Install CwB on 3 PCs at once?

[Stefan Bornhorst]

Hello all!
I'm sure that this question has been answered before but I can't find it with the search function....

I have installed Cakewalk on my main studio PC and on a laptop which I need to record the piano (it's in another room). Now I would like to install it for a 3rd time on my old notebook which I want to borrow to our singer to make it easier for her to record her vocals at home. Ownership of the 3rd device will remain with me as this is only a temporary solution...

I know that Sonar Platinum was limited to two installs but is the same true with Cakewalk by Bandlab? It would be great if someone could answer this question because I don't want to do anything illegal...

Thanks a lot in advance!

[John Vere]

There is absolutely no limit to Cakewalk installs. There actually never was with Sonar as well. I have Sonar on a bunch of machines.  Only certain VST plug ins have limits. 

I have Cakewalk on 6 computers right now. But I can only have 2 running some of my purchased VST's. That's why I love the 3rd part freebies. I have one laptop that only has Cakewalk and free VST's loaded. Pretty powerful fully featured system for free. 

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by John Vere

[slartabartfast]

I am pretty sure that the SONAR license, as well as the CbB license do not tie the software to the machine, In a rather unusual policy the use of the license is limited to a single user at one time:

"...grants to you, the Licensee, a non-exclusive license to have one person use the Cakewalk by BandLab software product (the "Product") on one personal computer at a time. If you want to use the Product on more than one personal computer at a time, or if you want to network the Product, you must obtain separate licenses from BandLab."

So this is apparently not even a license to specifically allow you personally to use the software, regardless of where it has been installed. Your roommate or a complete stranger would not be in violation of your license so long as only a single user is actually running the software at a given time. It does not even specifically require that the licensee be the one who installs the software on a computer, but it does require that the licensee police the single user policy. 

For free and freely available software this is not a big deal, but it was unusual for paid software, like SONAR. The SONAR licenses specifically prevented the licensee from transferring (selling, giving as a gift or as inheritance) the software license to anyone else, but CbB seems to be mute on this point.

[Starship Krupa]

If you're in doubt, it's easy enough to create a BandLab account for your singer and use that account to install and authenticate Cakewalk. It's still your computer, but the software itself is registered to your partner. 100% within the license terms as I understand them: BandLab don't care who owns the computer, rather it's who has the license subscription for the program and is using it.

Why do they care? As stated from on high, they just want to know how many people are using the program in their own studios/home studios/coffee houses etc. At the minimum, the software needs to check in once every 6 months. They also want to keep us informed about the current build. We're not forced to update to it, but they want us to know if there is a newer release.

That said, I'm pretty sure that there's no mechanism for them to detect that 2 installations registered to the same user are in use at the same time. So no software police will be knocking on your virtual door. But playing by their rules costs nothing and is a nice gesture to those who are providing this for no charge.

[John Vere]

The create a separate user is what I did on one laptop as my goal was to build a daw from the ground up for free. I wanted to see how far I could go using Cakewalk and free or demo VST,s . I just logged on to Bandlab with another email address.