Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk]
Yes, because reading a forum thread marked subscription is way better than just reading the product pages on www.cakewalk.com/SONAR. And if it were just a payment plan, we would have left it at that but this is much more exciting (and good) for customers. And I'll just leave it at that :)

Yep. I will again belabor the point since people are having trouble: they are offering rental and rent to own. 
 
You can still buy, as you always could. However you can now rent if you like on a monthly basis. If you need Sonar just rent it. You can rent it as often or infrequently as you wish. Works like any other rental in that you only get to use it when you pay. 
 
However there's a third option to make renting a better deal: rent for 12 consecutive months and you own it. More expensive than buying up front but only slightly and it adds flexibility. Maybe you rent it just to try for a month, but then have a project to use it on so rent it for another. You are ready to stop but more comes up so you keep paying. Suddenly it is 10 months later and you've sunk a bunch of money in it. With a normal rental it is all you get, you got the time you paid for and that's that. Here though you can now just rent 2 more months and get to keep it forever. 
 
It is a very flexible payment setup that should work for most. 

So.....who won??? 

People get hung up on the word "Subscription" and only see  that part of the Sonar Platinum Upgrade.
 
I, for one don't like that word.
 
The way I see it is that you pay $149.00 up front for the upgrades from X3 to Platinum, which would be normally the case with a usual upgrade. BUT, in the next 12 months you get all the upgrades and features free, which for me is a 2 year upgrade package for the same $149.00. No extra charge.
 
The "Subscription" as they call it seems to me as a payment installment plan. You choose to upgrade and you pay in 12 consecutive months. It does cost a little extra as do all payment installment plans, but if you are short on cash you could always go this way and get the same as everyone else for $30.00 more.
 
It's not the greatest way to get Platinum, but for some maybe the only way.
 
I will say I find the year after that too expensive just for 1 continueous year IMHO. We have already paid for the basic program the first year and will not have to buy that again. The upgrades from the first year we also paid for and best of all we get to keep them at the end of the year.
 
I hope that when the time comes, Cakewalk will change the prices of the upgrade to be more reasonable.
Anyway, that is how I see it.
 
Hope this helps.

Cake should just change the name to monthly installment payment plan...

Vastman
Cake should just change the name to monthly installment payment plan...

+10,000

gmp
ON this webpage
http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Versions
Sonar Platinum is $149 for 12 months and it says membership renewal after 12 months is $199. What happens if you don't renew after the first 12 months? Does the software not work anymore? Will you lose tech support? I think in a years time all the updates will be done, so it would be ok to lapse, if the software still works. What if you have to renew for the 2nd 12 months and Sonar waits 2 years before a new version, if so, we'd end up spending a lot more for the current version. It still seems like there are many unanswered questions in this thread.
Membership Renewal after 12 Months$49 or $4.99/m$99 or $9.99/m$199 or $19.99/m

This thread is not the place to get accurate information (excepting what Andrew Rossa has said, obviously).
 
If you pay 12 months, and stop, you keep the latest version which will work forever but you no longer have support.
I don't think there will ever be a moment when all the updates are done, especially since Sonar is now to be perpetually up to date.  After 12 months you can stop for as long as you want and continue using the version you have.  At a later date you can pay 200$ (or whatever) and get the new latest version and the 12 following months of updates, freebies and support.
 
For doing things with monthly payments, here's a good place to start and read just the following seven posts.
 

John

Paul P
 
[we're getting pretty close
Because at no point with renting will the renter ever own anything.  That is not the case with the CW model. 

I Disagree  ( in part ).  Yes, ( if you pay either way ) -  you own your software (get it while it lasts).
 
But this is very much a subscription - and it expires in one year. you can pay my the month or up front, but you're still shut out of the loop for your Sonar Product after 1 year.  Unless you buy a new subscription.
You can buy magazines one at a time - or pay upfront too, but they stop after 1 year - if you paid upfront. ( or what ever term was agreed ). - And you can read all of the magazines you purchased as long as you want.
If this is not the case with the "NEW CAKEWALK"  ( lets follow Adobe in the quest for continuing cash flow - or screwing everyone - depending on if you own stock, or If the Sonar does not get purchased by someone from India), then perhaps someone could enlighten all of us with patches, fixes, etc  - like X3E  which came out a good year and a half later. Correct me if I'm wrong here but X3 released in the spring of 2013 ---  X3E patch in the fall of 2014 is well over a year,
So theoretically if I'm reading this correctly,   ( you will receive free updates for a year )  - then the X3E would have cost us $199.00 - except those of you who purchased a "subscription and paid upfront for a substantial discount sometime in the year before X3E.  
 
So, all of us who got an X3E patch would have had to pay $199.99 ( since it was over a year )  ---   yes or no?
If the answer is yes, than there is no incentive for continued development to support the product that people paid for. 
 
True,  it is a balancing act, but the fact remains that unless a major revision is made ( X3 to X4 )  anything else is just fixing what you paid for that wasn't ironed out in the first place and no one here should think that things can be ironed out before a release because no one knows how any program will act in the real world under all conditions.
 
So - who takes bets on the future of Sonar and your ability to own it?...
When Adobe Cloud came out you could still purchase CS6  ----   until they had enough people caught in the cloud that they stopped selling software ( and the rights ) all together.
Frankly , that whole "business model" has pissed a lot of people off - so I'll be curious to see where we all stand in a year or two.
 
I think a lot of people come to feel they pay hard earned money for something, they should expect the company to support it for more than 1 year ( excluding telephone support. etc ) - I'm talking about patches, etc.
 
I was really tempted to cross post this just so everyone heard my opinion.To each his own - you can tell yourself you are paying 200 bucks to upgrade ( and own your software) and know you won't get product updates after a year, you you can say I have a subscriptions and I'll get FREE updates for 1 year.  
 
Yes, either way - Thank God, at least we own the software ( for now - remember the initial Adobe Cloud Release!)  - but the whole idea of product support is in question over the long haul ( or a year, which ever comes first)
 
And what happens next year of so, or until they feel they have weened you away from the concept of buying a "version like X3 ) and just go with a "Sonar "Cloud" Membership" and free updates forever ( as long as you have your monthly subscription ).  Who would like to place their bets?
 
WG
 
 

woodsglen
And what happens next year of so, or until they feel they have weened you away from the concept of buying a "version like X3 ) and just go with a "Sonar "Cloud" Membership" and free updates forever ( as long as you have your monthly subscription ).  Who would like to place their bets?

I think a lot people are giving Cakewalk the benefit of the doubt for the time being.  There will always be a chance to get worked up and complain if changes are made in the future.  My disappointment is that with the end of version sales I could stay more or less current for about 75$ every year and a half.  That's now going up to 200$ / year.  That's out of the question especially when I need a decent keyboard/controller and some good notation software.  I'll be enjoying X3P for a while .
 

Paul P  My disappointment is that with the end of version sales I could stay more or less current for about 75$ every year and a half.  That's now going up to 200$ / year.  That's out of the question especially when I need a decent keyboard/controller and some good notation software.  I'll be enjoying X3P for a while .
 

You can buy a year, skip a year, buy a year, skip a year.  That way you always stay up to date for 12 months, then use the same version for 12 months.  Once you pay again you instantly jump to the latest version again and the only thing you miss would be "additional content" that's not part of the core program.
 
It means your $200 per year is now $200 for 2 years.
 

Karyn
It means your $200 per year is now $200 for 2 years.
 

Thanksl Karyn.  In my case it will be more like 200$ for three years which I can live with (as long as Cakewalk hasn't gone to a 'real' subscription model by then ).  It's going to take me three years to become an expert on X3 anyway.