I have paid for every version since PA9.  Still, I feel guilty having lifetime updates.  
Will you be tempting me with add-ons and whatnot?
 
another thought:
I know that the industry is always changing and that price models have evolved, but frequent changes are a bad idea.  I hope that Cakewalk has settled into a model it can live with for at least 5 years.

BlixYZ
I have paid for every version since PA9.  Still, I feel guilty having lifetime updates.  
Will you be tempting me with add-ons and whatnot?
 
another thought:
I know that the industry is always changing and that price models have evolved, but frequent changes are a bad idea.  I hope that Cakewalk has settled into a model it can live with for at least 5 years.

The new proposed model seems like basically what they have done for a while to me.  
 
Slightly higher full blow retail rate on the top tier, but it is already noted they will have discounts of some kind periodically.  The only thing that seems to be going away is the ability to upgrade from say Sonar 5 Producer to Sonar Platinum for less than $200.  
 
After they offered that very deal for lifetime updates for 6 months to users that were even nearly 20 years out of date, I don't see how anyone could fault them for taking away the obsolete to new upgrade path going forward.  I could understand X3 users not feeling the need to upgrade, as it is a modern and very capable platform, but anyone running anything older than that really should have considered the upgrade when it was offered.  
 
To keep the pay model going I'm curious what is in the oven for new features, since the last 5 months have been pretty heavily focused on fixes and enhancements to existing sets.   I'd imagine the non-lifers that are forking out the money every month will want some sizzle on the steak to keep going.  
 
Hopefully they are sending a message out to current users (and not just the forum sticky) of the price change so people can go ahead and think about what to do if they are on a legacy version currently.  

scook

Slugbaby
I think that $250 gives you lifetime updates.  If it doesn't, it's crazy.

Platinum with lifetime updates was available from May 2016 though December 2016 and is no longer available. Effective May 2017 the annual renewal is at least 50% off the regular price. One thing not spelled out in the new pricing policy is the affect on renewal pricing, if a user allows their membership to expire.

We also need to retrain everyone away from thinking about "annuals" or "memberships" - we don't really have a subscription model.
 
If you own SONAR, you own SONAR. You can buy 12 months of updates at any time for at least 50% off the regular price.
 
If your 12 months run out, you still own SONAR and you keep what you have. You can buy another 12 months at the 50%+ discount rate, or you can wait a while, enjoy what you have, and then buy another 12 months later on down the road, still at that 50%+ discount rate, because you are a SONAR Owner.

Alex Westner [Cakewalk]
Or, if you signed up for the rent-to-own plan...

 
And here I thought is was a membership.
 

BlixYZ
I have paid for every version since PA9.  Still, I feel guilty having lifetime updates.  
Will you be tempting me with add-ons and whatnot?
 
another thought:
I know that the industry is always changing and that price models have evolved, but frequent changes are a bad idea.  I hope that Cakewalk has settled into a model it can live with for at least 5 years.

I agree with you - frequent changes lead to instability. But, we haven't actually changed that much with this announcement.
 
The biggest change is in our upgrade & renewal pricing model - which is a model we've had for over 10 years.
 
Everything else in our announcement is simply a clarification of what we're already been doing since we started our monthly update program.
 

Brian Walton

BlixYZ
I have paid for every version since PA9.  Still, I feel guilty having lifetime updates.  
Will you be tempting me with add-ons and whatnot?
 
another thought:
I know that the industry is always changing and that price models have evolved, but frequent changes are a bad idea.  I hope that Cakewalk has settled into a model it can live with for at least 5 years.

The new proposed model seems like basically what they have done for a while to me.  
 
Slightly higher full blow retail rate on the top tier, but it is already noted they will have discounts of some kind periodically.  The only thing that seems to be going away is the ability to upgrade from say Sonar 5 Producer to Sonar Platinum for less than $200.  
 
After they offered that very deal for lifetime updates for 6 months to users that were even nearly 20 years out of date, I don't see how anyone could fault them for taking away the obsolete to new upgrade path going forward.  I could understand X3 users not feeling the need to upgrade, as it is a modern and very capable platform, but anyone running anything older than that really should have considered the upgrade when it was offered.  
 
To keep the pay model going I'm curious what is in the oven for new features, since the last 5 months have been pretty heavily focused on fixes and enhancements to existing sets.   I'd imagine the non-lifers that are forking out the money every month will want some sizzle on the steak to keep going.  
 
Hopefully they are sending a message out to current users (and not just the forum sticky) of the price change so people can go ahead and think about what to do if they are on a legacy version currently.  

Thanks Brian. All well said.
 
We emailed all of our SONAR customers today, and we will continue to run our campaign to make sure everyone is aware of these changes - allowing everyone to make a decision if they'd like to upgrade before May 1st.

So i pay for Sonar Professional Monthly what will be my new price. I'm not 12 months in yet to my subscription.

stuartjmoran@hotmail.com
So i pay for Sonar Professional Monthly what will be my new price. I'm not 12 months in yet to my subscription.

If you've already signed up for monthly pricing, or if you sign up between now and April 30th, your rates won't change.

Is there any possibility of ever bringing back "Lifetime updates" ?
I know a few friends that missed the offer and would like to take advantage of it.
I know some might not agree with it (because it was a special offer / limited time) but it would really help those users and also bring in more sales.

chuckebaby
Is there any possibility of ever bringing back "Lifetime updates" ?
I know a few friends that missed the offer and would like to take advantage of it.
I know some might not agree with it (because it was a special offer / limited time) but it would really help those users and also bring in more sales.

Possible, but not likely. We ran the offer for 6 months, which is quite a long time.