All of you do know that a contract is involved here. A breach of the contract by claiming a name change is sufficient to void the contract may be actionable. I think you should read the contract before speculating. 

I agree with you. Sounds like a rip off. This may be the last straw. I've been a Cakewalk user for many, many years. But it may be time to make a change. Studio One maybe. Anyway, very frustrated after all the years of my loyalty.

How is this in any way a rip off?
 
You have so many options now. Pay by the month, the yearly membership, and lifetime updates. If you're as cynical as some of the people are in here and like them you assume Cakewalk moves the goalposts in 2 years time with a new name of the product, you're STILL out in front compared to the regular options, which everyone was already quite fine with.
 
I don't get it. This thread makes my brain ache.

Tripecac
Continuous updates only work if there is a continuous income stream.  If all Sonar users converted to lifetime subscriptions (including the upcoming Mac users) and stopped buying other Cakewalk products, then the income stream would dry up.  How long could Cakewalk possibly deliver updates?  How long could they "coast" on the lifetime update injection?

Because new people are buying the software all the time. The ongoing financial health of a company like Cakewalk relies heavily on sales from new users. They are clearly not hoping that a one-time payment from its existing user base will be enough to sustain them indefinitely. I would have thought that was obvious.

I don't understand much of the pissiness over this lifetime updates deal. Any "lifetime" offer comes with the risk that the company offering it will cease trading or fly off in another direction or whatever. Doesn't matter whether it's a cloud backup service or a software company, there is always the chance things will go arse up at any time. It's your job as a free consumer to evaluate the measure of this risk and ascertain whether it's worth it. If a local restaurant offered you a "free lunch for life" deal for $300, would it be worth it? There's always the chance that the place might go under. Then again, it's been there for 25 years and doesn't show any signs of going out of business. But things could change in 3 or 4 years - will I have had my $300 worth by then? Hmm, decisions decisions. It's exactly the same with this offer. You're making a judgment on the health of Cakewalk, the likelihood of it going under in the next few years, how trustworthy they've been in the past etc. And I think when you evaluate all that stuff objectively, you'll find that it's a very good offer with minimal risk. And since its $99 you're spending and not $999, that risk does seem quite negligible.

The OP's fears are ridiculous, as if they're going to pull the rug from under their user base by renaming the product and using that as a basis to stop free updates. It would be suicide for them.

Lord Tim
How is this in any way a rip off?
 
You have so many options now. Pay by the month, the yearly membership, and lifetime updates. If you're as cynical as some of the people are in here and like them you assume Cakewalk moves the goalposts in 2 years time with a new name of the product, you're STILL out in front compared to the regular options, which everyone was already quite fine with.
 
I don't get it. This thread makes my brain ache.

I'm sure some of these people are the same types who worry about using online installers in case the mere act of plugging their DAW into the Interwebz gives them a virus. I get the same vibe.

John
All of you do know that a contract is involved here. A breach of the contract by claiming a name change is sufficient to void the contract may be actionable. I think you should read the contract before speculating. 

Incorrect I believe - a company has the right to "retire" software at any time it chooses. It can then choose to launch new products in its stead. There is no breach as the "lifetime" of said retired product has now ended. It is not "our personal" lifetimes here! And we only ever licence the software, so in the end it is Gibsons to do with as they wish!
 
Just one of the myriad reasons why companies spend large sums on lawyers to draft end-user agreements, and to determine the syntax of offers such as these. Not saying there is any blatant deception here, just saying Gibson have used a marketing tool to get some extra cash injected into the business. It is probably needed to fund the rather costly programming effort to bring OSX version to market. They have obviously made economic calculations that offering "lifetime" upgrades will inject cash enough to proceed forward, but the lifetime (in its p.o.v. - if a comapny can have such thing?) is nto going to be long enough to cause much (if any) financial burden on the company.
 
Yes I know Apple do it with free upgrades to the iOS system, but Gibson do not have the millions of Apple users paying for apps on a daily basis. It is why the Apple model works. It would not work for Gibson imo, well not to the same extent, so one must look "behind and between the lines" for motivations for actions - of course it is speculation, but specualtion based on real world experience of how companies operate. They are not benevolent societies after all

And going on some of the views expressed here, I rest my case that Gibson are relying on those gullible (no,) naive enough to believe that companies have the end-users, consumers best interests at heart! As I wrote earllier in this thread, I took up the offer as even if it only lasts two years, it is still cheaper than two years normal subs! If it goes longer then that's a bonus.
 
All I am saying is it is not the altruistic offer that Gibson would have you believe, or that it s some sort of "payback" for years of customer loyalty. It is a pure business strategy, as was my decision to buy into the lifetime upgrade. It made perfect business sense to me, end of!

guitars53
I agree with you. Sounds like a rip off. This may be the last straw. I've been a Cakewalk user for many, many years. But it may be time to make a change. Studio One maybe. Anyway, very frustrated after all the years of my loyalty.

In a cr@p thread based on a OP written by someone who has no idea about how the Sonar updates now work, this post takes the prize for getting your knickers in a twist over absolutely nothing.
I'm perplexed and stunned.

Grum.

I thank all those who have made comments to this thread, a few somewhat pointless and acidic, but none the less helpful. It would seem that I misunderstood the deal that was being offered. As a user since Sonar producer 5  I think I'll stick with it and for what it's worth I have now purchased my lifetime update.  This forum is always so helpful, if you can ignore the sheep ...

BRuys
The model is similar to Windows 10 - supposedly the last version of Windows ever, to be updated indefinitely.  That's why it was not called X4.

That's not particularly encouraging.  <Microsoft did this because they envision there isn't that much left to accomplish at the "operating system" level and they wanted to get the Windows ecosystem spread as wide as possible during this final phase.  That is important because the ecosystem will be full of little monetizing pits.  As time goes on with Windows more and more of what they deliver will be packaged as add-ons that each code a few bucks.
 
It isn't so different with LANDR, Melodyne, and the other VSTs that provide on sample functionality for free, is it?