bnwitt
Trick your loyal base into forking over some cash right before you dissolve the company and then sell the code (not the obligations) to someone else.  I saw Marriott do this years ago when they split their company into two entities, one with the assets and the other with the debt thus screwing over their bond holders.

When lifetime updates were introduced the idea was not to take money and then close the company, but was part of a long-term plan that was intended to keep the company going. When Cakewalk changed management, the original plan was scrapped and a different one put in place. It was a gamble that didn't pay off.

cparmerlee

chuckebaby
Cakewalk makes money no doubt, but its following I believe is loyal, word of mouth and long standing users such as yourself, myself and many others.

Maybe I am not reading your comment correctly.  But I think it is safe to say that Cakewalk has not been profitable throughout the Roland and Gibson eras.  Gibson has its problems for sure, but they are not in bankruptcy today.  If Cakewalk was making a profit, they would have looked for a buyer rather than unceremoniously shutting it down.

Cakewalk had approx. 8-10 people developing Sonar. They now have 2 people developing Sonar.
If Sonar could not make money, We wouldn't be sitting here talking about this right now.
We would reminiscing on another forum about how bad it is that Sonar is gone.
 
Gibson is about 10 weeks from bankruptcy. I am rather shocked you haven't read the articles.
I'm not sure how, they are every where.. even CNBC
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/19/guitar-company-gibson-reportedly-facing-bankruptcy.html
 
So your right, they are not bankrupt "Today" But either is Guitar center.
Maybe you haven't heard. They owe money.

sharke
I'll go out on a limb and suggest that Reaper does a lot more than Sonar and is a superior DAW in almost every way. 

Universal statements assume people all use something in the same way, which they don't. For example, try creating a loop library that will stretch in other DAWs with Reaper. There's no matrix view, which regardless of whether it's underutilized or not, is a valuable songwriting and improvisational tool. No DSD import or export for your Japanese clients. No tempo extraction from freestyle playing. No upsampling, which is sooo much easier to do in Sonar than any other program. I'm not sure if Reaper has FX Chains but those are extremely valuable additions to both Studio One and Sonar.
 
Sonar is also a more complete package - people who don't have the money to invest in lots of plug-ins will welcome features like the QuadCurve EQ (once you learn what those four curves can do, it's very difficult to obtain the same results in other EQs), TH3, Melodyne, Blue Tubes, phase-linear EQ with mid/side options per node (I know you can use ReaFIR as an linear-phase EQ, but it's clumsy and AFAIK doesn't offer mid-side processing), etc. I don't think those who want a complete package would dismiss them as just "goodies" but rather, see them as essential tools. Rapture Session also comes with some very useful sounds.
 
I know Reaper is going to have ARA integration at some point (maybe it already does, I dunno), but Studio One has had it since 2011 and Sonar since 2013 IIRC. 
 
Now, maybe these features mean nothing to you. However, I would never say Sonar is superior to Reaper in "almost every way" just because Sonar has features I need and Reaper doesn't. Similarly, there are features in Studio One and Live that neither Sonar nor Reaper can touch. Try mastering an album in Reaper compared to Studio One. 
 
The reason why there are so many different DAWs is because different people have different needs. I'm really tired of this whole "my DAW is better than your DAW" sports team mentality. People should just use the DAW that's most congruent with their needs, and make music with it. 

sharke
I'll go out on a limb and suggest that Reaper does a lot more than Sonar and is a superior DAW in almost every way.

It would be more accurate to say that Reaper does a lot more than Sonar that you need it to do....

If someone uses Sonar's instrument definitions, user defined controller and NRPN names,  support for Studioware panels, CAL support, etc, then they would say that Sonar does a lot more than Reaper does that they need it to do....

I've no beef to grind with anyone. My SPLAT (lifetime subs etc), works perfectly for my needs. If it continues (who's ever at the helm), I've no real complaints. Hopefully, long may it continue.

Anderton
features like the QuadCurve EQ (once you learn what those four curves can do, it's very difficult to obtain the same results in other EQs)

I agree, that EQ is the best sounding, smoothest EQ I have ever used. I wish it was available as a separate vst3 plugin. Studio One is incredible once you get to learn it, if only it had Sonars GUI and ProChannel lol.

If anyone feels limited by the features in Sonar ( and most other DAW's available today ) the problem is not with the DAWs but the talent and/or creativity of the person using them. The things we can do with DAWs today is simply insane and in the end they are there to create music, not play with the latest plugin and constantly look for new features and revisions, updates etc. Unless that is your thing ... in which case it is a neverending story.
 
I am happy to see Sonar being available for the forseeable future, as that means I dont have to worry about learing a new one and I can get on with playing and recording music, which Sonar does very well. It is not Sonars fault I dont have a nr 1 in the charts. 
 
DAW users are sometimes VERY similair to audiophiles, they focus so much on the gear ( DAWs in our case ) they actually forget about the music.

bnwitt
 abandoning the lifetime subscription users. 

I think that is a premature judgment.  Mr. Meng has indicated he sees the existing user base as an asset and intends to offer a crossgrade.  I think we should give Bandlab a chance to work through the many re-launch issues before casting judgment.  It is a lot more complicated than it might seem.

chuckebaby
Cakewalk had approx. 8-10 people developing Sonar. They now have 2 people developing Sonar.
If Sonar could not make money, We wouldn't be sitting here talking about this right now.
We would reminiscing on another forum about how bad it is that Sonar is gone.

Yes.  I am certainly aware of Gibson's precarious financials.  I said they are not in bankruptcy, which is to say they have free will to sell their assets without requiring permission of a BK judge.  If the Cakewalk piece was profitable, it would not have been difficult to find a buyer who would pay something better than zero.  The fact they shut it down without a buyer is conclusive proof that it has not been profitable recently.
 
Scaling down to a staff of 2 could conceivably make it "profitable" but only as a cash cow for a limited time and I doubt anybody here would be happy with that. MakeMusic basically did that with the Finale notation program.  They fired all but a couple of their Minneapolis HQ employees and moved the whole thing to Colorado Springs.  In 2 years they have produced something like 20 bug fixes and little else (to be fair, they did deliver a 64-bit-only version but it deleted so many prior features that it wasn't widely accepted.)
 
Bandlab is a different kind of company, and what they are doing strikes me as very progressive.  And I can see where a "studio-grade DAW" could make sense in their product line-up.  And I could see how some of the other Cakewalk technology could add value to the pieces they already have in the marketplace.
 
So this is not a "bailout", so to speak, where live will continue along a straight line from where it has been for 30 years.  I expect a significantly different product direction, but I see no reason to expect they will dismantle the product that already exists.
 

Waves Scheps Omni Channel does everything that Sonar's Pro Channel ever did and more.  (its on special too I think still) There are a ton of EQ's out there that would easily match the Quad curve for its sound and features.  You are wrong in thinking the Quad curve is the only EQ out there.