What in the hell is going on so I have spent money from as far back as cakewalk, to 8.5 all the way up to a lifetime member and Bandlab just gives it away for free????? I was told the free version is the latest version of Splat minus 3rd party plugins WTF again I say! That has to the ultimate middle finger to loyal members of this DAW!

How is this bad?  You get it for free, why does it matter if other do too? 
It was dead and (almost) buried and now you get to keep using it. I can't possibly see how this can be taken as a negative, although I knew some would manage. 

Blame Roland and Gibson. They took your money for the software. BandLab said they were going to give it away with their first announcement here on Feb 23rd and that is what they did today.

+1

BMOG
What in the hell is going on so I have spent money from as far back as cakewalk, to 8.5 all the way up to a lifetime member and Bandlab just gives it away for free????? I was told the free version is the latest version of Splat minus 3rd party plugins WTF again I say! That has to the ultimate middle finger to loyal members of this DAW!

I'm not sure I understand your post.  Do you feel other should have to pay as much as you did to use Cakewalk?  Is that your gripe?

tobiaslindahl
How is this bad?  You get it for free, why does it matter if other do too? 
It was dead and (almost) buried and now you get to keep using it. I can't possibly see how this can be taken as a negative, although I knew some would manage. 

agreed

This is another example of the "How come they?" mentality many Americans suffer from. The original poster probably would not have had a problem receiving the product for free as a loyal paying costumer....but as far as everyone else?..."How come they get it for free too?" is what's really being asked here.

BMOG
What in the hell is going on so I have spent money from as far back as cakewalk, to 8.5 all the way up to a lifetime member and Bandlab just gives it away for free????? I was told the free version is the latest version of Splat minus 3rd party plugins WTF again I say! That has to the ultimate middle finger to loyal members of this DAW!

Don't worry Buddy, I think you will have a chance to spend money again.. 
 
I've been at it since ver. 7 (I think) ... And I am just happy that this incredible piece of software did not just go away.
Thanking the BandLab crew for keeping it alive and looking forward to 'supporting' its future development.

In it's way, it really is a nice touch to add to the Bandlab arena. Giving Bandlab users a top of the line DAW might help many of the users if it's free service.

Meng could have chosen the pure capitalist approach and charged everyone from day 1. The company that sold you your previous version no longer exists and he is not required to adhere to any of their' promises.

I think it's a very magnanimous event! I hope this leads to lots of future success for him in turn.

I will admit this was first reaction too, WTF. However, if bandlab keeps it updated I'll be happy. Still new free owners do not have all the cool stuff I received as addons when I purchased Sonar. This is what I tell myself anyway... let's face it, the product needs a lot of fresh blood to continue. The more users the better. I'm looking for it to be the ultimate DAW someday. So, I'm going with it. Let's see what happens.
Oh yeah, the new piano roll looks great!