What’s the advantage to Cakewalk to go to a monthly subscription?
 
IIRC the question was “would you rather pay $99 a year or 9.99 a month.”  Simple math says the $99 a year is cheaper.  But wouldn’t the monthly system incur addition costs on cakewalk’s end?  Or is it a cash flow thing where they know they have monthly revenue stream as opposed to a lump sum? 
 
How do you envision the subscription thing working?  Educate me.

For me it would depend on how they implement any hypothetical subscription system. 
 
For instance, if the software continued to work but did not get new updates if the subscription ended that would not be much different that what is is currently.
 
If on the other hand, it meant having the DAW always on the internet to check each time it was loaded, I would not like that and would consider opting out. 
 
I would not read too much into the question about yearly or monthly $ as I believe that was on the last survey I took as well. I don't remember how long ago that was but I think it was before X3 came out.

mrneil2
What’s the advantage to Cakewalk to go to a monthly subscription?
 
IIRC the question was “would you rather pay $99 a year or 9.99 a month.”  Simple math says the $99 a year is cheaper.  But wouldn’t the monthly system incur addition costs on cakewalk’s end?  Or is it a cash flow thing where they know they have monthly revenue stream as opposed to a lump sum? 
 
How do you envision the subscription thing working?  Educate me.

The advantage for Cakewalk is the same advantage many pay as you go services and products in our society; people are often willing to pay more over long run than put larger sum upfront. Tons of products from magazines, web hosting, rent-a-center, etc offer a cheaper lump sum option but tons take the increment option. I knew a woman who only bought cars in cash to save paying the financing charges, but she is definitely an exception. Even infomercials flood us with lines like "10 easy payments of...". If everyone took the most cost effecient option, we would buy most things in bulk at reduced rates. It does create an interesting dynamic in which poorer people tend to pay more for the same products. Most companies would prefer the upfront lump sum. Less processing and lower risk of the paycheck to paycheck customer deciding it's not worth it. However, the reward is that the same guy who would not buy your product because it is "too expensive" will gladly pay monthly payments that end up costing more.

Did the survey and received my $25 credit.  I think most users would rather pay $99 per year instead of $9.99 per month.

I'd happily buy at $99 every year, but will never subscribe. Subscription implies that I can use the software for a year, after which time it becomes useless/locked. It could also imply that my PC will be expected to "phone home" to verify that my subscription is current. There's also a chance that we'll be 'forced' to update software on their schedule, what if I end up liking the next version so much that I want to use it for years and years? 
 
Furthermore, I've tried to "opt in"  to these e-mail alerts numerous times before, a problem for many of us share. I find it rather bold of them to even suggest/imply a possible subscription model when they can't even manage to send a batch e-mail correctly.
 
Now, that is all just wild speculation at this point. But needless to say, if any of the above turns out to be correct, then I'm unfortunately going to have to part ways Sonar. One of my deciding factors in going with Sonar years ago was the overall "ease of ownership".

No subscription model for me, thanks, no.
 
I have plenty of DAWs in my toolbag.  Cubase 7, Reason 7, ProTools 10 & 11, FL Studio, Ableton and of course Sonar Pro.
 
If Cakewalk want to go subscription then I'll just use one of my other DAWs and use Sonar less and less.

the irony being, the eternal upgrade path IS a subscription in all but name

I have Studio One 2 and have been playing with it since version 1. But, I am heavily invested in Sonar. If they go to subscription model, I will invest all the way to Studio One. I love me some Sonar, but will not be lead down a path that I do not want to go down. "Please don't do it".

+1
No subscription based software here either! Sorry, Cakewalk, but I will move on as well.
My past experience with software subscriptions has proven to relieve the vendor of the responsibility to thoroughly test updates before release. They relied on paid users to be beta testers, knowing they could just push another fix later. Personally, I would prefer to wait a couple of years for a new version if marketing would let the developers decide when the new version is really ready. But I doubt that will happen, as the suits in large software houses see marketing as being a revenue generator while development is a revenue drain.
 

+1
As I noted in the survey that I took, if Cakewalk is heading toward the path of the Adobe style subscription service, then it is pretty much "adios muchachos".  I hated it when Adobe went to that paradigm and I would also hate as well if Cakewalk went that route.  As much as I love Cakewalk/Sonar, I would have to move on to another DAW.  I already have Presonus Studio One Professional, Cockos Reaper, etc., but I still come home to Sonar.  However, I would have to find a new home if the subscription plan came to pass.