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Backstage Pass and Sonar Pricing


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So, here’s my plan. I will lean back in my chair until Sonar is released and the question whether it will be possible to buy a permanent license, or if Sonar only will be available through a BSP membership, has finally been decided. I have always stayed away from software subscriptions (ask Adobe) and intend to do so in the future as well. As for the BSP package, I’m only interested in Sonar.

While waiting, I’ll keep using CbB as long as it runs. If CbB stops working before any such decision has been made, I have both Cubase and Studio One installed on my computer. Also, I have SONAR Platinum installed, so I will be able to open my unfinished Cakewalk projects reasonably well.

In a worst-case scenario, I certainly won’t change DAW lightheartedly. I’ve always loved Cakewalk, but I will move on if the only option is a BandLab membership.

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IMO Bandlab gambles for high stakes!

Lately I read a lot of comments that sound like long-term advocates here on this forum are disappointed and irritated. Many of them express their backup solutions. Me too, I have a backup solution. I can live absolutely without Sonar!

All this here reminds me dreadfully to the Gibson debacle. I fear that this really could be the last days for Sonar! I guess many will not be willing to invest in the unsteadiness of this daw's future!

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I think the price IS VERY IMPORTANT. ANYTHING you buy you look at the price. 
We all make our own choices. My choice is NO SUBSCRIPTION.
Guess it's different if you are making $$$ using a daw, I am not. So if I cannot BUY a Sonar license like it used to be , I will sadly move on.  😞 I also have Studio One and Reaper.
As stated before, since my memory sucks I have to relearn whatever I use anyway. 
Ok this is getting old for me because it seems obvious to me that nothing will change in the foreseeable future.


 

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I’ve been using Cakewalk/Sonar for +20 years.  And for many years when it became CbB I used it for free.  Zilch.  Nada.

 

Whatever the pricing scheme ends up being I’m onboard.   Cakewalk/Sonar has been extremely good to me and I have zero problems reciprocating.

Edited by Greg Wynn
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Guy walking trough a Saturday afternoon Farmers Market sees an artist painting a picture and stops to ask him about it. 
“I like your painting is it for sale? “

“No I’m not finished yet. “ 

“Ok but when it’s finished how much will it cost?” 

“ I don’t know until it’s finished . And I’m thinking I might rent this one in the Gallery art rental program.  I can sometimes make a nice steady income from that.” 
 

“But I don’t want to rent it, I prefer to buy it from you, but only if I like the price.” 
 

“Ahh, see you already are offering me less money than it’s worth and haven’t even told you what I think that is?” This is why I think I’m better off renting it. That way more people will enjoy my painting and I’ll have a monthly income for a long time.

If I sell it to you when it’s finished, you will want a bargain and I’ll be sad and probably spend that money all at once in the bar.  I’ll have no money later on.”


The man walked away and bought a ugly framed print  from WalMart. He didn’t like the ugly cheap painting very much but he was proud because he owed it outright. 

Edited by John Vere
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4 hours ago, Greg Wynn said:

I’ve been using Cakewalk/Sonar for +20 years.  And for many years when it became CbB I used it for free.  Zilch.  Nada.

 

Whatever the pricing scheme ends up being I’m onboard.   Cakewalk/Sonar has been extremely good to me and I have zero problems reciprocating.

Kind of goes both ways. we also supported (as in $$$) CW\Sonar for many, many years, much longer than CWBL has been free.
So why not accommodate those of us that have an aversion to "Software subscriptions and come up with a price. 
The $$$ is NOT the issue with me.
 

Edited by Pathfinder
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9 hours ago, John Vere said:

Guy walking trough a Saturday afternoon Farmers Market sees an artist painting a picture and stops to ask him about it. 
“I like your painting is it for sale? “

“No I’m not finished yet. “ 

“Ok but when it’s finished how much will it cost?” 

“ I don’t know until it’s finished . And I’m thinking I might rent this one in the Gallery art rental program.  I can sometimes make a nice steady income from that.” 
 

“But I don’t want to rent it, I prefer to buy it from you, but only if I like the price.” 
 

“Ahh, see you already are offering me less money than it’s worth and haven’t even told you what I think that is?” This is why I think I’m better off renting it. That way more people will enjoy my painting and I’ll have a monthly income for a long time.

If I sell it to you when it’s finished, you will want a bargain and I’ll be sad and probably spend that money all at once in the bar.  I’ll have no money later on.”


The man walked away and bought a ugly framed print  from WalMart. He didn’t like the ugly cheap painting very much but he was proud because he owed it outright. 

You cannot compare piece of art with a software for music creation. That's not how it works. You could compare it with buying a movie on Bluray vs. get a Netflix subscribtion to watch that particular movie.

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8 minutes ago, SVSX said:

You cannot compare piece of art with a software for music creation. That's not how it works. You could compare it with buying a movie on Bluray vs. get a Netflix subscribtion to watch that particular movie.

you cannot compare digital with physical, full stop

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19 minutes ago, SVSX said:

You cannot compare piece of art with a software for music creation. That's not how it works. You could compare it with buying a movie on Bluray vs. get a Netflix subscribtion to watch that particular movie.

