I have X3 Producer.  I did not know about the release of Rapture Pro with over 4000 sounds, what a couple years ago?  I would have bought it.  It's now not available.

Is it possible that BandLab acquired it and will make it available again?  Or does anyone know of a way to get it and validate it into my X3 Producer?  That would be totally cool.
 
2nd, I signed up on BandLab yesterday and browsed the site some.  I'd like to comment (and ask?) a few things from what I saw:
 
* The collaborative effort for musicians using BandLab does seem pretty cool, in theory.  I casually looked, but did not see anything related to the technical means of how users are able to share (using Sonar language) a DAW project.  For example, let's say I upload a startup song with 4 tracks of keyboard stuff on it, so that a drummer, guitarist, and bassist can gain access to it, and add their own ideas to the same project.  I did not see the technology on the Bandlab site where this comes to life.  Is this why they bought Sonar's software?  But they've already been doing their thing for some time.  So I don't know.
 
* I took a couple minutes only, looking over the legal page about copyright stuff.  It is a bit disconcerting to read without a music attorney to help make sense of it.  It seems as though you kinda lose all your rights the moment you go public with it on BandLab, even though they use some double-talk about you remain the owner of the composition, and then a moment later say that they have rights to publish and use, etc.  Very confusing.


* I happen to have just started 7 weeks ago, a St. Louis, MO Musicians Meetup Group using the Meetup.com website, and to make a long story short - we are meeting for the 3rd time this April 7, for the purpose of attempting to create a CD of 10 originals songs, comprised by the efforts of all the St. Louis Musicians in the group (we are up to 92 now, but only had 22 show up at the 2nd meeting) that we hope people will download at $1/track, as the idea is to get local TV and radio to promote this unique St. Louis endeavor.  Kinda like how Steely Dan's Donald Fagen and Walter Becker used different musicians on almost every song.  BandLab's timing for me, is fairly remarkable since we will need a method to share our riffs and collaborate from all over the St. Louis city and county and surrounding areas.  I was intending to get us all to share DAW tracks as .WAV files (regardless of what DAW each of uses), but BandLab might be better (or maybe not).  But their legalese is a bit scary.  Also, it was unclear to me if we have to buy the hardware they show on their website in order to use their app to get the music onto their cloud.  The app could not be a full scale DAW, I'm sure of that, and maybe it's not necessary since all we need to do is download the full scale (not compressed) audio into our own DAW to do our work.

scook
This is why it is important to create an account on BandLab. They own the SONAR activation process now and committed to keep the process the same or provide an alternate activation method.

Is the activation process/server really part of the intellectual property ?
I would have thought it more a part of the Cakewalk company, which is dead.
 
If I don't get a code to activate Platinum, I'm going with another daw.
I won't hang around until BandLab pulls the plug on it and I'm through investing money in the Sonar code.
 

Paul P
 
Is the activation process/server really part of the intellectual property ?
I would have thought it more a part of the Cakewalk company, which is dead.
 

 
From the original announcement from BandLab:
 
"BandLab Technologies today announced the acquisition of certain assets and the complete set of intellectual property of Cakewalk Inc. from Gibson Brands."
 
I would have thought the activation system would be one of those assets.

Paul P
If I don't get a code to activate Platinum, I'm going with another daw.
I won't hang around until BandLab pulls the plug on it and I'm through investing money in the Sonar code.
 

Do you think that's wise ? Your license is in effect dead. BandLab is offering a golden opportunity of a bridge over to something new and hopefully more successful, and you say no ? 

Paul P

scook
This is why it is important to create an account on BandLab. They own the SONAR activation process now and committed to keep the process the same or provide an alternate activation method.

Is the activation process/server really part of the intellectual property ?
I would have thought it more a part of the Cakewalk company, which is dead.
 
If I don't get a code to activate Platinum, I'm going with another daw.
I won't hang around until BandLab pulls the plug on it and I'm through investing money in the Sonar code.
 

Guys, it really is time to stop posting your "beliefs" and start re-reading what Noel and Meng have already stated.

