In my view they were too tech focused, their marketing of Sonar was very poor to non-existent, leading to too much reliance on the existing customer base, e.g. the lifetime offer thing. Having tried some alternatives in the past two weeks it sticks out a mile to me that Sonar was/is a far better DAW than the rest and that should have given them a good marketing edge.  Gibson made a gut purchase (which is what happens in companies with a supremo that wants to make all decisions themselves) and should have kicked the tyres properly first.  What's utterly inforgiveable - from the point of view of CW staff welfare, customer service and general PR - is Gibson crashing and burning Sonar without making concerted attempts to sell Sonar for $1, e.g. to IK Multimedia.  Maybe they tried but somehow I don't think so. 

I can't believe this. I won scholarships composing on sonar to NYU and Columbia University. This is absolutely horrifying. Their piano scroll view was perfect for me.. absolutely perfect.. now where am I to go for the same?
 

Ddamaged1
I can't believe this. I won scholarships composing on sonar to NYU and Columbia University. This is absolutely horrifying. Their piano scroll view was perfect for me.. absolutely perfect.. now where am I to go for the same?
 

As a starter if Sonar works for you the way it is and minus the enhancement that you requested in another thread you should be able to continue using it for some time.
 
As a follow up, these forums are now full of details about the many alternatives, most of these are in the software forum but they are scattered so from an information perspective there has never been a better time to switch.
 
Start with the thread below to see what's available. Most of the deals have been extended at least once and ask questions as most users here have been trying to help each other find the best alternative.
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/3rd-party-offers-made-to-Sonar-users-Updated-211217-m3701893.aspx 

thank you very much, this is very kind of you.

The only Daw I notice comes close is Cubase pro 9.5.. the piano roll view is similar, except that i don't understand why they force you to work the midi track by track as opposed to seeing the whole midi score like you can in sonar's prv.. 

chuckebaby
Happy New year everyone.

Happy New Year, Charlie!

sharke

michael diemer

sharke

disdisley
i've only just found out 
why was we not informed ????
who will refund my purchases for plug ins and so on i've brought over the last month ?
and now i can not upgrade 
this is criminal scamming 

Question: are the plugins you bought locked into Sonar or can you use them in other DAW's? If you can use them in other DAW's then you absolutely most certainly did not get ripped off and no refunds are forthcoming. Even if they are only usable in Sonar, then I didn't read the part where your copy of Sonar has become disabled and you are no longer able to make music with it. 
 
Honesty people need to calm down with the drama. 
 
It seems like comments have sorted themselves into two camps. On the one hand you have the "Let me first say that I've used Cakewalk since the DOS floppy days, in fact here's a photo of my discs...." type posts, on the other you have "F&#^#^$! This is a scam and a ripoff and so help me god I will unleash the full fury of a UN taskforce upon Cakewalk and Gibson if they do not refund me in full and apologize for going out of business!" 

There are two reasons people are upset. First, they're upset about feeling like they got ripped off with the now obviously bogus lifetime update scheme. Who wouldn't be? But there's nothing to be done about that; they were taken advantage of by a company desperate to stay in business. Nothing to be done about that but accept it and move on. No class action suit is going to be filed. 
 
Second, people are upset about the loss of a great software program, which did not have to happen. and should not have happened. Cakewalk should not have been sacrificed to help stave off what may be inevitable bankruptcy by Gibson. That was uncalled for. The loyal customers should not suffer because of their poor management. Unfortunately, while highly unethical, there is also nothing illegal here either. So, again, only thing to do is accept it and move on. Or, stay with your favorite stable version of sonar as long as you can. 
 
I don't think anyone gains by being ridiculed for their legitimate feelings about what has happened. If it doesn't bother you, fine, say so. but don't put the rest of us down because we may have a different reaction. The thing about people is, we're not all the same. Everyone's are feelings are just as valid as yours. It would be a boring world if we were all robots which always reacted in the same predictable way. 

First of all, the lifetime update offer was not "obviously bogus." Nobody in their right mind would ever think the offer meant updates for the remainder of their own lifetime. Unfortunately, from reading online threads about Cakewalk's demise, it seems that there are a surprising number of people who aren't in their right mind. The offer was clearly intended to give the participants updates for as long as Sonar was being developed. Companies go out of business. Therefore, anyone paying for lifetime offers was knowingly taking a risk. I didn't read the small print on the offer and I'm guessing very few people did - but I'm willing to bet that it stated the terms of this "lifetime offer" in very clear, unambiguous legal terms. We weren't ripped off by the offer, it's as simple as that. 
 
All companies will do whatever it takes to stay in business. No company is going to come out and say "folks, we're on the brink of bankruptcy" to their customers, not as long as there's a chance to turn things around. Doing so would cause everyone to get cold feet and abandon ship, almost guaranteeing immediate bankruptcy. Lifetime updates was floated as a plan to reverse Cakewalk's fortunes, and the idea was likely floated with the best of intentions - nobody intended to go out of business and nobody intended to rip anyone off. 
 
