BandLab Technologies reveals new brand vision for Cakewalk

[paulo]

14 minutes ago, trager said:

Why is no one talking about the paler shade of orange?!

The marketing people probably call it achromatic hesperidium.

[antler]

20 minutes ago, trager said:

Why is no one talking about the paler shade of orange?!

We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor...

Oh wait, we're talking about a paler shade of orange aren't we? Sorry, wrong colour... ?

[Bapu]

In the "News & Announcements" section of this forum, there is a parallel thread going on.

 

In it Noel questions why a user is against subscription models and goes on to say why it can be beneficial.

He did not say the new products will be subscription based, but reading between the lines, maybe that will be a pricing option.
 

Edited June 6, 2023 by Bapu

[paulo]

7 minutes ago, antler said:

By not letting someone have it immediately, it's supposedly making the audience think about it subconsciously: 'Won't it be great? I wonder what features it will have... I have to have it... I must have it!'.

I'm bored of it already.

I wonder if one of them has a pie chart somewhere depicting the likelihood of that.

[Bapu]

9 minutes ago, antler said:

VI (some people swear by it, some people swear at it ?). 

I have a tizzie fit if I'm forced into using it.

[Bruno de Souza Lino]

6 minutes ago, Bapu said:

He did not say the new products will be subscription based, but reading between the lines, maybe that will be a pricing option.

He did not say because you know what happens when companies start offering subscription models. Next will most likely be subscription based and include all the SONAR Platinum content people kept saying for many years "would be glad to give them money for."

[Keni]

38 minutes ago, mettelus said:

Unfortunately, they don't... The 6-month activation is embedded, so with the new SONAR release they can either force purchase or let CbB shift to DEMO mode on you. Not sure about features new to CbB that would prevent opening in older SONAR versions (AUX tracks/patch points was one but was in later X3 versions). Without an "official" path forward, I would recommend preparing accordingly (stem offloads at a minimum, just in case).

Yes, but they have also told us there will be one mor CbB update. Likely it will either remove the need for authorization or the authorizations will continue for anyone already in possession of CbB

They also confirm that it will continue to operate alongside both versions of Sonar!

 I can’t wait! I also look forward to checking out Next as I do operate both OS

[Amicus717]

3 minutes ago, Keni said:

 I can’t wait! I also look forward to checking out Next as I do operate both OS

Yeah, I'm in the same frame of mind. I think this is going to be really interesting. Very curious to know what the new Sonar will offer and what Next will be like. 

I don't hold BandLab responsible for the Lifetime Sub fiasco, and while I felt like a bit of a sucker after I bought one and Gibson pulled the plug, getting an actively supported Cakewalk for free all these years has been a nice way to get over it. 

If BandLab has enough confidence in these new products (and the market) that they think they can charge for them, well it makes me really curious to know what will be on offer. 

[marcL]

45 minutes ago, mettelus said:

Unfortunately, they don't... The 6-month activation is embedded, so with the new SONAR release they can either force purchase or let CbB shift to DEMO mode on you.

This is actually the reason why I prefer real offline authorization (offline key, file). With this you do not have those annoying dependencies to the developer of a product and still can install what you have paid for on a new system (e.g. if I replace my last W7 system). Reaper is like that and I also have a couple of plugins like that. This lets me keep calm and sleep easy!

[PavlovsCat]

27 minutes ago, antler said:

As you say, it's a modern marketing technique. By not letting someone have it immediately, it's supposedly making the audience think about it subconsciously: 'Won't it be great? I wonder what features it will have... I have to have it... I must have it!'.

And then when it's finally available, people are more ready to buy. At the very least it helps initial sales numbers as those interested have some notice.

Or at least that's my understanding of it. I'm not a marketing person though; I'm sure @PavlovsCat would be able to offer a better insight of this technique.

It's actually the most common way products rollouts have happened since the 20th century.

When a tech company announces a new product -- and I realize only NEXT is the truly new product in this case; for argument's sake, let's just call Sonar new -- it's commonly ahead of the actual product release, often by several weeks or more (Apple, in the 20th century, was greatly influential in shortening the length of new product rollouts; going from several months to several weeks). The major factors in the time frame to rollout a new product from the release date is greatly impacted / determined by investor expectations and market/competitive forces (the shorter the timeframe between an announcement and the actual product release, the less opportunity your competitors have to respond). You also do an announcement to build buzz for your product. You want the media to cover it and people to talk about it, to help build demand. 

