Why this awkward roll out of Cakewalk Sonar ?

[Mannymac]

Says it on the tin really. I was very happy with Bandlabs stewardship but this roll out is awkward?

I tried the new version and like it a lot..why do they seemingly hide the product?

Nothing on the Bandlab page, no big news announcement, no release versions sent to testers/magazines.
Do we know what the plan is?

[Misha]

3 hours ago, Mannymac said:

Do we know what the plan is?

 

That's a $1,000,000 question.

We tried calling for help, crystal ball, voodoo dolls, spells, potions, mirrors, bats, candles, frogs, goats, etc.

It's a great mystery that no one here can solve. As of now, you can rent it for about $180 a year - can't purchase it.

[Terry Kelley]

Sure, and everyone laughed when I suggested pitch-forks and torches. But noooooooooo ...

Or was that too much.

The website still says "Coming Soon" so anything can change including pricing. I mean, I can imagine reasons they wouldn't want to "sell it" yet when it's not "officially" (wink-wink) released. That could create unnecessary churn for the developers. But they also don’t want us to leave so CbB still works for now.

 

 

Edited Monday at 03:03 PM by Terry Kelley

[Heath Row]

27 minutes ago, Terry Kelley said:

The website still says "Coming Soon"

Where are you seeing that? I thought they ditched that back a while and I just checked and I see "Available Now Via Bandlab Membership"

Just curious, doesn't really matter to me, I'm an outsider looking in enjoying the free entertainment 🥳🎉

Edited Monday at 01:56 AM by Heath Row
No - Now

[Misha]

https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk

[Heath Row]

Ok thanks, I've been coming in on the page you get to if you click the "SEE MORE >" in the big yellow thing on the top right, then if you click "Cakewalk Sonar" on the next page it tells you in a box down on the left hand side "Available Now Via Bandlab Membership"

[Bristol_Jonesey]

I would have the thought it's obvious.

They are waiting to see how many people sign up for the current Backstage Pass before they can decide on the resulting pricing structure.

That's what I would ahve done if I was in charge.

[Heath Row]

19 minutes ago, Bristol_Jonesey said:

I would have the thought it's obvious.

They are waiting to see how many people sign up for the current Backstage Pass before they can decide on the resulting pricing structure.

That's what I would ahve done if I was in charge.

Indeed, I believe I even typed as much in one or more of my posts way back at the start of this Abbott and Costello show.

I mean it's pretty obvious that someones being played.

[Will.]

14 hours ago, Mannymac said:

Nothing on the Bandlab page, no big news announcement, no release versions 

Well, you have been looking in the wrong place it seems. Bandlab? Nope! All the announcements are on the products actual page - which is Cakewalk.com 

[Misha]

3 hours ago, Bristol_Jonesey said:

That's what I would ahve done if I was in charge.

Here we go again. I know several people who used Cakewalk/Sonar for years (decades!) After Gibson swallowed too much than it could chew, they moved to other DAWs and never looked back.  These customers are forever lost and it's all because of greed. 

Bandlab should either keep promise it made in 2018 (I can attach a copy of the letter if some "forgot"), or clarify if it will be subscription only going forward, so people can make their final decisions, manage their time and move on.

 

 

 

Edited Monday at 12:18 PM by Misha

[Bristol_Jonesey]

1 hour ago, Misha said:

Here we go again. I know several people who used Cakewalk/Sonar for years (decades!) After Gibson swallowed too much than it could chew, they moved to other DAWs and never looked back.  These customers are forever lost and it's all because of greed. 

Bandlab should either keep promise it made in 2018 (I can attach a copy of the letter if some "forgot"), or clarify if it will be subscription only going forward, so people can make their final decisions, manage their time and move on.

 

 

 

It's only a case of "here we go again" because you're like a bloody dog with a bone and won't let it go.

[Misha]

I am not like a bloody dog.  Judging by my avatar, it's predictable that I am a cat lover. But I do despise the philosophy of  when somebody makes certain promises they don't keep, especially considering years spent "building trust",  but even more, cheap talk of bystanders somehow justifying this behavior instead of challenging unfair practice of keeping in the dark most dedicated group. But hey, what do I know. 

 

[OutrageProductions]

@Misha

Have you spent any time interacting with other humans?

After all... corporations are "people" too.

Edited Monday at 04:19 PM by OutrageProductions

[Misha]

Hope Dies Last

[Glenn Stanton]

51 minutes ago, Misha said:

Hope Dies Last

i dunno, i think killing any hope off first extends the misery indefinitely versus giving any possible glimpses of hope. the grueling endless darkness while at first seems like respite from the cycling of hope on, hope off, is much better. many corporations are good at this but then again, corporations are really just like collective evil from persons... 

Edited Monday at 05:07 PM by Glenn Stanton

[Jeff Bowman]

By the time it rolls out most potential customers will be way down the road.

After 30 years with Cakewalk I'm seriously considering looking elsewhere.

[Craig Anderton]

Disclaimer: I don't have any inside information. But I do think Sonar is here to stay. BandLab thought it was worth maintaining Sonar even when it generated no income. They even included a feature that I believe had a licensing fee, yet absorbed that cost. And, they've kept the team behind Sonar together. They did not do the usual "strip and flip" that happens so often when one company acquires a smaller one.

I can easily see a program like Sonar fitting into BandLab's long-term plans. I wouldn't count out the possibility of a perpetual version at some point. But if I was BandLab, I'd make the initial foray as part of BandLab, which is the Big Dog of the operation. Remember, customer acquisition is much more expensive than customer retention. Potential "customers" from BandLab don't have to be acquired. If they get excited about Sonar and start talking about/using it, that will make it easier to convince new users who have nothing to do with BandLab to get on board. 

Non-US companies tend to think more about the long term rather than being concerned only about next quarter's bottom line. In my experience, this seems to be particularly true of Asian corporate culture. YMMV.

[Terry Kelley]

The prior Cakewalk users are not the primary market. They are appealing to the new loop/sample/beat generators, not musicians. Of course until new AI laws start to impact them.

Edited Monday at 07:08 PM by Terry Kelley

[GreenLight]

On 6/30/2024 at 11:08 PM, Mannymac said:

Says it on the tin really. I was very happy with Bandlabs stewardship but this roll out is awkward?

I've been wondering the same thing.

And either I've missed something, or the official communication here on the forums has been a bit sparse as well. And there's no new "Sonar" section under Cakewalk Products...?

An example: I just accidentally saw in another unrelated thread that the Baker's also created a sampler called XSampler that's being bundled with the new Sonar? Whoddvethunk! 🙂

[pwal³]

sonar/cakewalk is not bandlab's flagship product, no matter how much we all think it should be 🤷‍♀️