chakko

That's what I mean. Not a single word of info about the pricing, or the kind of license (perpetual, subscription, or whatever), instead a lot of marketing babble, about how exciting the future is, and that new "products" are coming. And, that's how it has been the whole time, since they announced the new Sonar and Cakewalk Next. Obviously, they were too scared to speak out the obvious: That they will be Bandlab subscription only. After all, it's all about this: https://www.bandlab.com/membership

It rather appears to me as if Bandlab takes all the business decisions. The developers probably didn't know what they can say and what they couldn't. It's really strange most of the time. I'm pretty sure most people would be able to take a statement like "Sonar will be subscription only". No need to wrap people up in cotton wool. A clear statement is worth gold, while beating around the bush doesn't help anybody. If things are clear, I can consider what to do. If they aren't clear, I can't consider what to do. My personal opinion is, though, that this is a terrible decision. It will neither get Bandlab a lot of Sonar users, nor will it benefit Bandlab memberships in my eyes.

That's the thing. If the answer is no, just say so. Then nothing is unclear. No need to beat around the bush.

Guess I totally misunderstood their plans then.

Really? I could've sworn it was announced. Wasn't that whole "Early access" through Bandlab membership meant as a preview to the perpetual license?

Well, at least you can continue to use the software after a year, unlike a subscription service. Thus "perpetual" license. I would have to dig deep to find the posts stating that there will be a perpetual license, but, I wouldn't remember if, if it hadn't been stated multiple times, also by developers here.

That's bad. Especially as it has been communicated some time ago that there WILL be a perpetual license. Guess that's how plans change.

Let's hope they don't walk straight into a dead end.

Reading through a few of these "Will Sonar be available as a standalone purchase/perpetual license soon?", I always read the same reply, that it might come one day, but, that both Sonar and Cakewalk next are only available with a Bandlab subscription at the moment. I think that's the case for over a year now, and, I really don't see any indication for that to change at some point, apart from half-hearted and vague hints that there could be a perpetual license option available at some point. Which could be tomorrow, next year, in five years, or never. Frankly, my money is on never. It doesn't look to me at all as if they sill had planned to sell a perpetual license for Sonar. I wonder how many people still use CbB instead, because of this situation.

I rather see two different markets there. Just like with Cubase and Sequel.

Yes. How good that we have different DAW's, which are priced differently. Although you have to be careful with that really. Reaper, for example, is often praised for its low price. It's a very "bare bone" DAW though, which comes with no additional content at all, unlike other DAW's, and, if you're making a living with your music, the price is actually $225, which, considering you get zero content, is a rather regular price, comparable to the competition (considering that those come with a lot of content, compared to Reaper). You can also take thousands of dollars for your DAW, like SawStudio does. The only question is if people are willing to pay so much for your software. It's all a matter of what the customer is willing to pay for it. Bandlab will have to figure it out. And will have to see whether or not people are willing to pay that price. As usual.

Such an easy concept, yet so hard to grasp for most, for some reason.

There's gotta be something wrong with your system then. I have the same interface, and never had that issue.

FWIW, no complaints about that here at all. If anything, I think updates are overrated (especially the paid ones ?), unless there is something blatantly missing, or broken with the software.

1. The owner is a multi millionaire. 2. It has surely been bought to at least partly promote the Bandlab service. Also, why is "profit" always the term being used? (Always sounds like people confuse the audio software industry with the stock market...) Especially in this small industry, it's not like there's loads of multinational billions worth corporations. All the companies are mid tier to small business, and most are run by enthusiasts or musicians. If that counts for you. As long as there's still money being used in this world, companies need to make sure to bring food to the table.