willif
 
As stated earlier Sonar has changed the playing field with the introduction of a Membership Program. Now is the time to voice our opinions so this new Program will suit the needs of it users.
 
Sonar wants a Membership, were the members - let's steer the ship! 
 
WiLLi & MMX3P

I'm fine with it just the way it is. IMO Cakewalk have come-up with the best most flexible and fairest buying options available in the DAW world. What's the problem?

Ah yes, those who sit back and take whatever they are given, the company knows best. So whats the problem? This - I bought Sonar X2 Producer upgrade from X1 Exp for $60.00, when I upgraded to X3e Producer, Sonar gave me a $50.00 discount rendering the effective price I paid for X2 Producer to $10.00US, I paid $75.00 for X3e producer, total expense  $125.00US.  Your way 2 upgrades x 199.00 = $398.00US. SEE THE DIFFERENCE!  Smart shopping and going after what U want pays off in real dollars I saved $274.00US. I'm not made of money so I drive a hard bargain. With this new program we get to pay $199.00US/year forever, oh, until they raise it.
 
WiLLi & MMX3P

Gents,
I like the 3 ad drum packs sonar-platinum included a lot and of course
sit back.
@Willif
If you want to save money (do that myself), why haven´t you upgraded via the JRR shops group buy-
it´s been about 125 bucks.I did via sweetwater- 149 bucks- 
I don´t think that the upgrade price will be cheaper for the flagship daw of sonar-
equal which bundles are included.
agreed-Its a good idea - no drum-sampler in  the next upgrade.
regards
 
 

willif is raising a point worth discussing.
 
It's NOT about the cost/value of THIS upgrade or whether AD2 is any good or not. It's how the membership model will evolve.
 
CW has historically bundled classes of 3rd party products with each major release of Sonar such as amp sims (Revalver, NI Guitar Rig, Overloud TH2) and maybe now it's drum packs (AD1, AD2, ...?) These and other packages (i.e. BT bundle, AAS, etc.) can be effective for attracting new users. Forum comments often tout the value of the upgrade as a "no-brainer" in terms of the market price of the bundled 3rd party offerings.
 
I expect this strategy is a reflection of market demographics. The current reality and state of the industry consists of a much larger number of potential customers for CW with lower experience sets and susceptibility to GAS and meticulously modeled myths of "vintage" gear. More is better, right? The marketing theme is pretty consistent across all vendors.
 
The point is the value of generating upgrade/membership purchases with this strategy. How many different drum packs do you really need?
 
Prevailing experience recommends buying the best possible instance of a tool that you -need- (not want) and learn it inside out until you can apply that knowledge in a meaningful way. It's more productive to drive the gear you know like a pro than hoard a grab bag of knobs and meters (or pixels/presets as the case may be). Something like drum software represents a considerable investment to use effectively and while there are many options, IMHO it's better to know one really well.
 
Given that premise, the perceived value of a Sonar upgrade/membership will depend less and less on redundant 3rd party bundles. CW strikes me as understanding the market dynamics and that maintaining status quo (i.e. simply bundling yet another clutch of 3rd party light versions) is not going to be the way forward.
 
So how will the membership model will evolve? I would find value in the following categories.

1. Core - Defined as "proprietary DAW features and capability" not developed and marketed elsewhere by 3rd parties. (I.e. ProChannel, VocalSync, audio engine, Skylight interface, ARA integration, etc.)
2. Services - Great question! and one many companies struggle to define, but a classic model for a residual revenue stream.
3. Special offers (i.e. membership pricing on 3rd party bundles).

.....
 
As a long time Sonar customer, I place greater value on "core" features and improvements than 3rd party bundles. It's worth noting that we don't actually know what CW pays for AD, if anything. Perhaps AD is paying CW. 
 
Hoping the discussion finds it's way to what would be valuable as opposed to what's not.

But willif, you can save $50 by jumping on the upgrade now.  And who is to say what 'offers" Cake will make in the future?
 
Your example pits your best experience against the worst possible situation Cake could enforce.  Not really fair.
 
Of course, your example of getting in on the cheap might be exactly what Cake is trying to exclude.  In that case, your best days are behind you.  Your option is to not upgrade.
 
@

Different people have different needs.
 
Someone who is new to the world of DAWs and doesn't have a big collection of plug-ins and instruments sees the bundled add-ons as tremendous value. They receive drums, plug-ins, synths...you name it. Write a check, get a studio. You could easily make a case that these add-ons are worth $199 to someone.
 
A veteran SONAR user sees value in additions to the core program with features like VocalSync, Mix Recall, etc. etc. etc. You could easily make a case that all the core program enhancements are worth $199 (but of course, if you pay $149 now you also get enhancements and content throughout the coming year).
 
So Cakewalk's tactic is very simple: Provide much more value than the cost of the upgrade so that even if someone doesn't use half of it, what they do use still provides considerable value.
 
A good analogy is Native Instruments' Komplete. It probably has a lot of content, processors, and maybe even instruments that people don't use (although different people will use different parts of it). But if you were to buy only what you did use separately, it would equal or likely exceed the cost of Komplete. So you just buy Komplete, get everything, use what you want, and still come out ahead.
 
Don't forget that content is a part of the membership program as well. I just finished 375 MB of R&B bass loops from Public Enemy's Brian Hardgroove for the Membership program. Will everyone use them? No. Does everyone want them? No. Will some people find them extraordinarily musical and useful? Yes. Will some people who thought they would never use them end up using them? Yes. These may or may not be the same people who find my collection of pad loops (which stretch from 50 to 500 BPM without artifacts) useful.
 
The doomsday scenarios seem to assume Cakewalk doesn't want to stay in business. I can assure everyone that Cakewalk very much wants to stay in business, and they've decided the way to do that is to provide so much cool stuff over the course of a year that people will want to renew for another year.
 
As I've said before, the burden is not on users to renew. It's on Cakewalk to provide something that causes people to renew. 
 
 
 
 

I got what I paid for and I am happy.
 
And I'm not a sheep or a lemming.
 
Just a fool with a little money from time to time.

Anderton
These may or may not be the same people who find my collection of pad loops (which stretch from 50 to 500 BPM without artifacts) useful.
 

There are pad loops?  Cool - where do I find these?  Seriously - I could use these. 
 
(point made I guess)

I want R&B bass loops now....!!  now....!  NOW!!!     (phew, glad I'm a member)  ;-D

so in 2016, you dont like what they are putting out, you dont buy it, where's the problem? you still have the latestversion from the end of this membership which lets face it aint exactly in dire need of an upgrade, maybe you could spend 200 dollars on the addition that you DO want instead.