Why we introduced Lifetime Updates
With the introduction of Lifetime Updates for SONAR Platinum, there have been many theories as to why Cakewalk would take such a bold move. For us it’s simple—it’s better for customers, it’s better for us, and we believe this way of doing business is the future, so we’re embracing it today.

Some history: In the past (pre 2015), we followed a more traditional annual upgrade cycle where we released a single version of SONAR each year. This model was flawed on many levels, both for developers and end users. As developers, we’re under extreme pressure to finish a product by a certain date to meet a revenue goal – often regardless of whether it’s ready or not.

Adding a lot of features to a product in a short cycle can create problems even skilled QA teams and beta testers won’t find. Furthermore, end users have to try and learn a huge amount of information at once—which is much less efficient than learning features at one’s own pace over time.

Rolling Updates: So we did away with annual versions of SONAR and decided to work on one version —continuously. We can make smaller incremental changes at a faster pace without disrupting the end user’s stability and workflow, as well as react more quickly to user requests. No more waiting until the next version to get problems resolved as is the case with many other products. We call this model “Rolling Updates” and as a developer and CTO of Cakewalk, I love it!

Rolling Updates also provides benefits beyond making new features available as soon as they’re ready. If something needs fixing or improving, we can just fix it and ship it without your having to wait a whole year. For example the Mix Recall, Patch Points, and Upsampling features all benefited from this interaction with end users. And doing features incrementally, in shorter time periods, promotes better stability and performance.

Although it’s never easy to do something disruptive in an industry that’s resistant to change (remember the outcry when Netflix decided to focus on streaming instead of DVDs?), the response has been decisive and positive. We didn’t want to end up like the record companies who refused to acknowledge the emergence of MP3s and digital media as a distribution model, and became almost irrelevant in the process.

Doing Rolling Updates for the past year-and-a-half has convinced us this approach is far superior to the huge yearly update—so much so, that for a limited time, we’ve made the bold decision to offer Lifetime Updates for SONAR Platinum, giving you all future SONAR updates for free.

Lifetime Updates shake up the mix even more, and offer a better way of doing business that benefits everyone. One great side effect is you get to help us improve SONAR during this process with your feedback and suggestions, creating a partnership with a common goal: You want to use the finest software in the world, and we want to create it. That’s why we are doubling down by offering the opportunity to join us on this journey.

With SONAR Analytics now at our disposal, and a responsive feedback portal on its way, we’ll be monitoring your comments, feedback, and requests closely so we can respond quickly and ensure that your experience with SONAR is…awesome. At Cakewalk, we believe that there’s no better way to succeed than by having happy customers. It really is that simple.

http://blog.cakewalk.com/a-new-era-for-cakewalk/

 

I'm not a Sonar user, but if they follow through with that model, I can only imagine they are going to make a lot of existing users very happy and entice a shitload of new users in the process.

Hope you're reading this, Steinberg.

 

Avid shittools is the opposite of this model. "Pay for bugfix updates for our buggy program? Need the .0.0.1 bugfix? Better be on a paying subscription!"

 

just started to use the latest sonar platinum 2 weeks ago -> amazing piece. and the new dark theme looks awesome. loads quick, didnt encounter any bugs so far. softube plugs show up in pro channel. 10/10

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jun 14, 2016

It surely looks enticing.

 

Sonar is a really strong daw,i admire the guys at Cakewalk and their latest decisions.
Steinberg can only watch and learn.

 

On the other side, they didn't have much choice...
https://www.google.fr/trends/explore#q=/m/0236w8, /m/026f7_, /m/0gzv59, /m/0bbw0b9&cmpt=q&tz=Etc/GMT-2

See the yellow line ?

 

Damn! That looks way dope! The softube integration looks way too sweet to not try out!

 

Sonar is a good move! ive been using this Daw since the 90's ;) i only use pro tools and other Daws because i receive bundles in them ;) REAPER... we all know how good it is with cpu well second to Reaper is sonar for me it handles plugins/VSTI's very well and with the next update will be Plugin load balancing \m/ so... even better \m/ comping,vocal sync,ripple edit,mix recall,drum replacer on every track, melodyne aswell ! softube console 1 on the next update too... setting up buses and sends is and always been a breeze... the routing is great in Sonar. Alot of great features in this DAW my friends if you Are thinking of trying this one out i would say please do it and give it an honest Run... for a month or so and learn it ;) i believe you will fall in love with it i really do... I know other DAWs have great features aswell and im not saying sonar is the best by any means but it is for me>>> i do alot of audio but i do Midi aswell and other Daws may be better for midi in some aspects but Sonar is catching back up to the way they used to be and midi fuctions are killer ;) and now even going MAC ;) i know Pro Tools just as good as i know Sonar and Sonar kicks the shit outa pro tools in every possible way... setting up busses and sends in protools LMAO!!! ??? WTF ??? pro tools just now can freeze tracks??? you can freeze tracks in Sonar and then add new effects to the frozen tracks and its been that way for ever haha...Sonars like Harrison mixbus you click a button to select a bus and turn a knob for a send = the way it should be quik an easy work flow like a console... i hope this encourage you guys,an ladies to give this thing a go! an Keep Rockin! oh yeah i wanted to add that my second pick to sonar is Cubase 8 these 2 Daws are the most used by me they are neck and neck i dont think either one is better than the other and just to be honest if i had to loose one of them i would keep Sonar no joke...