You missed my point. Rental can give you a steady cash flow that can result in a higher profit. It is more importantly solid information for share holders. Predicting cash sales isn’t.
Do you actually think business make money by selling stuff??  No they make money trading shares. 
I’ve said it before, give this company credit for being on top of modern business models  and marketing schemes. This is good news for us as it’s the exact opposite of how Gibson ran things. We hopefully won’t be going bankrupt any time soon. 
I get a huge kick out of the people who think they are making a big mistake.  
Have you bought your shares in Bandlab yet?  

Edited by John Vere
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2 minutes ago, John Vere said:

You missed my point. Rental can give you a steady cash flow that is solid information for share holders. Predicting cash sales isn’t. Do you actually think business make money by selling stuff??  
I’ve said it before, give this company credit for being on top of modern business models  and marketing schemes. This is good news for us as it’s the exact opposite of how Gibson ran things. We hopefully won’t be going bankrupt any time soon. 
I get a huge kick out of the people who think they are making a big mistake.  
Have you bought your shares in Bandlab yet?  

i wish they would just say that the pricing/sub/whatever model is to keep the business running (altho bandlab are already full of money but just want more money 🤔) rather then some marketing blah blah yadda yadda about whatever they think potential clients/customers/consumers want to hear, and their main demographic is not us...

businesses go bust all the time, they're not precious things 🤷‍♀️

wrt gibson, they just didn't have the brains to exploit the software properly, just poor business people, and we don't know yet if it'll be any different from this new hoo-har

/goodluckeveryone

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It comes down to whatever Bandlab decides their customer base will/should be. Younger and newer musicians/producers will probably lean towards subscriptions more, whereas those who are more seasoned and in this for business are much more likely to want an outright purchase. Are they looking to compete with Protools/Logic/Cubase/Studio One with Sonar being claimed as a more professional DAW or just looking to draw the less "professional" artists in with this being a nice add-on to Bandlab or offered as part of some other subscription package? We really won't know until they make an official announcement. With this current release it does come across as though they're trying to feel out how open people are to a subscription package.

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I donate a healthy sum to my local food bank once each year.  I do it when it's convenient for me, usually toward the end of the year. I am happy to do so and the folks there are certainly appreciative. Early this year they called and asked if I would consider giving the same amount as last year in monthly installments deducted from my bank.

They were quite persistent, but I refused. Clearly, they desire consistent and predictable cash flow. I suppose I can't blame them for that. But I don't like it.  It makes me feel taken for granted and leaves me out of control. If for any reason I can't (or don't want to) give, I must take an action, rather than simply not take an action. 

I realize this is not an apples-to-apples comparison (i.e. charities vs DAW revenues), but seems the whole world is moving in this direction. I own outright a lot of Waves Inc. plug-ins. Waves has a thousand products many of which do  practically the same thing. They'd much rather I pay a permanent yearly fee for the privilege of accessing any plug-in at any time. That puts me in full control of a grand array of products (many of dubious utility, but some that could become integral to a project) while putting me in less control of my money.

Unfortunately, it's something I may have to learn to get used to.

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For me, I guess you would say it's a matter of principle. Right or wrong it is how I, Frank, feel. 
Also the only reason I keep mentioning it is because of my preference for CW\Sonar, etc.
Trust me, it's not an easy thing. 
 

Edited by Pathfinder
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Just my 2p's worth:  I hate 'subscription' business models with a passion.   It's a form of intertia selling.  It all started years ago with gym memberships, where it dawned on companies that young people tend not to check their bank statements (especially when they're not on paper anymore), and only realise a year after they stopped attending the gym that they laid out hundreds of pounds in direct debits.  Now it's weekly recipe boxes, exercise bike regimes, pet food boxes, software, online films, and a zillion others, not to mention charities that all jumped on the bandwgon when they recruited whizz-bang marketing directors from the private sector.  "Look, it's only £x a month, a snip."

It's a personal thing with me.  I won't subscribe to anything, Guitarist magazine being the exception.      

Edited by Skyline_UK
Typo
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4 hours ago, Skyline_UK said:

Just my 2p's worth:  I hate 'subscription' business models with a passion.   It's a form of intertia selling.  It all started years ago with gym memberships, where it dawned on companies that young people tend not to check their bank statements (especially when they're not on paper anymore), and only realise a year after they stopped attending the gym that they laid out hundreds of pounds in direct debits.  Now it's weekly recipe boxes, exercise bike regimes, pet food boxes, software, online films, and a zillion others, not to mention charities that all jumped on the bandwgon when they recruited whizz-bang marketing directors from the private sector.  "Look, it's only £x a month, a snip."

It's a personal thing with me.  I won't subscribe to anything, Guitarist magazine being the exception.      

Same here. I don't subscribe to software.

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13 minutes ago, Pathfinder said:

Sorry if I missed this but:

Can I install next and Sonar juts to take a look without enrolling?

Thanks

Yes, that's what I've done. Saving and exporting are disabled, but otherwise, it's fully functional.

Scroll to the very bottom of the page on this link and click "download" for Sonar.

https://www.cakewalk.com/sonar

 

image.png.210ad4c4bb7b355fa87c8d34c31d050e.png

Edited by John T
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