Any feeling could be described as "legitimate" simply by virtue of it having been felt by someone. The trouble is that feelings are frequently not based upon objective fact, or reasonable trains of thought, or even a rational set of values. For example, people "mourning" the loss of Sonar and acting like some tremendous tragedy has been inflicted upon them need to get a grip of their lives. You only have to turn on the news to realize how pathetic it is. Here in New York the other day there was an apartment fire which wiped out 12 people, some of them kids. When I read stories like that and then go online and read some of the self-centered, melodramatic rants people are posting about the news that some dispensable, replaceable piece of software will no longer receive updates, it kind of annoys me. I guess my feelings are legitimate too, yes? 
 
The bottom line is that Sonar was nowhere near popular enough to justify the development cost. And that's not Gibson's fault. 

Thanks for the perspective. Happy New Year!

pwalpwal
no one here knows what really happened regarding gibson etc - personally, i'll speculate that gibson were cakewalk's last chance, after they had already failed with roland and intergrated/branded hardware, with anderton joining around the same time - "if anyone can save it, anderton can" - but cakewalk still failed to adjust to the new digital marketplace/fwiw

Some people haven't seen the Reddit thread??
(Google "former employee cakewalk Reddit").
 
 
What the former employee is saying came as absolutely no surprise to me.
Happy New Year. THE END.

skorst

sharke

michael diemer

sharke

disdisley
i've only just found out 
why was we not informed ????
who will refund my purchases for plug ins and so on i've brought over the last month ?
and now i can not upgrade 
this is criminal scamming 

Question: are the plugins you bought locked into Sonar or can you use them in other DAW's? If you can use them in other DAW's then you absolutely most certainly did not get ripped off and no refunds are forthcoming. Even if they are only usable in Sonar, then I didn't read the part where your copy of Sonar has become disabled and you are no longer able to make music with it. 
 
Honesty people need to calm down with the drama. 
 
It seems like comments have sorted themselves into two camps. On the one hand you have the "Let me first say that I've used Cakewalk since the DOS floppy days, in fact here's a photo of my discs...." type posts, on the other you have "F&#^#^$! This is a scam and a ripoff and so help me god I will unleash the full fury of a UN taskforce upon Cakewalk and Gibson if they do not refund me in full and apologize for going out of business!" 

There are two reasons people are upset. First, they're upset about feeling like they got ripped off with the now obviously bogus lifetime update scheme. Who wouldn't be? But there's nothing to be done about that; they were taken advantage of by a company desperate to stay in business. Nothing to be done about that but accept it and move on. No class action suit is going to be filed. 
 
Second, people are upset about the loss of a great software program, which did not have to happen. and should not have happened. Cakewalk should not have been sacrificed to help stave off what may be inevitable bankruptcy by Gibson. That was uncalled for. The loyal customers should not suffer because of their poor management. Unfortunately, while highly unethical, there is also nothing illegal here either. So, again, only thing to do is accept it and move on. Or, stay with your favorite stable version of sonar as long as you can. 
 
I don't think anyone gains by being ridiculed for their legitimate feelings about what has happened. If it doesn't bother you, fine, say so. but don't put the rest of us down because we may have a different reaction. The thing about people is, we're not all the same. Everyone's are feelings are just as valid as yours. It would be a boring world if we were all robots which always reacted in the same predictable way. 

First of all, the lifetime update offer was not "obviously bogus." Nobody in their right mind would ever think the offer meant updates for the remainder of their own lifetime. Unfortunately, from reading online threads about Cakewalk's demise, it seems that there are a surprising number of people who aren't in their right mind. The offer was clearly intended to give the participants updates for as long as Sonar was being developed. Companies go out of business. Therefore, anyone paying for lifetime offers was knowingly taking a risk. I didn't read the small print on the offer and I'm guessing very few people did - but I'm willing to bet that it stated the terms of this "lifetime offer" in very clear, unambiguous legal terms. We weren't ripped off by the offer, it's as simple as that. 
 
All companies will do whatever it takes to stay in business. No company is going to come out and say "folks, we're on the brink of bankruptcy" to their customers, not as long as there's a chance to turn things around. Doing so would cause everyone to get cold feet and abandon ship, almost guaranteeing immediate bankruptcy. Lifetime updates was floated as a plan to reverse Cakewalk's fortunes, and the idea was likely floated with the best of intentions - nobody intended to go out of business and nobody intended to rip anyone off. 
 
Any feeling could be described as "legitimate" simply by virtue of it having been felt by someone. The trouble is that feelings are frequently not based upon objective fact, or reasonable trains of thought, or even a rational set of values. For example, people "mourning" the loss of Sonar and acting like some tremendous tragedy has been inflicted upon them need to get a grip of their lives. You only have to turn on the news to realize how pathetic it is. Here in New York the other day there was an apartment fire which wiped out 12 people, some of them kids. When I read stories like that and then go online and read some of the self-centered, melodramatic rants people are posting about the news that some dispensable, replaceable piece of software will no longer receive updates, it kind of annoys me. I guess my feelings are legitimate too, yes? 
 
The bottom line is that Sonar was nowhere near popular enough to justify the development cost. And that's not Gibson's fault. 

Thanks for the perspective. Happy New Year!

You mean there is no after life version?

from a longstanding user, sorry for the dedicated cakewalk employees.