"SONAR will switch to demo mode in 13 days. Please activate".

From http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Membership#FAQ

12 consecutive monthly payments are required to permanently activate SONAR and any updates you have received. If you cancel payment or don’t pay for at least 12 months, SONAR will revert to demo mode. This means you can’t save or export projects, however anything you saved up to that point will still open and play in the demo. Once you resume payments, you can make new edits and save them.

Hello, this prompt is only shown when you are already PAST your payment due date.
IOW your payment was already due but the system is giving you a grace period before it switches to demo mode. If you check when you last made a payment it would be more than 30 days ago... Under normal conditions if you are making payments on or before the due date, the system won't display the demo mode toast message. 
 
Also important to note - if you let the monthly payments lapse past the grace period warning, the system will switch to demo mode and will stop accumulating consecutive months. i.e you will lose any prior months that count towards your permanent unlock. IOW you cannot pay for 3 months, then stop for 2 and continue where you left off. To qualify for a permanent unlock you must complete 12 consecutive months of membership.
 
Hope this clarifies how it works..
 

alewgro
Can anyone explain why I am getting this error all the sudden?

I am paying month-to-month.  13 days is when my next payment is due....   is this just a warning saying that if I do not pay it will go into demo mode?  Do I need to worry about this?

Also that leads me to another question - what if my credit card payment gets declined or I am unable to pay the $49.99 this month, what happens to my software?  I know it hasn't been 12 months yet, but what exactly happens?   Also, I would assume if it does go to DEMO mode, I can pick back up where I left off and start making monthly payments again until I hit 12 payments?
 
Thank you!

Adam