jaxman12
I felt like this would happen a while back when Roland sold to Gibson and the warning went out from a lot of users that Gibson had a reputation for buying companies that had good products and killing them off.  When the "Free Updates for Life" came out, it raised an eyebrow.  How can a company continue to exist on a product that has been purchased and won't need to be replaced or updated for a decade?  Where is the revenue going to come to keep the company afloat?  ...
 

Exactly my thoughts at that time, yet the demise of CW never entered my mind. I figured it as a money grab but that Sonar would be replaced by another product and so the "lifetime" would be limited to Sonar's lifetime, so they could say, "Sonar is dead, so no more lifetime updates.
 
But now, my thoughts are that there was a plan A and a plan B. Plan A: replace Sonar, as above. Plan B: we're in it.
 
SO... Gibson had this in plan from back when the lifetime updates were offered. Look at the profit report, it lines up.
 
Sonar is not dead, but frozen in time. if you have your operating system on a storage device as well as the Sonar install files you can simply consider it as you do your hardware- static and operational as it is today. Re-install as needed.
 
I am confident a registration file is on it's way to lifetime users and if not, there are options out there to make it work.

well I just found out Cakewalk was coming to an end on Facebook of all places. I came over here and just read through 28 pages of this thread. I have been a cakewalk user since Pro Audio 9. I remember when Sonar first came out. Cakewalk was always innovative. As I remember they were the first DAW to come out with 64 bit processing. My investment is not just in the Sonar application itself. I also purchased Zeta 2, Rapture pro and all the cakewalk plugins and several synth add on packages. I upgraded on a regular basis simple to support the bakers.
 
I realize that some are emotional over this but the truth is I don't need to look for another DAW. I will continue to use Sonar Platinum because it is by far my favorite DAW. I have hard copies of all the upgrades I purchased over the years. I can always install Sonar X3 (Heaven forbid) before I purchase something else. I don't think I will need to do that.
 
As a precaution I backed up my entire Sonar Platinum collection to other hard drives. I took it from the programdata folder, under command center. My current purchases are over 30 gigs. I copied my registration codes from my account into a word document. My fear is one day I will need to reinstall windows and the cakewalk server will be no more. I think that installing the platinum software without the command center can be done. At least I am going to test this issue tomorrow. The problem would be unlocking it. I can only hope that when the servers go down that cakewalk will supply a way to unlock what I paid to use.
 
My heart goes out to Noel and all the Bakers. You guys are awesome and this is a crappy way to reward you for your many years of service.
 
As far as Gibson goes this is really no surprise. This has been brewing for a while. Look what else they have done. They seem to be dying a slow death.
 
https://reverb.com/news/g...memphis-guitar-factory
 
 

This is such sad news. It came across a news release from Sweetwater today and I was definitely shocked to see it. I echo the feelings of everyone on this forum - for the sake of the great folks at Cakewalk and with sheer bewilderment at Gibson.
 
Granted, the entire industry is changing, but Sonar really was a great and thriving product with a passionate and devoted user-base. It's funny what large corporations call "alignment" these days. I can agree that the decision to shutter Sonar is in alignment - with every other decision recently made by Gibson - decisions to drive the ship full speed into the rocks.
 
This forum is populated by some fabulous folks. Hopefully we can stay together online somewhere/ somehow. It is encouraging to see the grass-roots interests already forming. Seeing Anderton's continuing input here is a real spark of inspiration. Maybe with the right recipe and backing this community could rally around a resurrected platform. 
 
FWIW I've been a faithful Cakewalk user since PA9. My first CW product was a freebie MIDI sequencer that came with a MIDI cable as a bonus. That cable plugged into the Joystick Port on a SoundBlaster! About 20 years before that, I was building and modding audio circuits from Craig Anderton's famous DIY books.
 
It looks like SONAR will continue to run for the immediate future, so I will probably finish projects there rather than migrate them midway. After that, barring any SONAR resurrections, it looks like it will be time to dry the tears, pull up the tent pegs, and migrate to another platform.
 
Regarding potential migrations, it might be nice for some of us to post the pros/cons/similarities/differences of other platforms. One feature that I can say is a must-have for me is Melodyne, and along with it, the ARA integration. Those of you interested in this should make sure that your DAW/platform of interest actually supports it. From Celemony's website:

On the DAW side, ARA is currently supported by Presonus Studio One, Cakewalk Sonar, Magix Samplitude Pro, Acoustica Mixcraft and Tracktion Waveform. Another plug-in that employs ARA is Vocalign from Synchro Arts.

