Different membership options/tiers.

[Theodore Kloba]

I have been a user of Cakewalk/Sonar in my hobby studio for more than 30 years.

When the nag screen comes up, there are very few items on the member benefits list that are of any use to me.

I simply want the ads removed, and the features that make it a fully functioning DAW software, like high-quality exports and comping.  A bundle of additional effects are "nice to have", but I will likely only use a few of the bundle (and generally buy the specific FX I use from 3rd parties).

I have no use at all for samples, beats, distribution, AI assistance, etc.

Please consider offering a membership tier that has the basic functional improvements.

Also, I know the rent-extraction model is the the typical offer for software these days, but I would really prefer an option to make a one-time purchase and defer future purchases until my next major project, or when see additional features that I want.

[Starship Krupa]

On 11/23/2025 at 6:12 AM, Theodore Kloba said:

the rent-extraction model is the the typical offer for software these days

The offer might be common, but the requirement (as in subscription ONLY) is not. There are only two DAW's currently on the market that are subscription-only and Sonar is one of them. The other is Adobe Audition.

My computer system has many programs installed, and Sonar is the only one that is subscription-only.

Not that there aren't multiple companies that would prefer to be selling their product solely via subscription.

I mention this because I believe that it's not valuable to express resignation about software subscriptions being "typical" or "the way things are going" or whatever when that isn't the case. It's indeed becoming more the case with software that is mostly used in business and office desktop environments (for sound reasons) but not with consumer/hobbyist software. Witness what happens when companies try to make it subscription-only. The user base rebels and competitors thrive.

Fortunately, with Sonar, the nag screen is pretty much the only pain. None of the other omitted features except for Workspaces and the fancier dithering options was even included until a couple of years into Cakewalk by BandLab's existence. The fancier stretch options, updated export dialog, and multiple Arranger Tracks are all CbB innovations. The Core FX are still there in their original Sonitus DXi forms. SONAR never had an Arranger Track much less multiple ones.