Hey Anderton, what I don't understand about the three announcements is why was there not four?
 
 

I'm not sure why people are spazzing out so much. Cake have ticked me off with a few things over the past year or so (and I've said so... but there's also been a lot of good stuff too).
 
As far as I can see these actually are some pretty "huge" announcements.
 
Porting to Mac? Absolutely a huge deal. Even though I have absolutely ZERO intention of buying a Mac or working on a Mac the fact Sonar was PC only was pretty ridiculous considering how Mac reliant/obsessed the Audio/Video world is. This only makes sense and has been asked/begged for ever since I've been here. I also see it being a potential direct positive to me as now if I actually DID ever acquire a Mac or was forced to use one I can use Sonar (without screwing around with Bootcamp) AND if I ever end up working with/for a Mac user at least they'd have the option to use/check out Sonar.
 
Lifetime updates? Yup... that's a huge deal and something that DOES interest/affect me. I already own pretty much everything I need that Cakewalk offers because I've been using their flagship since X1. I get by pretty well with all those tools and a few calculated third party purchases. Dropping $150-200 a year (when I'm a broke arse upstart who needs other things to round out my "studio") doesn't make sense when most of the value from a Sonar purchase actually comes from a lot of the extra doodads. I'm at the point where I mostly just want to have internal features improved (*cough* automation *cough* time stretching *ahem*) and would definitely like to see more stability/reliabilty... particularly when attempting more advanced tasks (things always seem to break when I start getting too fancy).
 
To be perfectly honest I was about to stop even thinking about keeping up my yearly upgrade and if that money came around I'd dump it into the base version of another DAW that handles some of the tasks I need to perform better than Sonar currently does.
 
However... a ONE TIME upgrade to get core improvements in (supposed) perpetuity? Yeah, that's a decent proposition. Keeps me in the loop, using what I like/am comfortable with (for tracking/writing/comping/mixing) and hopefully some of the improvements I need will come down the pipe. I've seen quite a few core improvements since the Gibson takeover that have helped me significantly. Bit of a snails pace and some things are a little too bubblegum/frivolous for me but I see things I've wanted for a while happen and continue to happen...
 
Which brings me to the 3rd "huge" announcement... which seems more like a bunch of smaller announcements about upcoming features (but good ones, to me anyway). This actually kind of feels more like how the old version system announcements worked (X1/X2/X3/SPlat). Like how every year or so we'd get a new release with a bunch of new high ticket improvements. We've gotten add ons and little tweaks and whatnot this past year but to me SPlat has more or less stayed what it was (except for Aux Tracks but that feels like it was part of the 2015 bundle, just released mid year).
 
Overhauling Take Lanes and the Browser are both worthy core improvement ventures to me. If they go well both will help me quite a bit and I KNOW people have been itching for Take Lane/Comping improvements. Lanes were half baked before but improving steadily. I'm betting the Baker's have been watching a lot of the Lanes threads and gathering intel on what's working and what isn't. I get by fine with Lanes/Comping but have most definitely discovered a lot of quirks and whatnot. The Browser though (which I've started using with much more gusto over the past year) is something I'd love to see get made more logical. Based on the prerelease info it looks like they are now actually allowing folder architecture reside right inside the main browser (instead of the weird arse method of having to "Show" the file trees in a separate browser or having to navigate in a totally illogical manner unless you custom build your own heiarchy in Sonar... WTF is that all about? lol). It looks like they are focusing on the plugin tabs first instead of the media tab (which doesn't help me much because I have so few plugins but it's likely very useful for people like Bapsi with a millionety doodads) but if they apply it to the file system of the computer so I can bounce around, rename, move, copy, etc right inside one Browser window... well that would be great (and is how things SHOULD have been done in the first place).
 
So yeah... if I'm your typical Sonar "recurring customer" demographic (middle aged, white guy, semi pro, songwriter/guitar player who has all the doodads he "needs" and kind of knows how to use them so doesn't want to drop MORE money on things that might be "slightly" better) then a lifetime upgrade is brilliant on my end and for Cakewalk it'll keep me around so my eyeballs are still focused on whatever new goodies they conjure up which may entice me to buy them.
 
I also think that Gibson has actually been using Cakewalk/Sonar as a vehicle for promoting their other products. Gibson over the past decade or so have been a MASSIVE marketing force. You see the name all over the place and obviously they are expanding their product line. Since Sonar is of course used by musician's what better target audience for your marketing than Sonar users? They have instruments, cabling, interfaces and gobs of other music stuff all under their umbrella now and seem to be acquiring/inventing more so being tapped directly into a whole subsect of DAW users turns into a self perpetuating sales machine (and vice versa... like Gibson guitar users might look at Sonar now... and so on).
 
So even if some departments/acquisitions lose money for a while it might drive sales to another area and is likely less expensive than advertisement (and the individual companies act as leverage for other things or can be sold as opposed to direct advertising which is like throwing money into a wood chipper for such a small market). Even just having the Gibson logo somewhere on a wide range of products in the music store or online music shops is great advertising. You gotta figure they got Cake for a good price from Roland too considering Roland was having some hardships and were kind of driving the product into the ground (oh X2... how I loathed you).
 
