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Why is Cakewalk by Bandlab free?


synkrotron

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On 2/1/2019 at 9:48 AM, Craig Anderton said:

It's a tractor beam to draw people into the BandLab ecosystem. And you can't sell add-ons unless people have the core program.

As a precedent, consider IK's AmpliTube Free. It's a fine amp sim and free, but they make their money from people going to the Custom Shop and buying more modules.

This happens a lot in gaming too. The game is free but if you want the fancy weapons or uniforms, you have to buy them.

I would imagine that companies like MOTU and Steinberg are not too happy that a $400 program like CbB is free when it's right up there with their products - some might argue, even better.

Sometimes I wonder if their employees are the ones starting these threads!!

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5 hours ago, razor7music said:

Sometimes I wonder if their employees are the ones starting these threads!!

No, I ain't no employee. Cakewalk couldn't afford my charge out rate...

On 6/21/2020 at 2:07 PM, zac said:

Hello folks!

Erm... Nice necro...

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3 hours ago, 57Gregy said:

It's not really free; it costs you time to download and call home every 6 months or so, and we all know time is money!

As opposed to the other programs that appear instantly on your computer instead of taking a precious 120 seconds to download an optional update.

No, nothing in life is ever really free, not even being breastfed, because even then you have to go to the effort of opening your mouth and sucking.

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I'm fine with trading having to open an account on Bandlab for the services it's offering later, like a possibility to co-work with bandmates from a distance or space where I can publish songs. Having to call home once in 6 months is a PITA but luckily only once in 6 months.

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At the rate things get updated at the moment, you get a new version every 2 - 3 months at the very most, and when you get that, it will do any phoning home it needs to do, so you're really not being put out that much if you think about it.

You only need to look at the 2020.05 Feedback thread at the top of this forum to see both the amount of stuff that's been added/fixed, and the hands-on approach the Bakers have with trying to solve issues, so sitting on the current release for more than the 6 months it would take to refresh activation is missing out on a lot of good things anyway.

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  • 7 months later...
  • 1 year later...
  • 10 months later...
On 2/1/2019 at 7:46 AM, scook said:

BandLab has never directly addressed "why" but they have made it clear on more than one occasion that CbB will remain free. Here is an example where Meng states:

 

 

So, the basic product is free (similar to what Cakewalk started doing with SHS) but there are plans for paid add-ons.

I think Meng was being honest and remains so, but this has to do with product-based thinking.  As long as this product has existed and will exist, it's "free" (same with the lite/web mini-DAW, not at a direct material cost but with the cost of an email and ultimately traceability of the typical user, obviously some form of market intelligence gathering).  When the product is gone/over, it's no longer a product, there's nothing to be for free or paid.  Now there's new products coming, they aren't free.

That's the way corporate product-based thinking goes.

To many "regular folk" it's double speak or lies, but within the system, it's transparent truthfulness.  

I'm deliberately not making any comment on society or culture or whether it "should" be this way or what's right or wrong; that said, we all know we live in a capitalist system (again, rightly or wrongly, for it or against it), so I don't think it was ever reasonable to believe this was solely an academic sort of R&D investment, especially in an era of capitalism when R&D is  so devalued unless it's linked to a forthcoming business benefit.  This has gone much as I see many others expected, a free product while they figured out the market and built up their capability to enter that market, and now it's time to fold that and enter the space for direct profit.  My only commercial hope is that they do have some "subscribe to 'perpetual license'" sort of model, but mainly I hope they continue to focus on fixing bugs, though I'm not really expecting that, I imagine the same focus on new features over ongoing aggravations will take over as usual.  I rather fear and even expect instead Cakewalk will once more be dragged back into the typical ensh!ttification process, if you'll pardon my language, we see take over most corporate endeavors, no mere social media process.  But c'est la vie.  We've gotten an enormous unexpected gift these last few years, I'm happy to have saved some money while Cakewalk has gotten much better and more functional to use.

Edited by Quinellipe Zorn
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If my memory isn't totally gone, I seem to recall a comment here in the forum that there might be a core program that would be free.  I don't think that was user speculation / wishful thinking, but maybe it was. Maybe it was part of comments related to what options were under consideration. Unfortunately there have been far too many posts for me to search and double check what I am remembering.

Personally, I remain optimistic and will wait for the products to be released before deciding what software to use after CbB has been retired.

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Oh but there is a lot more juicy snacks where that came from :) , and as we've all heard before, it will be the familiar sounds of, but that was for that product which doesn't exist anymore, this product is called Sonar and Next :)

It's a Hoot, that's what it is, will be enjoyable to watch when time permits ;)

 

Nothings forever, not even lifetime updates ;)

Edited by heath row
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