is free and it is worth...what...billions.

M

Facebook is not a good example considering the controversies involving personal data.  

I have watched too many products in my lifetime go from "also-ran" to trend overnight to count out Cakewalk.  FL Studio went from  shareware like product to one of the leading DAWs used in pop music because a few big names in respective genres ,made mega-hits with it, spawning imitators.  
 

dubdisciple
I have watched too many products in my lifetime go from "also-ran" to trend overnight to count out Cakewalk.  FL Studio went from  shareware like product to one of the leading DAWs used in pop music because a few big names in respective genres ,made mega-hits with it, spawning imitators.  
 

May I ask what year this big name stuff happened ? At what point was it considered hot ? 

noynekker
 . . . could we just rename this thread "The Conspiracy Theories Thread" ?
Take a deep breath and try to remember that they revived our beloved Cakewalk from a dead end future.
Yeah, brought it back from the edge of catastrophe.
 
It's free because the hard part is already done and programmed. It's free because there are too many DAWs that do the same thing in different ways. It's free because the company that bought it can afford it to be free. It's free for the same reason that Windows 10 and MAC 10 are free. It's free because it eliminates the need to even bother to compete in the DAW wars . . . a nice war, where no one dies. It's free because it helps marketing gurus to connect with the masses, in order to sell you other related products in the future. It's free because the game of chess has been played the same old way for far too long.

Nice points.
 
Plus, CbB now has an edge in the DAW Wars that only Reaper had before - a wealthy benefactor.   That has effectively allowed Reaper to have the loosest copy protection in the business (based on trust - which is laudable).  Now CbB has eclipsed that with its free status.
 
And unless Justin's invested really well since he earned his WinAmp payoff, Meng and his family's business are in another $ league.  Plus Meng seems interested and committed to CbB.   That may change in the future but Avid could go out of business, Cubase could be sold again, etc.  - you get the point.
 
So, life is good in Cakewalk land.   The best it has been in quite some time.   Enjoy!
 
Now if they would just make that Mac version.
 
urock
 
 

urock
 
Now if they would just make that Mac version.

Waiting for the Mac version ...
 

 
 

iRelevant

dubdisciple
I have watched too many products in my lifetime go from "also-ran" to trend overnight to count out Cakewalk.  FL Studio went from  shareware like product to one of the leading DAWs used in pop music because a few big names in respective genres ,made mega-hits with it, spawning imitators.  
 

May I ask what year this big name stuff happened ? At what point was it considered hot ? 

Not sure if you are being serious or not, but I could list tons, but will start with one that may have started the popularity in the mainstream.  I hate this song, but it was huge:
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" spent seven weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100in the fall of 2007, and was the number 21 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[4] The song received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song..."  First song ever to sell 3 million digitally.  Oddly enough, it was made using the demo.
 
In addition , songs by the likes of Eminem (Love the Way You Lie), Deadmaus (6 grammy nominations), Drake and Lil Wayne regularly use  music produced on FL.  I could rattle off number one billboard hot 100 after hot 100 hit ,made on Fl since.

dubdisciple

iRelevant

dubdisciple
I have watched too many products in my lifetime go from "also-ran" to trend overnight to count out Cakewalk.  FL Studio went from  shareware like product to one of the leading DAWs used in pop music because a few big names in respective genres ,made mega-hits with it, spawning imitators.  
 

May I ask what year this big name stuff happened ? At what point was it considered hot ? 

Not sure if you are being serious or not, but I could list tons, but will start with one that may have started the popularity in the mainstream.  I hate this song, but it was huge:
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" spent seven weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100in the fall of 2007, and was the number 21 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[4] The song received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song..."  First song ever to sell 3 million digitally.  Oddly enough, it was made using the demo.
 
In addition , songs by the likes of Eminem (Love the Way You Lie), Deadmaus (6 grammy nominations), Drake and Lil Wayne regularly use  music produced on FL.  I could rattle off number one billboard hot 100 after hot 100 hit ,made on Fl since.

Thanks, I've been living under a rock :) I've been following FL since the early V1 beta days. Thought I was a outsider, then I joined their forum in 2012 and see everyone's talking about how it's hot ****. I thought it was just hype to make people feel good about themselves. Never heard of Soulja Boy, did a quick Soundcloud scan ... doesn't look like I missed anything :) Thanks for the update.  

noynekker
 . . . could we just rename this thread "The Conspiracy Theories Thread" ?

 
Some people here don't understand that business isn't just "sell widget = receive money" any more, especially if a business is a division of a much larger company. That even applies to those who think data is a widget...it may or may not be.
 

It's free because the hard part is already done and programmed. It's free because there are too many DAWs that do the same thing in different ways. It's free because the company that bought it can afford it to be free. It's free for the same reason that Windows 10 and MAC 10 are free. It's free because it eliminates the need to even bother to compete in the DAW wars . . . a nice war, where no one dies. It's free because it helps marketing gurus to connect with the masses, in order to sell you other related products in the future. It's free because the game of chess has been played the same old way for far too long.

Absolutely, to which I would add...
 

• BandLab probably got more press for reviving Sonar in one month than Cakewalk got for the monthly updates in a year.
• Maybe BandLab will finally implement add-ons which you can choose to buy or not.
• They got a ton of good code to use in other products.
• They can keep people in the BandLab ecosystem who grow beyond the basics. Customer retention is very expensive, and CbB provides an inexpensive customer retention mechanism.
• More people will try it and put videos and such out on the web...promotion that costs BandLab nothing.
• People who drifted away from Cakewalk over the years can try the program, be pleasantly surprised at what they missed, and get sucked back in...and maybe buy some of the add-ons one day :)

 
As I've said before, you can look at CbB (in its current form) as a lousy profit center, or as a brilliantly efficient, and low cost (over the long haul) marketing expense. I have no idea how BandLab looks at it, but that's what I see.
 

Song was garbage but huge. At any given point during the year there are multiple fl produced songs in top 40. Lots of them are garbage as well but very popular garbage