Anyhoo...
 
tl;dr
 
There have been some moves by Cake I have not agreed with and I was losing interest. These announcements seem pretty solid, logical and have made me want to upgrade to the lifetime thingie. I don't see a problem and doubt Cake are going to pull a fast one on the lifetime upgraders nor let the PC version languish for the Mac crowd. It actually might force them to yank a bunch of the ancient/bad code that causes so many problems.
 
/cya

Anderton
What you're seeing is part of a long-term strategy that no one in the forums has figured out, and that's excellent...because it means the competition probably hasn't figured it out either.

As Rob has suggested, the change for CW customers is near nil. I'd be re-upping my membership in 18 months anyway, another $100 now...whatever.
 
How many other DAW publishers are using a lifetime subscription model? Exactly zero at the moment. CW is now out in front and responding to the negative backlash to subscriptions. It signals several things to competitors: 1) we're here, and we're not going anywhere and 2) CW is healthy enough that it's going to make it more expensive for it's COMPETITORS to compete.
 
The buzz isn't who's getting the update or how much it costs. The buzz is that someone is looking in a direction OTHER than the very unpopular subscription route.
 
The big change isn't to the software, it's to the business...and I think this is a plus for CW's customers and a real problem for their competitors.
 
Throw in support for Apple (which is the only knock I ever really hear these days - it's PC only), and some competitors are in real trouble. First, people like to try new things. Secondly, SONAR is earning a reputation for being solid (have a chat with someone using PT12.5 and see how that's going for them).
 
The announcements are big because they change the shape of a the music industry. The rest of us will just keep doing what we're doing.

Ah, excellent. When was this added?

aghschwabe
How many other DAW publishers are using a lifetime subscription model? Exactly zero at the moment. 

Image-Line. Gibson recently bought their Deckadance product. They went lifetime years ago to help counter the fact that FL was one of the most pirated music making softwarez out. Tried to make an honest woman out of an already huge, established user base and give them a micro-transaction shop-portunity for selling their add-ons.
 

I really don't care how you get it done, I want to see Sonar as #1 DAW in the land!
I know Cakewalk can get it dine! Just keep it real!
 
On the other hand... The Troll in me will still need to pick Splat apart until it's done right... ;)
 
Carry on...

Mesh

Where did you find my notes??

How quickly we forget the 2015 Holiday season when a failed proof-read led to an Addictive Drum Custom add-on being advertised for $49 (actual value was $249). Cakewalk admitted the error, and provided every person who ordered it the full product, no questions.

This is not the behavior of a company who wants to rip their users off.

Cross platforming is essential for survival. Haters gonna hate, bakers gonna bake.

BTW, U-He provides lifetime updates and they are doing just fine.

Anderton
 
.. And no, I'm not going to tell you, any more than I'm going to email all of Cakewalk's competitors and say "Listen up, folks! You better be ready to counter these upcoming initiatives, so here they are!"

I wonder how those emails will be recieved.
 
Wouldn't it be better to just blaze yer own trail and leave everyone else floundering in their own self-perpetuating darkness?
 
I dunno perosnally, I know nothing about business just like you suspect.

backwoods

Jonbouy

Anderton
 
.. And no, I'm not going to tell you, any more than I'm going to email all of Cakewalk's competitors and say "Listen up, folks! You better be ready to counter these upcoming initiatives, so here they are!"

I wonder how those emails will be recieved.
 
Wouldn't it be better to just blaze yer own trail and leave everyone else floundering in their own self-perpetuating darkness?
 
I dunno perosnally, I know nothing about business just like you suspect.

hey jonboy-- ever get pheads to make software purchases resaleable like you railed against cakewalk to do :) no, of course you didn't... it is binding EU law is it not 

???
 
Is there a point you are making here?  When did I rail against Cakewalk making software transferable?  I'd have more likely been pro reselling rather than against it.
 
Besides what does any of that have to do with the June 1st announcement which is being discussed here?
 
If you've got some long standing personal resentment thing going on or you are interested in buying my copy of Reason then by all means take it to PM, meanwhile I'm interested in the detail of what is happening here now, such as lifetime updates and finally a cross-platform Sonar on the horizon.

without reading the thread, I can say that running on a Mac now might get Sonar in some studios where engineers think only tubes and Macs are the real deal.  ....like wedging your foot in the door, so to speak.  Smart move IMO.  One way to become "the" industry standard...for those slow to give up on their Apple products.  GIve Cake a year or two..  I think we'll be pleasantly pleased.

We can't sell our Cakewalk software but there's some EU regulations regarding software that says you have the right to resell or transfer ownership. There have been a number of threads about this subject over the years, and just about everyone participated in them.
 
P.S.
In view of recent threads I want to make it clear that I am an Eedjit. I have no direct, or indirect, knowledge of business, the music industry, forum threads or the meaning of life. I know about amps.

CW have always done a fine job, hence my long term commitment. I chime in with small grumbles on occasion but they're never anything to do with CW's core commitment and overall direction which I'm totally happy with. I signed up for lifetime updates as soon as I received the first email, of course. The move to cater for Mac users was as logical as night follows day.
Communication sometimes comes over as not being CW's strongest suit. I think the recent big announcement should have been conveyed more formally and in an articulate manner by a proper spokesperson; I found the 'wow', 'awesome', 'cool', 'awesome' (again) presentation lamentable, sorry. The opposite of a model of clarity when clarity should have been the order of the day.