 

Last edited: Jun 15, 2016

It sure looks good. I'll say that much. I admire that they're openly admitting their mistakes and making promises and following through on little by little. Won't be long before sonar is a premier daw again. They humbled themselves and started over by gaining trust again. I applaud it.

 

yep it looks pretty and works good. I've been struggling with it for about 8 years now (service tickets still not replied to) i guess what burned me out is the new subscription updates. not only am i not worth a reply, but im expected to pay monthly to be not worth a reply.

it makes me feel Noels use of the term end user would be better served by the word cattle.
btw Noel, your present EULA does not corroborate your open letter. nice work on the DAW though

 

Last edited: Jun 15, 2016

"for a limited time, we’ve made the bold decision to offer Lifetime Updates for SONAR Platinum, giving you all future SONAR updates for free"

Anybody knows how long is that "for a limited time"?

I really like lifetime upgrades approach and would be willing to support developers who chose that route and purchase several DAWs. I bought FL Studio (which I do not use) knowing that even though today it doesn't steal my soul I still own it and who knows what the future version free for me will bring. So there is always a positive vibe and expectation.
If you add FL Studio on Pipotron3000's link you'd see they did quite well:
https://www.google.fr/trends/explor...59, /m/0bbw0b9, FL Studio&cmpt=q&tz=Etc/GMT-2

Companies who don't release new software regularly (not talking updates/upgrades to existing ones) might find it unsustainable after initial time and end users risk ending owning something that is no longer supported and cannot be run on next OS version.
Companies whose primary source of income is hardware such as Yamaha (Steinberg) and Presonus should definitely seriously consider adopting this model. If that was the case I'd probably buy the Cubase (again) although I wouldn't expect its workflow to surpass Studio One anytime soon.

I would like to hear from Studio One users who tried Sonar Platinum how do they compare?

 

I'm currently download Sonar for a try.
If my trial continues over a week, I probably will not return to S1.

Americans have long realized that it's the best way to go.
We, Europeans, persist in locking us into our errors and lies...

 

Last edited: Jun 15, 2016

So the catch here is "for a limited time". Otherwise how would they continue to earn money in the long run? I do not understand FL Studio's business model for that matter. The amount of possible customers is limited. At some point you will not get new customers, at least not in sufficient quantities. How is a software developer supposed to finance his company and therefore future development and bug fixes if his customers are not paying for major updates / upgrades?

 

That is one hepatic, sickly yellow indication that the patient is in dire need of resuscitation, STAT. Really, the move to infinite free updates should be enough to put some fresh veggies on the dinner plate and begin to slowly chart a new path that has less to do with bread and water rations and more to do about some healthier nutrition for for the Dev and it's orbit of employees and contractors. Bon Appétit and Amen to that. I myself will give it a look as I have been for a time now have been contemplating a different avenue in the way that I drive my musical chair.

 

Thought this may help some people to make a choice if buying.


What’s included in lifetime updates?
Any core features, enhancements, and fixes that we introduce for future versions of SONAR. You will never have to pay for another update.

Does that mean I get everything that Cakewalk releases?
No, because we’ll still be developing new products including new instruments, effects, add-ons, and content. These (and third-party products) will be available for purchase separately. Lifetime Updates apply only to SONAR.

Are Lifetime Updates available only for SONAR Platinum?
Yes, currently, Lifetime Updates are only available if you buy, upgrade, or crossgrade to SONAR Platinum. Be sure that when you’re adding SONAR Platinum to your cart, you choose the product called “SONAR Platinum (with Lifetime Updates).”

http://www.cakewalk.com/June-2016#SONAR4Life

Also some people are confused about what if i purchase after the August 31st, 2016 date.
Link below will shed some light about pricing etc.

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Versions#pricing

 

Last edited: Jun 15, 2016

Well that is certainly one way of looking at it.
You could also realise that the world`s population is growing,more and more people are getting into music production.
So its not like they can so easily hit the wall with the number of their users.
Also users migrate from other daws.
Once you have a big base of users you introduce hardware controllers designed for Sonar,you add nice additional content packs for a small charge.
There are ways of doing business that are better than the current ones....or maybe charge a lot less for the updates,cheap money everyone can afford.

 

Those not busy being born are busy dying. Unless there are no new humans coming to the party there will always be an influx of new musicians and others needing a DAW to do what a DAW does. If they make $100 profit (lowball estimate) on every new customer and the can sell it to 3,000 newbies a year (another lowball estimate), well, you do the math. I'll take it with a smile and braces and new ice skates for my daughter.

 

Great, pls. let us know here.

I'd be interested primarily in how it compares to single window immediacy, speed, drag and drop functionality of S1 and of course in CPU efficiency which is at the moment the only serious reason I'd consider switching.

BTW is there an easy way to transfer S1 project to other DAWs?
I remember transferring so many project from Nuendo to S1 in 2012, that was a rather painful experience.

 

Answering my own question;
Lifetime updates now available: When you purchase SONAR Platinum today, you will receive every new core feature, enhancement, and even fixes for all future versions of SONAR. Offer ends August 31st, 2016.