bapu
 
Funny thing is, I NEVER read the survey question(s)

 
Yet you ALWAYS answer them?
 

Jonbouy

bapu
 
Funny thing is, I NEVER read the survey question(s)

 
Yet you ALWAYS answer them?
 

jb101

Jonbouy

bapu
 
Funny thing is, I NEVER read the survey question(s)

 
Yet you ALWAYS answer them?
 

Subscriptions:  there are dozens of variations
 
Each model works for some people / businesses
 
Commitment to a 1 or 2 year subscription with monthly payments is exactly the same as most phone contracts. This is not a reasonable comparison to a software subscription.
 
Memberties: purchase the program and purchase a 1 year support contract.
 
If we do not renew the support contract the program does NOT become a pumpkin.
 
If we renew the support contract we get another year of "free" updates and support tickets.
 
This is the model CW managers should create for all of CW products.
 
-----------------------
 
And:   License transfer: A major way to increase market share and reputation.
 
CW should charge $25 for license transfer. This becomes TOTAL profit.
New user does NOT get free support.
The new user is now on the mailing list available for promotions.
The number of CW software users increases. Great marketing.
 
If the software has been used for an upgrade the transferred license does NOT qualify for upgrade pricing.
 
It the license has NOT been used for an upgrade it DOES qualify for upgrade pricing. 
 
All of this is in compliance with current policies.
 
Nearly ALL the programming for tracking license transfers is in place. Minimal cost to CW for new programming.
 
Everybody wins here.
 
CW gets a new users
CW gets profit from previously sold products
More users means more word-of-mouth
More users means more future sales
Marketing: less cost for new users, the biggest cost of advertising.
 
Drucker told us nearly 40 years ago that a proprietary market is less of a market than when purchasers have choice.
 
Allowing users to transfer licenses will increase CW market share and reputation, and increase profit.
 
CW should be one of the first to do this.
 
Everybody wins.
 
 
 
 

Oh, yeah.
 
X4a will be released on December 1st.
 
Just in time for making all the marketers, shippers, retailers, be crazy for 20 days.
 
totally a ridiculous expectation
 
when will X3f be released?

YouDontHasToCallMeJohnson
Everybody wins here.
 
CW gets a new users
CW gets profit from previously sold products
More users means more word-of-mouth
More users means more future sales
Marketing: less cost for new users, the biggest cost of advertising.

 
Maybe I missed the part in your logic where the "old" user stays on board. Yes CW get a new user but also loses a user. For $25. That is not a win-win in my book.
 
If I were CW I'd let the user who no longer needs the SW to fade into the sunset. I'd go after new users ALL THE TIME....... oh wait, that's what they do now, right?
 

"If I were CW I'd let the user who no longer needs the SW to fade into the sunset. I'd go after new users ALL THE TIME....... oh wait, that's what they do now, right?"
 
LMBO Bapu, you're someting else!

dcasey
Hey Cakewalk/Tascam/Gibson - whoever might be reading this stuff; I've been a Cakewalk customer since Pro Audio, and at this point a gentle nudge would send me into the arms of another vendor.  Cakewalk moving to a subscription model would be more like a punch in the nose, and if I'm going to bleed - I might as well bleed all over Studio One or Pro Tools (for all the wrong reasons).  
 
That should give you a good indication of what I think about a Cakewalk subscription.  No thanks.

Why do some people automatically assume that if Cakewalk was going to do something like a subscription model, it would be the crappiest, most customer-hostile model possible? Remember, this is a company that steadfastly refuses to use intrusive copy protection methods like dongles. It's a little disappointing a small company that trusts its customers (and put out five rapid-fire, free updates to X3) doesn't get some trust back in return.
 
The software world is a tough place to carve out a piece of the pie. Cakewalk is the kind of company that understands the way to get a bigger slice of the pie is to...cook a better-tasting pie. 

TomHelvey

brconflict
If the subscriber buys a year's activation, it would run, say $99/yr, $149/2yrs, $199/3yrs. Month-to-month would be, say $19.99/mo. ($479.76 for 24 mos.) You can see that compared to a one-time $399 for Producer, these look attractive. Sure, the long-term users would receive a discount, but you could attract many more occasional users to offset that discount, awarding the long-term users the higher appreciation. 
 
btw, $12.99/mo. for Xn Studio and $9.99/mo. for basic Xn.
 
The software is downloaded and installed, but requires Internet access to validate subscription.

I've been a Cakewalk user for more than a decade and upgraded regularly whenever new versions came out. If Cakewalk moved to a subscription model, that's the last they'd ever hear from me. I refuse to use any DAW that doesn't provide a perpetual license model. Dongles are annoying enough, having software call home to see if it's still licensed is even worse. Subscription licensing is probably the single worst thing Cakewalk could possibly do and would most likely cause them to lose the majority of their loyal customers.

Exactly! I can see that being useful for people who want to try it out first, but not as the only way to use it. If that's what happens I too will move on to another DAW.

I'll have to add a couple of points to the subscription argument. One, it's less of a burden than having to buy a $40 iLok or dongle, which most people detest. Other DAW's require that. Two, if a subscription model would perhaps extend support hours to 10PM Central at night and open on weekends. Or better, 24x7 support (you only need 1-2 late night agents), subscription would be nice. I've rarely, if ever had access to Tech Support during the day.
 
My apologies for suggesting this while Support people watch. But the truth is, I only gain access to my DAW after hours, since I have a day job in another industry. Having after hours phone or chat support would help me out of sticky situations on the spot. I'd also like to add the importance of WebEx. A Subscription model could help cover the expenses of these things.
 
For those newcomers, mentioned above, many of them are after-hours engineers or entrepreneurs. 24x7 WebEx support would reduce the amount of trolling and blasting on this forum by those same people who are not quite savvy in Sonar just yet. Add WebEx training resources for "Show me how to...", that's something else subscription prices can cover, perhaps. RTFM works in the Linux world, but this IS a business, with customers, right? Value-add.