Sonar has been the center of my musical world for a long time.
My world has just crumbled.  My mood is devastated.
It's like losing a close friend.  And it's not so easy to just go out and make new close friends.
I can't even estimate on how much money I've spent on plugins, VST instruments and efx.
And wondering if all of those plugins will work with a new DAW host.

Holding on to hope that Sonar will not end, that some other company will buy it.
Thoroughly depressed and angry!

Ooops

It seems the Philips thing is not news.
This from Wikipedia:
 
Gibson purchased Garrison Guitars in 2007.
In 2011, Gibson acquired the Stanton Group, including Cerwin Vega, KRK Systems and Stanton DJ.
Gibson announced a partnership with...Onkyo Corporation in 2012. Onkyo...became part of the Gibson Pro Audio division.
In 2013, Gibson acquired a majority stake in TEAC Corporation.
In 2014, Gibson acquired the consumer electronics business of Royal Philips.

This is terrible news!  I'm sorry for the Cakewalk employees as well.  
I sure hope there's some way back in the game for Cakewalk and their staff.  This program is not the best at everything, but it sure is the best 'all around' program.  

Piotr

Jarsve

Larry Jones

Jarsve
Can we cakewalk users buy it? Can we bring that much money on the table?

Henry's price would be in the millions. What do you think?

I know. but we all have to pay at least $400 now. If we used that to buy out Cakewalk instead of buying a new DAW it could be possible if we get enough along!

Øyvind, I am afraid you missed something important... Let's say we all will be able to collect enough money to buy Cakewalk from Gibson... And what then? What about money needed to keep Sonar devel & support going?

I know. I am just trying to find solutions.

HelRazor
Sounds like a great time to look deeper into Ableton.  Or FL Studio.

Probably Ableton for the live stuff, and possibly Studio One for the mixing and mastering...

This is very sad news.   I have been a very loyal Cakewalk user since 1994/95 when I started using Cakewalk DOS on floppy or fix disks.  Since then I have progressed with Cakewalk through the advent their of Pro Audio, then Sonar, then Sonar X series, and now Sonar Platinum.  Sonar has been my #1 DAW for decades.  While I do use Cubase 9, Studio One pro 3, and Mixbus 4, Sonar is my go-to DAW.  I feel like I had a very close and longtime friend die.
 
I only hope that this Forum and the Software and Deals subforums will continue--they are the first place I go every day to find out what developments have occured, what issues to avoid or fix, and what new products are out there.
 
I am in shock.

I believe the only way that cakewalk can survive forever is: It must be Purchased by MICROSOFT.

My concern with "everything still works" is that at some point we might be required to upgrade our OS unless we want to leave our current DAW offline and never update it again just to use Sonar in its current state.  If the product is not sold (including it's commitments to current users that paid for lifetime updates), Gibson owes us all a significant refund.  

reza
I believe the only way that cakewalk can survive forever is: It must be Purchased by MICROSOFT.

Let it die then.