Can I voice an opinion about Membership discounts ?

[noynekker]

So, for a second time that I have noticed recently . . . there is a discounted price advertised for folks who who do not have a BandLab membership. I'd simply like to voice my displeasure about this, as one who is an existing BandLab member. Sure, we want to get more users onboard, I'm all for that . . . just want some pricing discount support thrown the way of existing, or even long term users of the software. At the very minimum, some communication about what's in store regarding that ?

There's also some talk about simply cancelling your monthly membership, to be able to apply for the yearly discount . . . really ?  . . . is this what Cakewalk intends for smart shoppers to take advantage of ? . . . because, when I click on the offer, it wants me to create a BandLab account . . . so, are we supposed to delete our existing BandLab account, in order to be eligible for the yearly discount . . . myself, and other smart shoppers may like to know . . .

[Mr No Name]

you are dealing with capitalists, they won't care about your feelings, they want your money.

[Alan Tubbs]

You have a contract that needs to be honored.  If Bandlab wants to can give you a discount they can.  Ask about that.  A reasonalble request.

as far as capitalists go, I don’t care how they feel.  Deliver the goods and all is well.  And I care less how do-gooders feel. 

[noynekker]

20 hours ago, Mr No Name said:

you are dealing with capitalists, they won't care about your feelings, they want your money.

I wasn't looking to debate economic principles, or marketing techniques . . . just a simple question and opinion, they are a company, there are clients, most companies would want to know how the clients feel, its good business practice.

[noynekker]

11 hours ago, Alan Tubbs said:

You have a contract that needs to be honored.  If Bandlab wants to can give you a discount they can.  Ask about that.  A reasonalble request.

as far as capitalists go, I don’t care how they feel.  Deliver the goods and all is well.  And I care less how do-gooders feel. 

I don't have a contract beyond the end of the month, so when I see these discounts being offered that I cannot access, I just don't like the idea of it. I don't have endless funds, and I can't stay on monthly payments long term. I really want to stay on, there are some great new features, Cakewalk has always been my favourite DAW, by far, just not sustainable for me in the current model, especially at Canadian dollar pricing.

[Mr No Name]

6 hours ago, noynekker said:

I don't have a contract beyond the end of the month, so when I see these discounts being offered that I cannot access, I just don't like the idea of it. I don't have endless funds, and I can't stay on monthly payments long term. I really want to stay on, there are some great new features, Cakewalk has always been my favourite DAW, by far, just not sustainable for me in the current model, especially at Canadian dollar pricing.

keep using Cakewalk then ? not as good as Sonar, but still provided free.

[GIM Productions]

37 minutes ago, Mr No Name said:

keep using Cakewalk then ? not as good as Sonar, but still provided free.

Hi,This response,for me, is the reason why Bandlab marketing decided this behavior.
I've been using Sonar since it was called Twelve Tone and I was a beta tester during the Roland period.
For me, this DAW is the best on the market, but it is clear that this company is not interested in the Pro world.

I want to own the tools I use for my productions, I paid Wavelab a lot of money for the mastering but it is mine and I will pay only for future updates. I can't risk that if a company blocks a software that I won't be able to work, I have to be autonomous, because I have projects from 20 years ago that I have to be able to reopen at any time for various reasons.
The proof is that in the Pro Sonar environment it is practically unknown, despite being a fantastic DAW.
Then there is a simple economic reason, why if I use Sonar for the next ten years will I have to pay around 1,500 euros?
With Samplitude Prox 8 for example I paid around 400 euros and it is mine until I decide to use it....
So for me Bandlab must decide to make a leap in quality and try to decisively enter the Pro world because it deserves it and has fantastic developers, but now it gives the impression of a strategy for a tool for kids.
I think so
Greetings

[Alan Tubbs]

I will add that Bandlab’s rollout hasn’t been smooth and has lots of confusion, unless you give them your credit card number.

but I would pay $1500 not to have use samplitude as my main DAW, esp. since Magix seems damned determined to cluster up all their software.  Their old Sony software has been rendered almost impossible to use.

[Craig Anderton]

13 hours ago, GIM Productions said:

With Samplitude Prox 8 for example I paid around 400 euros and it is mine until I decide to use it....

Or until Magix can't find new investors: Magix Files for Insolvency.

In general, companies that make a profit are a safer bet for longevity.