Based upon the above, and posts from others, I'm currently looking into Studio One Professional, hoping for a deal on a crossgrade. But I definitely welcome discussion on this topic!
 
Wishing the best of God's blessings for everyone on the receiving end of this news!!

418
 
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/microsoft-please-rescue-cakewalk-and-sonar-out-of

So sorry about this I've dropped a lot of coin in the cakewalk pockets over the years all the way back to floppies and DOS. I was just about to upgrade again when I read the news. I hope all the talent at Boston is scooped up. These are very hard and ruthless times. 
 
Question will there be any way to acquire the final version of the software? (at a stable point)
 
All the best.
 
Joe

joeycronin
So sorry about this I've dropped a lot of coin in the cakewalk pockets over the years all the way back to floppies and DOS. I was just about to upgrade again when I read the news. I hope all the talent at Boston is scooped up. These are very hard and ruthless times. 
 
Question will there be any way to acquire the final version of the software? (at a stable point)
 
All the best.
 
Joe

 
I have to admit, given the 28 years I've been using Cakewalk products, that the amount of money I've spent, in general, doesn't seem like so much. But I did spend a significant portion of that money on SONAR Platinum. I paid the full upgrade price, a little over $300 because it wasn't on sale at the time - just an upgrade offer for SONAR X3 users. It was certainly worth that to me, though I'd hope to amortize that over more than 17 (I've been saying 18, but I redid the math) months. Of course, I plan to keep using the software, so it will, in time, amortize out well after all.

Like you say about the developers, I hope they all find rewarding and well paying positions - they've done amazing work keeping Cakewalk products at the forefront of the industry, at least on Windows.

It is amazing to see what that funny little MIDI program (That I think was about 100 dollars when I acquired it - though it was bundled in a $250 package with a MIDI interface, so no telling what portion went to Cakewalk.... Twelve Tones Systems, then) has become.

I expect it will be a competitive, if orphaned, package for a few years yet.

On a sad note I really feel for all the staff that are being dragged down by Gibson. I wish you all the luck in the world for your future - I've got everything crossed that somebody picks Sonar up and runs with it.
 
On a practical note, if all goes wrong and nobody takes Sonar up again can we at least have a small app released that can give us easy offline registration?
The fear of this is of course pirate software but if it has got to the point of nobody taking it over then the software would be dead very soon after anyway. I'm sure it would only take some of the programming genius' at Cakewalk an hour or two to design this  - they could even charge a small fee for it.
 
Any thoughts?

430 signatures
 
https://www.ipetitions.co...ewalk-and-sonar-out-of

Nifty9993
On a sad note I really feel for all the staff that are being dragged down by Gibson. I wish you all the luck in the world for your future - I've got everything crossed that somebody picks Sonar up and runs with it.
 
On a practical note, if all goes wrong and nobody takes Sonar up again can we at least have a small app released that can give us easy offline registration?
The fear of this is of course pirate software but if it has got to the point of nobody taking it over then the software would be dead very soon after anyway. I'm sure it would only take some of the programming genius' at Cakewalk an hour or two to design this  - they could even charge a small fee for it.
 
Any thoughts?

No, Cakewalk can not charge for a patch that removes the online activation requirement. Anyone who purchased a "lifetime" license to Sonar, or who completed at least one full 12 month "Membership" cycle, owns that version of Sonar outright, and has a perpetual license to use Sonar until the day we die. 

So either Cakewalk/Gibson keeps the online activation servers up and running, forever, or a patch is released,  free of any charge, that removes the requirement for online activation.   

Nifty9993
The fear of this is of course pirate software but if it has got to the point of nobody taking it over then the software would be dead very soon after anyway. I'm sure it would only take some of the programming genius' at Cakewalk an hour or two to design this  - they could even charge a small fee for it.
 

The software meant to unlock our LifeTime Sonar Platinum and any other software that requires the Cakewalk Command Center to install, will be provided by the Official team remaining. It won't be a "Pirate Crack" of the software. The very beginning of this thread has been updated by Noel Borthwick.
 

Noel Borthwick
FAQ:
Q. What if the cakewalk site goes down - will we be able to reinstall and activate our software that is paid for and owned?
A. If and when Cakewalk's servers are taken down, we will issue a mechanism to activate software you own, without needing access to the internet. We're working on the mechanics of this and we'll provide more details as available. At present online activation is fully functional.