Kevin Walsh   " Look on the bright side. Magix could have picked up Sonar. As far as I'm concerned (and this is just my opinion), Magix is the place where software goes to die. "
 
I am just curious...What's the deal on that story, which software went there to die? When I read that, I thought "Yikes, That's Not Good, what does Kevin know that I don't know?!". Got my attention for sure.
My first experience with MAGIX was a year or so back, I opened up my copy of Sony ACID Music Studio 9 (the light version of ACID that I use for loop creation/manipulation), and it had became an upgrade to the MAGIX 10 version for free. Suddenly all my 3rd party VST/VSTi's showed up in the plugin manager. I use that for loops, SONAR as main DAW. Happy Camper,all around.
I hate all this BS due to Gibson's collapse and will be VERY happy if I/we get to keep using Cakewalk products in the future. 
But just in case, I purchased  PreSonus Studio One 3.5 DAW; also,MAGIX sold me a crossover deal for Samplitude Pro X3, Sound Forge Pro 11, SpectraLayers, iZotope Mastering and Repair Suite, Melodyne, plus more for $150.
 If MAGIX is bad news, the Grim Reaper for Software, I have no issues with deleting it
 I use SONAR all day, spend as much off-hours time as I can getting the hang of Studio One and Samplitude, I sure don't want to be wasting my time on learning a DAW that's going to die. Save me attending a funeral if you can fill me in on MAGIX   pastgraveyard..I want to avoid that scene again.
Seems like BandLab is making a real effort for existing Cakewalk users.
Dang it, I am all chill until I log in to the forum and by the time I log out I am not so chill anymore.    
 
 

What Karyn said...
 

kevinwal
It was really decent of the Cakewalk folks to offer offline activation keys and I appreciate the spirit in which it was offered, but really, they had no obligation (contractual or otherwise) to do so once the doors closed, ...

 
When an entity is destined to enter, or has entered bankruptcy it is routine for its creditors to expect remediation before or after an undervalue transaction of the entity's assets occurs.
 
Paid licensees of intellectual property are considered creditors in this circumstance. The debtor has granted perpetual access to said property, and we can reasonably expect remediation from the party with which we had an agreement.
 
Provision of a license authorization utility has become routine in the software sector when a vendor dissolves in bankruptcy. This was confirmed when Cakewalk's CTO stated that this was the reason there was no need to worry about Cakewalk completely disappearing before a remedy was supplied.
 
Arranging to have a third party provide license authorization in an escrow capacity is also a common solution, but it is irregular for the contingency to require that the creditors sign an agreement with a social media platform to utilize the remedial solution.
 
The social media platform forces us to agree to a privacy policy that states it will make use of our information, and our habits, in a manner above and beyond the simple facilitation of software license authorization. 
 
I can consider signing up with Bandlab in order to enjoy its social media platform's capabilities, but I am resistant to the instruction or suggestion that I need to do so in order to retain access to the intellectual property which I have licensed in perpetuity through an agreement with Cakewalk Inc.
 
I will prefer that Cakewalk Inc. provides a solution for those licensees that do not wish to be forced to sign up to a social media platform to access the licenses that Cakewalk has granted in perpetuity.
 
Thank you.
 
 
Edited spelling and grammar.
 
 

Wookiee

poetnprophet
Hi Bandlab,
 
I follow this thread almost every day, but I can see my requests for VS700 support will just get buried in the BS back/forth speculations.
 
PLEASE CAN WE HAVE FURTHER VS700 SUPPORT!
 
I think I'll just keep posting this request day after day until something happens.
Thanks!
Dave

The VS700 was never a Cakewalk designed or Manufactured product it was made and supported by Roland, they just used the Cakewalk name badge when they owned Cakewalk, one could almost be tempted to say they exploited the name, but probably not wise to do so.  Persistently asking here will in all seriousness get you no where talk to the company that originated it Roland Corporation.   Further post on this product may be subject to deletion for being off topic. 

So what, the system says CAKEWALK right on the front of it, and Cakewalk is the only DAW that has the integration BUILT IN to the daw, and since Bandlabs has whatever IP regarding Cakewalk, I'm simply asking them not to overlook this piece of it....and trying to make a voice for VS700 folks even though we are a tiny niche.
 
And, threatening to delete my relevant and serious requests amidst the 30 pages of sheer garbage and vomit I've been reading pretty much sums up the whole experience and the direction here.  Thanks for reminding me that I need to find another daw...and community.
Dave

scook
When it comes to hardware support anything is possible but some things are more likely that others. Expecting BandLab to purchase IP from Roland to support hardware that Roland no longer manufacturers or supports falls into the unlikely category. Expecting better integration with currently manufactured and support devices is more likely but would have to be prioritized along with other feature requests. My guess is the priority right now is completing the transition and rolling out the successor to SONAR.

I'm not expecting anything, just a valid and relevant request for me and the few others that still use it.  If a new CW/BL product comes without any support for this surface, I personally won't use it.  I might as well find another daw to go with another surface system.
 
Also the MCU unit is not the same as the VS700 system.  It has maybe half of that systems functionality with Sonar.  Even the VS surface by itself is superior.  Plus preamps, comps, AD/DA, and I/O from the rack.  It's not the same.
 
I just don't understand why so many here are a bunch of haters?  Why does everyone bash everyone others' opinions or questions?  It feels a lot like Gearslutz suddenly, and it's sickening.