[Max Arwood]

I’m not going to continue monthly forever. I am trying to decide what to do. Even though I have purchased every version of Cakewalk Thru Sonar(original version) since windows3, I am now semi-retired. I’m not sure about continuing this, my 1st, subscription ever. If it wasn’t for the CWBL version as a fall back, I would not even think about it. I’m very torn now that Sonar is actually better than Cake. The engine has had optimizations that make big projects 80-120 tracks 100+ plugins running much smoother! Much, much smoother even on my ancient i7 4 core  Decisions decisions …..

Sorry OT - Craig. Wow I sure didn’t know that!! Thanks.  I use Vegas and Samplitude. I haven’t upgraded them for years! Got to decide whether to upgrade before the crash or just hope they keep working for a few more years.  lol. 

Edited September 8 by Max Arwood
Spelling and clarification

[GIM Productions]

9 hours ago, Craig Anderton said:

Or until Magix can't find new investors: Magix Files for Insolvency.

In general, companies that make a profit are a safer bet for longevity.

Sorry Craig but your point is specifically about Magix, I didn't even know about the company's difficulties, but Amazon could also go bankrupt if we set the tone that way.
the concrete fact is that all the best audio software companies have the possibility of purchasing both a full license and a subscription, I don't think they are all stupid.

[norfolkmastering]

On 9/7/2024 at 9:37 AM, GIM Productions said:

So for me Bandlab must decide to make a leap in quality and try to decisively enter the Pro world because it deserves it and has fantastic developers, but now it gives the impression of a strategy for a tool for kids.

I have heard these comments quite a bit over the years but I have never really understood why Cakewalk/Sonar has this stigma of being semi-pro?

Are there actually features which Sonar lacks compared to the other major DAWs?  (With the exception of being PC only which is bound to limit its appeal to Mac enthusiasts)

[GIM Productions]

3 minutes ago, norfolkmastering said:

I have heard these comments quite a bit over the years but I have never really understood why Cakewalk/Sonar has this stigma of being semi-pro?

Are there actually features which Sonar lacks compared to the other major DAWs?  (With the exception of being PC only which is bound to limit its appeal to Mac enthusiasts)

I think you understood the opposite of what I wanted to say, I wrote that Sonar is the best DAW on the market and for this very reason, in my opinion, the company must adopt strategies as a true protagonist in the Pro world, starting by also providing the license complete.
I hope I have been clear

[norfolkmastering]

One of the strategies that Bandlab might consider is to totally revamp the very limited marketing which Sonar has on the website at the moment. I did a comparison with its major competitors and it just doesn’t do justice to this fantastic product.  Hopefully this is going to be addressed soon.

Edited September 8 by norfolkmastering
Want to reword

[pwallie]

32 minutes ago, norfolkmastering said:

One of the strategies that Bandlab might consider is to

if they're making the numbers they expect then no

[Michael Vogel]

After much internal debate I decided to pay for the annual Bandlab subscription. Using Australian micro pesos it came to about AUD$178. It saved me about 2 months compared to paying the sub monthly. That’s about what an annual update used to cost back in the Gibson days. At least US$ converted to AUD$.

I’ll try it for this first year to see if a perpetual license becomes an offering and to see how development on a paid for product continues. I’ve got a 30 year investment in having bought every update/upgrade along the way from the Twelve Tone days to protect. If no perpetual license, I’ll probably leave for another permanent DAW that I can use fixed at what ever upgrade level I stop at. I’ve always used numerous DAWs for compatibility with clients when I was pro but now retired and on a pension I’m skipping update cycles to save money. Even Waves I can opt out of the WUP but still have full access to my licensed products. If a perpetual license isn’t offered, when I don’t pay my annual Bandlab sub, I will lose access to my Sonar software around this time next year. I seriously doubt that CbB free will still be accessible then. 

I appreciate Cakewalk having had life breathed into it after the doldrum days under Gibson but with a subscription mad world now the norm reality forces me to make financial not emotional decisions based on sentiment. I’ve had to cut streaming services for music and video to rationalise the spiralling costs. For example I was paying AUD$9.99/month for a video streaming service which then wanted an additional monthly fee for “No ads”. I couldn’t believe it but it’s happening more and more. I’m now paying to watch reruns of programs I used to watch on free to air TV.

Unfortunately subs are here to stay. Sadly.

Edited September 9 by Michael Vogel