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future of the free version of cakewalk


Riccoboni

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Good morning,

I'm a big fan of the free version of cakewalk, which I use extensively in the home studio setting.

For me, Cakewalk came from Sonar which at some point became free. And I read on the internet that there are plans to remake a paid version of cawkewalk which would be called Sonar (for PC).

Isn't this a step back?

and should I be worried about the future of the free version (will it be maintained, or even refined to encourage switching to the paid version...)

Best regards

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3 hours ago, Riccoboni said:

I'm a big fan of the free version of cakewalk, which I use extensively in the home studio setting.

For me, Cakewalk came from Sonar which at some point became free. And I read on the internet that there are plans to remake a paid version of cawkewalk which would be called Sonar (for PC).

Isn't this a step back?

and should I be worried about the future of the free version (will it be maintained, or even refined to encourage switching to the paid version...)

Please understand, people who read the forum on a regular (and even an occasional basis) have seen numerous "discussions" of the previously announced plans for Cakewalk Next (now available as a public beta so people can try it out and give helpful feedback to the Cakewalk Next Team) and Cakewalk Sonar.  Unfortunately, while some of those threads had useful discussion early on, some (many?  most?) devolved into all sorts of speculation, rants about what the the pricing "should" be, etc.

I am guessing you have not read previous threads.  You are not to blame since several are multi-page threads.

So, if you see laugh emojis, IMO it's not personal.  It's more like, "Oh no; here we go again!!!  LOLOL" and jokes / allusions along those lines.

Edited by User 905133
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4 hours ago, Riccoboni said:

Isn't this a step back?

and should I be worried about the future of the free version (will it be maintained, or even refined to encourage switching to the paid version...)

In short (JMO), (1a) yes, it's a step back for people that have only used the free version (that is, from when Bandlab resurrected it about 5 years ago) and who only use free software; (1b) yes and no, it's both a step back and a step forward for long-time users who paid for versions of Cakewalk / SONAR when it was a paid version and have come to understand that paying for it again has a number of benefits.

JMO, (2) You should worry about about it in the privacy of your own music-making workspace so as not to risk bringing up the issues that have already been discussed to death.  ? 

Edited by User 905133
added "from" as in "from when" (semantic correction)
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1 hour ago, User 905133 said:

Please understand, people who read the forum on a regular (and even an occasional basis) have seen numerous "discussions" of the previously announced plans...

Pretty good! I think something along these lines should be posted as a sticky at the top of all these sub forums, to derail more long threads on the general topic of "OMG WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!?!!" (And the way things are (not) going since the big announcement in June of this year, maybe it will be there permanently.) ?

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It is sort of at the top on the Home Page but hidden in Jesse's post which when I look at it you do not see the word Sonar. Screenshot(616).png.1995e8b81191464316d25c5e1a0d87a0.png

What would work is if the forum software had a toast with a "don't show this again" box that presented important updates. Putting them in a thread on a page you might not even open  sort of keeps the information hidden.

  I predict that when the day comes that the free version stops activating this forum will be flooded with threads started by people who have been busy making music and so totally out of the loop. 

Example I use lots of software that I at one time I joined the forum to ask a question and have never returned. I'm a classic one post wonder on many user forums. That's because I am in the habit of just Googling the question and finding an answer pretty quickly. But sometimes user forums are the only source of up to date info.

I can never understand people who ask questions on this forum when Googling the question would have given them instant gratification. Like this one. Try it. 

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I think it's only fair to give a definitive answer, so here it is: stay tuned :)

To put things in perspective, "you only get one chance to make a first impression." I'm sure the Bakers are doing everything they can to make sure the the new Sonar's coming-out party is done correctly from a technical, marketing, and pricing standpoint. It's not a trivial effort, to be sure. 

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