A short lesson on marketing, as the vast majority of the public doesn't understand what marketing  is -- and, in fact, a lot of small business people, including people with marketing titles at small companies, don't understand the basics of marketing (they're often just handling sales promotion, advertising, social media, etc.). What we are discussing here falls in the realm of marketing strategy.  Marketing strategy encompasses what the father of marketing, Phil Kotler, referred to as the 4 Ps of marketing: PRODUCT (what you are going to make/product development), PLACE (how you are going to distribute your product), PRICE (what you will charge for the product( and PROMOTION (the P most of the public thinks of as marketing, the advertising, PR -- the hype; this is also referred to as marketing communications). 

[Finnbogi Ragnar Ragnarsson]

I think the uncertainity about the pricing is annoying people and most if not all of us are thankful for the free Cakewalk.

I bought the Sonar Platinum edition and I am not expecting a special treatment.

But as users we will all think about the cost and benefits, vs other DAWs, in the long run.

[Yan Filiatrault]

5 minutes ago, Amicus717 said:

I don't hold BandLab responsible for the Lifetime Sub fiasco, and while I felt like a bit of a sucker after I bought one and Gibson pulled the plug, getting an actively supported Cakewalk for free all these years has been a nice way to get over it. 

When a company takes over a brand, keep the same name (Cakewalk) and revive a product (Sonar) for whom some Cakewalk customers bought a lifetime license, you take the risk of alienating those customers if you just release a product a couple of years later with the same branding and product name, and pretend it's only a new product and pretend the past doesn't exist...

[Bapu]

12 minutes ago, PavlovsCat said:

for argument's sake, let's just call Sonar new 

So it's SOnew? ? 

[Lamia6]

Quote

Processor8-core CPU

Thinking its still in the works because there is no way that can be correct. New 3D fighting games don't even require that much processing power.

[Bruno de Souza Lino]

2 minutes ago, Lamia6 said:

Thinking its still in the works because there is no way that can be correct. New 3D fighting games don't even require that much processing power.

Even 3D modelling apps don't have minimum requirements that high.

[bitflipper]

In the beginning I was referring to it as "New Sonar", but that sounds too much like "New Coke", and we all remember how that went.

I propose that we refer to the new product simply as "Sonar". If you need to differentiate from pre-BandLab Sonar editions, call those "Classic Sonar".

4 minutes ago, Lamia6 said:

...there is no way that [8-core CPU requirement] can be correct. New 3D fighting games don't even require that much processing power.

That's a suggested component, not a hard requirement. I can assure you that Sonar's running just fine here on a 6-core Ryzen CPU.

[Bruno de Souza Lino]

2 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

That's a suggested component, not a hard requirement. I can assure you that Sonar's running just fine here on a 6-core Ryzen CPU.

Not even Blender, which is a 3D modelling app, has minimum requirements that high, even if they're suggestions. That will make sure people shy away from CbB beacuse they might think their machine can't run it.

[pbognar]

3 hours ago, Keni said:

I wish as I too bought it, but don't hold your breath. That was a product from a different company and has already long passed.

But they might offer "upgrade/crossgrade" prices for those of us who own Sonar? One can dream, yes?

 

It shouldn't be a dream.  I crossgraded to Mixcraft, Studio One and Cubase - all with my Sonar X3 proof of purchase.  I would EXPECT at least that.

Sonar Classic will be the flagship and New Sonar will be the version "for the rest of us".

I could see New Sonar being targeted at the educational market.  Who knows, it could end up being a cross-platform take on GarageBand.

[Anxiousmofo]

3 hours ago, Keni said:

I wish as I too bought it, but don't hold your breath. That was a product from a different company and has already long passed.

But they might offer "upgrade/crossgrade" prices for those of us who own Sonar? One can dream, yes?

 

Not seeing another penny from me unless they make good on basic Platinum lifetime access first. It's the right thing to do if they want to keep good-will. I don't recall what I paid for being in any way contingent on Gibson existing as parent.

[Anxiousmofo]

3 hours ago, Colin Nicholls said:

I'm sure someone at Gibson will be glad to take your call.

I paid for lifetime SONAR access. Not lifetime access to Gibson's self-tuning wallet robber.