Not that I'm anxious to pay more than I absolutely have to, but here are some comparisons as food for thought (I have every version from P8 thru S-Plat, minus X1 and X2):
 
In January of 2000, I paid $99 to upgrade from P8 to PA9
In September of 2003, the upgrade from S2 XL to S3P was $179
In August of 2006, the upgrade from S4P to S5P was $179
 
I don't remember the pricing for other upgrades - these happened to be handy at the moment.
 
My point is that having the price for the top tier application increase in price by $20 from '03 to '16 -a 13 year span- isn't all that bad.
 
I will be more than happy to see $149 or $179 pricing, depending on what all ends up in the package, but I don't see $199 representing a really aggressive price increase either.
 
I remember some other things too ... like paying $50 for a VST adapter, which is no longer necessary.

vladasyn
I swear- I did not see it saying anything about $199 when "Special Invitations" e-mail was distributed. I don't want to misinform, but I am pretty sure I was reading that upgrade will be $149 and yearly price will be $149. 

Mudgel is right. When the announcement was made about membership, it said the Platinum membership renewal would be $199 after the introductory special was over. However, given that the introductory special was extended a month, we've already seen that Cakewalk has some flexibility in deciding what pricing to implement, and when.

Grem
The way I read it and understand how it is intended to go is;
 
Because you decided to go back to (and paying for) Artist, then you would have Artist with all it's features.
 
If you want to use what you already own, then stay with it. Don't pay for the new Artist, use what you already own.
 
Want the newest version of Sonar but don't have it in your budget to get Platinum/Pro, pay for Artist and enjoy all it's features.
 
Simple.

It's probably like you say, thank you.
 

However any bug fixes should be free.

joden
However any bug fixes should be free.

Unfortunately, bug fixes are never truly free. Companies can factor the cost of fixes into a product's initial price or into the cost of updates, but the programming resources needed to either minimize bugs in the first place or fix them when discovered have to be paid for somehow.

However if one has paid for a product, one is entitled to expect it to work totally. After all, this is why pretty much every product has a warranty, just in case. To charge someone $199 JUST to get a fix for an issue that should not have been there in the first place is simply gouging. If there are bugs in a previous version (lets say at the time of subscription renewal) then the licence holder should have the option of choosing either just the bug fix version (free or at the worst a nominal charge) or the full version with enhancements and/or new features.