Re-read what has been said all good all bad news all about YOU ! This is a fkn good bit of kit for nicks ... I know how hard it's been to write and then record your own stuff professionally. I've used studios that can't come close to what this stuff does for £100 an hour!! Look behind you .... ARrrrr ......... there's the light.
  
 

This may have been mentioned, I honestly didn't feel like reading the whole thread...
 
First, the Lifetime update deal is a special until the end of August.  Did you miss that?  It's not permanent.  After August, it goes back to the yearly subscription plan.  Also, as stated, the yearly update plan ONLY is for core program updates and enhancements.  Cakewalk will continue to update it, but will also continue to make new things like instrument and effects that you can add to it, FOR A PRICE.  It says that if you read it.  
 
Also, if you would rather just pay your $200 a year, you go with your bad self.  Have fun with that.  I plan on doing the lifetime upgrade. 

John
.............
I don't think you understood what I said. This has nothing to do with free software. 

 
Yep understood you totally...and nope I never said it was about free software - where did you get that from??

abacab
One word: Adobe ...
 
Words cannot express what I really think about their Monthly/Annual plan for the "Creative Cloud". It is an all you eat buffet of all their creative applications, from Photoshop and Illustrator, to their web & publishing tools. You can download and use them all, similar to CCC.  They are an "industry standard" for graphics professionals, so many depend on them for the tools of their trade.
 
Their monthly pricing for all that sounds great at first look.  But there's a catch. Stop paying and your software stops working. WTF?  You have created projects in formats that can only be edited and saved with said software.

I've never understood why people think that is a "catch." People go in with the knowledge that they're just renting the software and that they have to keep paying the rental fee for as long as they wish to keep working on their projects. The CC subscription makes excellent sense for business owners and people who might just need the software temporarily for one project. It gives them an opportunity to use Adobe software that would not have been cost effective before.

And so what if the software stops working when you stop subscribing? If you need to work on your projects more you can start the subscription again at any time. Saying that it's a "catch" is like saying that hiring a belt sander comes with the "catch" that you have to give it back and that if you need to touch up your floors in the future, you'll have to hire it again. Software is just a tool, and like all tools there are those who don't need to own them. Subscriptions are an answer to this problem, even Adobe's "stop paying and the software gets turned off" version.

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.

Says the guy with one post

So, I posted a thread titled, "too good to be true".... wherein i offered a bit of skepticism on the motives of the bakers but I concluded that after all these years that they have, at least from me, bought my support through the high level of professionalism that they have demonstrated.  None of us know where this will go but I am going along for the ride with some BLIND FAITH.
 
What I did like is that on their banner web page for these new announcements, they included a small section titled, "too good to be true" with some statement that it is this good as of an commitment to their loyal customer base. Which I suggest is how we all should feel.
 
Now, opening up OS X to SONAR does offer some new possibilities (more in the hardware arena).  I love my iMACs but have been a WINDOWS PC user for years only because of SONAR.  I did a major rebuild last year and was contemplating going the MAC route (switching to PTs) but alas, SONAR kept me on the Windows side of things.  I hope that SONAR becomes stable on a MAC so my next build will be on the APPLE side.
 
Let's enjoy what we have and see where the future takes us.
 
Jim

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.

This forum SO needs a "like" button...  

Well in one sense I think the OP is correct. Platinum as we know it now, is already being retired. And by that I mean that the tiered system where we pay more per year to get more extras (synths, fx & tools) is going by the wayside. The lifetime updates pretty clearly stated that only core features will be included in free monthly updates. And it looks like that is being reflected in the #Sonar4You announcement: all future updates listed will be available for all three levels of SONAR. So what we are getting is more akin to the $49/yr Artist subscription model. What we know now as Platinum/Professional additions will be purchased ala carte. So if this years updates had been under the new business model, I would have gotten Smart Solo, Style Dials, Add Track Menu, and many others as a free update. But I would have to purchase separately Ultra Analog Session 2, Lounge Lizard, & Cakewalk Mastering Plugs. This is great b/c it tailors the SONAR experience to each user and Cakewalk in turn saves money by not having to pay expensive licensing fees for stuff users may not use. I, for one, would not have bought any of them, but I would have purchased Drum Replacer & VocalSync using funds I normally would have allotted for my yearly SONAR dues.
 
What I mean to say is that there's a lot of "too good to be true" pessimism floating around. The truth is that this is both an amazingly generous offer and a viable business model.

I was suspicious when Gibson came and over the last several months CW gained my trust. I wish I knew how many years lifetime means but I guess Bakers convinced me it is long enough.

sharke

abacab
One word: Adobe ...
 
Words cannot express what I really think about their Monthly/Annual plan for the "Creative Cloud". It is an all you eat buffet of all their creative applications, from Photoshop and Illustrator, to their web & publishing tools. You can download and use them all, similar to CCC.  They are an "industry standard" for graphics professionals, so many depend on them for the tools of their trade.
 
Their monthly pricing for all that sounds great at first look.  But there's a catch. Stop paying and your software stops working. WTF?  You have created projects in formats that can only be edited and saved with said software.

I've never understood why people think that is a "catch." People go in with the knowledge that they're just renting the software and that they have to keep paying the rental fee for as long as they wish to keep working on their projects. The CC subscription makes excellent sense for business owners and people who might just need the software temporarily for one project. It gives them an opportunity to use Adobe software that would not have been cost effective before.

And so what if the software stops working when you stop subscribing? If you need to work on your projects more you can start the subscription again at any time. Saying that it's a "catch" is like saying that hiring a belt sander comes with the "catch" that you have to give it back and that if you need to touch up your floors in the future, you'll have to hire it again. Software is just a tool, and like all tools there are those who don't need to own them. Subscriptions are an answer to this problem, even Adobe's "stop paying and the software gets turned off" version.

 
You clearly missed the point of my example. Cakewalk's license is perpetual, which means you can stop paying the subscription and you get to keep the working software for the version you have payed up for, indefinitely.
 
In the case of Adobe, their subscription plan is clearly meant to be a "rental" only plan.  True, they are up front about it. But as an old Photoshop user, I'm not about to jump on that train.  If you think that is not a "catch", you should should see what many long time users of the Adobe CS thought when they were told the only way to upgrade was to "subscribe". 
 
The argument against that subscription model is that when you create something with a piece of software, the creation belongs to you.  Having to pay up again, to unlock something that you created, just rubbed lots of folks the wrong way.
 
Call it what you like, but just imagine the sh!tstorm on this forum if Cake ever tried that, LOL!!!