Cakewalk Sonar Platinum is now free!

[BBFG#]

Wonder when Cakewalk will pull the plug for existing accounts anyway. Like, when i'll stop being able to log into my account on Cakewalk.com.

Apparently for me, they already have.
(Command Center still logs on with previous machines, but won't when installing on a new machine.)

[zzz00m]

Wonder when Cakewalk will pull the plug for existing accounts anyway. Like, when i'll stop being able to log into my account on Cakewalk.com.

BandLab bought all of Cakewalk's assets, so the existing accounts and servers will keep running as long as they want them to. Haven't heard of any plans yet to shut them down, and all of my legacy stuff is still available online.

No new account creation is possible on the old site, but if you have a legacy account and somehow lost track of it, or your password, you can get assistance with that here: support@cakewalk.com

You will probably need access to the email address that you had originally registered that account with.

[zzz00m]

Been trying to install on a machine (64 bit Win 7) but the assistant comes up with a blank box during install and stops there. So I installed Platinum which had no problems until authorizing. Cakewalk no longer recognizes my password? So it runs great but only in demo mode.
Contacted Cakewalk and Bandlab and haven't received any return from them on the multiple attempts for over a month now.
Running Cubase 10AI now.
Feels like Sonar is dead in any form for me ATM.

For BandLab Assistant support: https://help.bandlab.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

For legacy Cakewalk Sonar account assistance: support@cakewalk.com

[BBFG#]

Yes, those have been contacted multiple times. Both for my "legacy" account and for help in installing the Bandlab version. (Both use the same credentials.)
No reply from either in over a month.

[Jace-BeOS]

Been trying to install on a machine (64 bit Win 7) but the assistant comes up with a blank box during install and stops there. So I installed Platinum which had no problems until authorizing. Cakewalk no longer recognizes my password? So it runs great but only in demo mode.
Contacted Cakewalk and Bandlab and haven't received any return from them on the multiple attempts for over a month now.
Running Cubase 10AI now.
Feels like Sonar is dead in any form for me ATM.

I’m not sure if I’m remembering correctly, but I think I had that same blank box.

I ran the installers manually from the folder I had them downloaded to (desktop). That worked. After installation, I had trouble with the Assistant in terms of getting authorized or whatever. It eventually failed but worked at the same time. Quit and reloaded the Assistant repeatedly. Eventually Cakewalk/Sonar behaved like it was activated. The Assistant app continues to be questionable.

Whatever. The software runs and it’s just a backup for old projects I hopefully don’t need anymore.

[BBFG#]

Been trying to install on a machine (64 bit Win 7) but the assistant comes up with a blank box during install and stops there. So I installed Platinum which had no problems until authorizing. Cakewalk no longer recognizes my password? So it runs great but only in demo mode.
Contacted Cakewalk and Bandlab and haven't received any return from them on the multiple attempts for over a month now.
Running Cubase 10AI now.
Feels like Sonar is dead in any form for me ATM.

I’m not sure if I’m remembering correctly, but I think I had that same blank box.

I ran the installers manually from the folder I had them downloaded to (desktop). That worked. After installation, I had trouble with the Assistant in terms of getting authorized or whatever. It eventually failed but worked at the same time. Quit and reloaded the Assistant repeatedly. Eventually Cakewalk/Sonar behaved like it was activated. The Assistant app continues to be questionable.

Whatever. The software runs and it’s just a backup for old projects I hopefully don’t need anymore.

Thanks! That helped a lot!
I was able to copy from the one computer that was able to download those files to the one giving me the blank box and all installed fine. Platinum still won't authorize on that machine, so it appears that no new installations of it are possible already? But this keeps the Sonar going for now. Like others, at least to open the almost three decades of files I have for it.

That really did the trick though. Thanks again!

[dellboy]

Been trying to install on a machine (64 bit Win 7) but the assistant comes up with a blank box during install and stops there.

Someone else on the Cakewalk forum had the same Bandlab white box problem and this is the solution they were given which might work for you also.......

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"First make sure you shut down BandLab assistant. Either restart your PC or kill any running BandLab assistant tasks.

Next in File Explorer go to this folder by pasting this in the address box %appdata%\bandlab-assistant\Cache

In the cache folder select and delete all the files.

Now restart BandLab assistant. it should prompt you to log in again."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[zzz00m]

Platinum still won't authorize on that machine, so it appears that no new installations of it are possible already?

