brconflict
Yeah, if you read the article with FAQ: https://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Membership
 
It does make a lot more sense. I just more firmly believe the Membership pricing is a bit steep, even for me.

Well at the moment it is the same price as the upgrade to X3 was if you pay the full 12 months in advance ($149 which I though was a little steep even back then) but it will be going up to $200... which is quite a bit. Going month to month it is even more. So definite price increase.
 
HOWEVER as has been mentioned with all the new features included this would amount to what we would have gotten with X4 (so lots of stuff, improvements and I'm assuming bug fixes). So if you were going to buy the X4 upgrade at $149 then you are already getting that. Then ON TOP of that you get the next years worth of improvements which in the past would have accumulated and become X5. So for $149 you get what would have been X4 and X5. Not bad... IF Cakewalk makes sure they produce what we would traditionally expect in a major upgrade for the year. That is yet to be seen.
 
Really the more I look at this I'm kind of thinking Cake have somewhat shorted THEMSELVES. Not the customers.

Anderton
 
 
Perhaps Cakewalk could add a rental option in the future where you don't own the software, but that's another layer of complexity for something that, at least by survey and forum indications, doesn't appeal to most users.

I would be fascinated to see the numbers on how this "membership model" polled in your surveys as compared to the "ownership model." The forum response when the pending move to subscription was inferred from the surveys sent to (a subset of ?) Cakewalk's email list seemed to be pretty negative. Now all is changed, the usual get behind Cakewalk crowd seems to think this is the greatest idea since the smartphone. To some extent this may be a collective sigh of relief that you did not go the rental route. To say that this is a better deal for Cakewalk customers than the Adobe system is not saying much. Undeniably it is better. But how many of your current customers wanted this change?

scook

djjhart@aol.com
At first glance I am so F'ing confused .. Is this a new version what is it?  do I have to spend $50 a month to continue to use Sonar.. Theres like 10 versions now .. VERY CONFUSING !!!!! Is it called X4 ..
 
 Im so Lost right now , I dont even wanna deal with this nonsense ..

There are three versions just like the previous X series. The versions are renamed Artist, Professional and Platinum. Upgrading from Producer to Platinum will have a promo price of $149 (one time payment) or $14.99/mo for 12 months. Once the promo is over (end date has not been set but it has been suggested some time in February), the upgrade price will be $199 (one time payment) or $19.99/mo for 12 months.

Cool Thanks Scook.. I just seen that now.. So its $150.00 for an upgrade.. I hope there's more in there then what I see. I might actually pass on this one , Might be the first time since version 3 that I wont upgrade. Nothing in there accept for the new midi features that make me wanna upgrade right now..


 

brconflict
 I just more firmly believe the Membership pricing is a bit steep, even for me.

So this

brconflict
Subscription for Platinum isn't ideal, for me (far too expensive--$24.99 would have been right-priced....

is no longer the case. As the current subscription rate for the next two years is less than $24.99/mo at $14.99 for the first year with a $19.99/mo renewal for the second year.

Anderton

Kylotan
All I can hope for is that with the move to a more incremental upgrade cycle, bug fixing and finishing half-done features will gain priority because there will no longer be a conflict between supporting past customers and enticing new ones - everybody is on the same upgrade path, except those who choose to drop off early.

Spot on, and that's another advantage of handling software in this manner. 

This will be fine as long as we get bug fixes and "finishing half done features" rather than new content to keep everyone paying. If it's not done right, we'll still end up with things not working right - while we pile on the new features and 3rd party plugins.
 
I'll have faith though ;-)

MachineClaw
I will not be upgrading Sonar any longer - that is my intention at this point based on this subscription model.
 
I will not pay a company for bug fixes and empty speculative promises that may or may not be resolved at a later time.
 
this subscription model is great for Cakewalk funding and stability as a profitable company - but not so for me as a user.

Read the FAQ. This is not solely a subscription model. As of now you can still get full upgrades as you always have. It is just a conceptual difference and how the product is delivered. You will still be able to pay one price and fully own a complete version comprised of one years worth of enhancements.
 
It's a little confusing but seriously... after going through all the material I'm telling you that this actually works out much better for the end user than the old model. It may start to suck after this year is over but as of right now we, the users, are kind of making off like bandits.

This looks ok, but I suspect the generous upgrade options will be phased out over time. 
 
I can't prove it, but I suspect people with older versions better jump now into the new subscription pricing.  Cakewalk has always been good honoring OLD versions of software towards upgrades, but too much is changing to make me feel like that will be true moving forward.

It's a little confusing but seriously... after going through all the material I'm telling you that this actually works out much better for the end user than the old model. It may start to suck after this year is over but as of right now we, the users, are kind of making off like bandits.

 
I don't think anyone is out to screw us though (on purpose anyway).
I bet if things were looking dodgy after a year or so (like there aren't enough new features ready) - we'll be able to get a "discount membership" or something like that. That would be easy to implement.

Sir Les
because I am fed up with trouble shooting pc and software for music, to make it work, and then something happens to screw it all up....like once Sonar did do....It sucks!...and other MS updates do from time to time..just to keep us loonies of the billing table and phone calling, press 9 for x...2 for p.
 
 

Then I suggest getting off the computer bandwagon and get a digital recorder.  NO DAW will ever be released without bugs.

So do you need an Internet connection to continue to use Sonar. How would they know when you paid off? Seems like an internet connection is required.. can someone shed some light on this? Thanks John