jamescater
 
One last question. Dimension Pro is listed as an £84 "Recommended product" even though I have selected the "Platinum" edition.
 
Will we have to pay extra for Dimension Pro with the discounted "Platinum" upgrade ?
 

That sounds like a possible glitch in the store, unless you are actually seeing Rapture Pro.
 
As far as I know, Dimension Pro is no longer being offered as a separate product, and is only included in the Platinum bundle.  http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/Dimension-Pro

thanks seth  (but how did you mark your own post helpful before i could?! )

IMHO, SONAR should follow a marketing strategy similiar to the one used for FL Studio:
1) Artist, Professional and Platinum should be sold exclusively with lifetime updates. Do you already own a version and want the better one? Simply pay the difference in price. No more problems/misunderstandings with the payment method.
2) In the lifetime updates should be included only the bug-fixes and the core enhancements while the future plugins (like the new L-Phase Series) should be sold separately: in this way Cakewalk could offset losses caused by the lifetime memberships.
3) Speaking about plugins already included: they're too many, expecially in Platinum. TTS-1, Cyclone, Dimension LE, Dimension Pro, DropZone, PSYN II, Rapture, Rapture LE, Rapture session, rgcAudio Square, Roland GrooveSynth, RXP, Lounge Lizard Session 4 and many more. Some of them I've never opened. IMHO, the only one that should be included is Rapture Session and the others sold separately, while the only third-party VSTs included could be Addictive Drums 2, Melodyne and TH3 (or Ozone 7 elements in partnership with Izotope): in this way Cakewalk could even reduce the price of SONAR.
4) The world is full of casual customers who only complain about the price or don't understand the membership method used by Cakewalk, just give a look at the SONAR discussions page on STEAM: with a slogan like "SONAR Platinum, only for 300$. Pay one time, keep it upgraded forever." sales would be guaranteed.

Just to be clear, the lifetime purchase I made last year remains in place for, well, life.
But I recall back when I bought it that I would have to choose and pay if I wanted to take any future 'mega' new feature additions, and I assume that situation is also unchanged, yes?

Brian Walton
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.  
 

Not to thread-jack, but I am very happy that CW is focused more on bugfixes than ever-expanding features with new bugs of their own.  Given the number of voices that were asking for more stability and more focus on bugfixing than new features, I would hope that others are happy too.
 

Seems clear. Simplified upgrade program. No more confusing upgrade paths. If you have a legacy product, there won't be a path come May. No discount, no welcome back for you, you'll need to pay full price (which says to me if you aren't current it's a good time to evaluate other DAWs too). Cakewalk converted their best customers to free "lifetime updates". I bet that was a popular program and good for some quick revenue. Anyone that missed out on that is now out of luck. Future Sonar revenue sources being new customer sales, subscriptions and add-ons. This should prove interesting. Makes me wonder what else is to come...

Indeed, having new customers with no allegiance pay out almost double what loyal customers did will prove most interesting.

It's not if this was a secret post from Cakewalk about the "lifetime" updates. Most chose to ignore or not take it seriously? I knew from watching other DAWs, ownership was destined to be a thing of the past. Look at Microsoft, Adobe, ProTools and so...Subscription is the new model for better or worse. I being and old fart will never pay to rent....kinda of like going to a prostitute and when it's over, what do have?....... 
I took advantage of Cakewalk's generous offer hands down! My thinking is the Sonar has evolved so much that ever if Cakewalk does come with a new DAW, what are they going to offer? How to put your thoughts in a DAW? lol! As it stands now, there's enough content in Sonar Platinum now that even without and 3rd party vsts, you can easily make music! Case in point, I have a small studio and although I can use vst for drums, I go to a larger studio to cut drums and bass with reference vocal and guitar. Since most studios use ProTools(I don't know why, Cakewalk was the first DAW to go 64bit) they all save to .wav files and I come home, dump them into Sonar. With one click all the tracks are perfectly lined up and I'm ready to overdub on Sonar with all my 3rd party vsts...IK, Native Komplete Ultimate,Sample Tank,Slate and.....
Sonar makes it so easy for me. I don't know why others haven't found out....Anyway I'm in New Jersey and today we have a blizzard, so far 18 inches with more to come

DrumAlchemy
Cakewalk converted their best customers to free "lifetime updates". I bet that was a popular program and good for some quick revenue.

In addition to the instant revenue, it was also a way to keep current owners loyal.
 
 

Paul P

DrumAlchemy
Cakewalk converted their best customers to free "lifetime updates". I bet that was a popular program and good for some quick revenue.

In addition to the instant revenue, it was also a way to keep current owners loyal.
 
 

Many of the loyal customers also use other DAWs, but they understand the real value in keeping Sonar around.