Sonar Platinum still uses the old Command Center process for installation/activation rather than the new Cakewalk by BandLab Assistant. The activation servers are still up and running.

The easiest way to get Sonar is by using your old account credentials to sign into your account and downloading Cakewalk Command Center. https://www.cakewalk.com/Command-Center

Offline activation of the Sonar is also possible. https://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowle ... Activation

[BBFG#]

Platinum still won't authorize on that machine, so it appears that no new installations of it are possible already?

Sonar Platinum still uses the old Command Center process for installation/activation rather than the new Cakewalk by BandLab Assistant. The activation servers are still up and running.

The easiest way to get Sonar is by using your old account credentials to sign into your account and downloading Cakewalk Command Center. https://www.cakewalk.com/Command-Center

Offline activation of the Sonar is also possible. https://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowle ... Activation

Yeah, of course I used Command Center, it doesn't recognize my credentials on the last machine. They still work fine on the previous one though.

And for Bandlab, I was able to get it running using the method suggested by Jace-BeOS. So I'll most probably just remove Platinum from this machine and just use it on the previous machine(s).

And you know, the worst part is that they've both been sent support requests multiple times and neither have responded in over a month.

Otherswise, I'm just starting to make a more successful transition to Cubase 10.

One thing I have learned about Cakewalk (and it's original first foster parent, Roland) is while we may be happy with what is happening currently... Never trust them for consistency into the future.

[zzz00m]

Otherswise, I'm just starting to make a more successful transition to Cubase 10.

One thing I have learned about Cakewalk (and it's original first foster parent, Roland) is while we may be happy with what is happening currently... Never trust them for consistency into the future.

I took advantage of the cheap crossgrade to Studio One Pro after the Cakewalk "Great Shutdown" by Gibson. I've also updated my copy of Ableton Live to the current version.

I am glad that Cakewalk received a second life, and it remains to be seen what the new owner's long term plans are for Cakewalk. But he is a musician and owns MusicTech Magazine, Guitar Magazine, a huge chunk of Rolling Stone magazine, and also owns a leading Asian music instrument distributor, as well as sells a couple brands of guitars. I don't think he will be just a flash in the pan. https://bandlabtechnologies.com/

So while Cakewalk may not be my #1 any longer. After many years, I have no plans for abandoning it completely. I have many old projects that contain inspired synth racks with layers of synths, patches, and effects that I like to revisit on occasion.

The two newer DAWs are my insurance policy, as nobody really knows what the future holds, especially for software products. They complement each other well, without a lot of feature overlap. Plus I am really enjoying Studio One. I think it will easily fill the role of primary DAW, while Live offers some more creative tools for experimenting with. And they both are extremely stable on my computer.

[pathworker]

when bandlab initially took over the sonar product and rebanded it is cakewalk they stated that they had an "aggressive development policy" or words to that effect, my observation is that development is showing signs of slowing down( although, to be fair someone within the bandlab dev team have completely rewritten the online documentation into a PDF document that includes pretty much all screenshots of the product( these images where , and remain absent in the online, web based documentation, which is essentially the legacy sonar documentation. here is a link for the pdf manual for anyone wanting to have an offline manual. https://bandlab.github.io/cakewalk/docs ... 0Guide.pdf

[telecharge]

There's a new release available (2019.07). Run BandLab Assistant to update.

https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk/whats-new

[Steve Bolivar]

That's a nice list of basic Features & Enhancements. Nothing Earth shattering but simply useful. The bug fix list looks huge in comparison and that may be a good thing. It's good to see they are doing what they said which was initially focusing on big fixes and smaller new features.

[dellboy]

Its starting to turn into a seriously good DAW - and for free.

And yet nothings really free - so whats the catch ?

[zzz00m]

And yet nothings really free - so whats the catch ?

Nothing nefarious that I can see. BandLab apparently just wanted to add a DAW to the BandLab empire: https://bandlabtechnologies.com/

BandLab Technologies is a collective of music brands with a vision to connect the world of music. The company integrates the physical, digital and social supply chain, to enable better experiences, opportunities, and connections for all music lovers. Over 7 million creators and fans around the world use BandLab, their flagship digital product, to connect with each other and to create and share their music. Established in 2016, the BandLab Technologies portfolio of brands continues to rapidly expand and diversify.

It's not hard to understand that they wanted to provide a full fledged DAW product, aka Cakewalk by BandLab, for those 7 million users of their online BandLab platform to graduate to.