Excellent, Bakers!
 
Looking forward to further Sonar developments. It's going to be another exciting year in Cakeland! 

vladasyn
I don't see it being answered. So let's say I have Platinum and I don't upgrade to Lifetime updates- what will happens next year when my subscription year ends? Will I be charged renewal? Also after August 31st, there will be no "lifetime updates," so what will be for sale? Subscription with yearly paid renewals?
 
Wow- I did not think of Logic. I was Logic 4 and Logic 5 user. I remember how they offered us Logic 5 update on PC and it was the last update for Windows. I see it is possible to happen. Apple is sneaky and unethical this way.  

But Apple DOES NOT OWN CAKEWALK

orhanproject
I guess Im ok with sonar being planned for mac now BUT I just hope cakewalk doesn't ditch sonar pc and makes it mac only in the near future...

Why would they ditch it?

dcumpian

noynekker
A few months ago I purchased a higher end PC laptop, despite everyone I know saying no, no, get a MAC . . .
but I said no, no  . . . my favourite DAW Cakewalk Sonar has never ever mentioned a MAC version was on their horizon. So yeah, a bit surprised by all this. Frankly, I was expecting the recent marketing hype to something more substantial, like better notation, or another joint venture with a major plugin maker, or another cutting edge DAW breakthrough that Cakewalk is famous for.
 
Only 1.5 years into the "new" membership plan, the rules change . . . lifetime updates, guess I should feel grateful, but instead I feel a bit confused. The money I've been spending helping and supporting Cakewalk every year, to further develop the software, well . . . now they're saying that's not so important. Seems it's now become more important to buy Cakewalk's other products / plugins / add-ons to offer my support.
 
Problem is, I've already bought most of the plugins / VSTi's that I need elsewhere, and it will probably be cheaper to update those instead of buying new Cakewalk plugs etc . . . now Cakewalk is finally catching up with their own offerings of mastering plugins, Quad curve EQ with Spectrum Analyzer, VST3 Synths, better Drum plugins . . . but sorry, I already bought that stuff somewhere else.
 
I remember Cakewalk saying (in 2015) it would probably cost $199 for the next years membership update, but somehow they gave us a deal of $99 in (in 2016) . . . now they want that $99 for "lifetime updates", guess I should feel grateful, but instead I feel confused.
 
Most of the recent Cakewalk Sonar new features, I have no use for . . . BUT, I do really appreciate many of the core improvements, making recording, mixing and creating, a much smoother process. For that reason I will spend the $99 to get my "lifetime updates" . . . but I worry Cakewalk will not get any more of my money in the future ? . . . how can that be a good business plan ? . . . just hope they know what they're doing.
 

This is a limited time offer, only for those who have fully purchased two full years of membership for Sonar Platinum. There are a lot of folks who don't have Platinum that will either continue with the annual/monthly membership, or will pay to jump to Platinum from whatever version they are on. That's a huge pool of users, I would think. New users will either have to fully buy in, at full price, for lifetime updates (assuming Cakewalk offers that after 8/31), and all others will continue the membership model.
 
I don't see Cakewalk losing out on that much revenue, and will likely make it up elsewhere, especially if the Mac version is even moderately successful. In short, I'm grateful, and not worried.
 
Regards,
Dan

Well said

I never received any email regarding this announcement. Were they sent out?

Nino Vargas
Thanks Mr Dcumpiam ,I bought x1, x2 update, x3, platinum, and now 200 euros to update for life?I'm not rich !

It's for life man.save money ,it would save you money in long term right

This is really mostly a big announcement for Cakewalk, not so much for me as a Platinum member. As much as I appreciate no longer having to pay additional money annually for upgrades, the cost of Sonar is small in comparison to the costs of instruments (VSTs, keyboards, etc.). I would, as crazy as it sounds, actually prefer to pay if it means that that Cakewalk has a sustainable business model. At this point, Cakewalk appears to have bet their future on new/recurring Artist and Pro members and the hopes for a new Mac business.
 
I does nicely align with the information that most new customers, at least for a while, were Artist, and so maybe the Platinum members are of no fiscal relevance to Cakewalk, but valuable for the community.

declan
You're the only person I've seen here that started with CWPA4,  I can't believe what I did with 16mb ram.  Lots of copying & pasting?

Now you've seen two. The only upgrade I skipped was SONAR 2. To this day I'm not sure why I did. 

I skipped Sonar 2 as well Ed, because I was running Home Studio back in those days.  Once I jumped into Sonar, I have never missed an upgrade or a plug in that they have released for Pro Channel.  
 
Like AllanH, it has always been more about supporting Cakewalk, because I wanted to contribute to making sure that the software kept advancing. 

Bought the lifetime sub yesterday. This morning, SONAR | About told me I'm good until 12/24/2037!
 
Christmas Eve.
 
Do the Bakers have another present in store for us in 21 years?
 
And my new G&L guitar is on the UPS truck out for delivery.
 
What a day!!!