Cakewalk is “dead”?

[Erisian]

I'm glad it became free. There are no other really good free DAWs so at least people like myself with very little spending power can have something to record on.

[chk071]

Sure. It's just questionable if it is the right decision for them in the long run. I don't think anyone really benefits when they have to discontinue the DAW after a few years, when the "advertising" for the Bandlab service doesn't work out.

[lotus2035]

Sonar (a digital audio workstation) was owned by Cakewalk (the company).
Cakewalk (the company) went bust.
Bandlab (a new company) took over the code for Sonar and renamed it Cakewalk.

So, instead of

'Sonar by Cakewalk'

we now have

'Cakewalk By Bandlab'

Got it?

[JoseC.]

Sure. It's just questionable if it is the right decision for them in the long run. I don't think anyone really benefits when they have to discontinue the DAW after a few years, when the "advertising" for the Bandlab service doesn't work out.

Well, that´s pure speculation.And the theory that Cakewalk exists solely as "advertising" of the Bandlab online platform is just a theory. They have more advertising resources actually, if it was the sole reason, probably with MusicTech, which they also own would be enough:

https://bandlabtechnologies.com/

[lfm]

The latest on purchasing music magazine Guitar.com was jan 2019.
I wouldn't mind subscribing to a good guitar magazine.

Last one was...hmmmm.... GuitarPlayer in the 70's. I think I was like a rookie subscribing in sweden, almost. As Dick Betts entered Allman Brothers Band as I recall as one issue. He got pretty good reviews.

[chk071]

Well, that´s pure speculation.And the theory that Cakewalk exists solely as "advertising" of the Bandlab online platform is just a theory.

Why else would they release such a comprehensive software for free? After all, you have to download the Bandlab client, and register, if you want to use Cakewalk. Of course it is to get people to join Bandlab.

[rmacattack]

Roland really dropped the ball with Sonar. You make hardware, roland cloud, made the MV8800 drum machine etc. They could have had a complete ecosystem. For the competition (with some predictions) we have:
1. UAD Luna
2. Native Instruments Maschine-They are improving the sequencer. Many will be using this for production.
3. Izotope-Down the line I think Spire Studio will be a DAW. They will build this slowly.
4. Behringer-Free DAW
5. Serato Studio-targeting DJ's
6. Steve Slate-All the coding is done in France. Wouldn't surprise if he did something years from now.

[v1o]

I didn't release Bandlab went on a purchasing spree and bought all these brands. Its a real music conglomerate now. In theory they could make their money selling magazine subscriptions and guitars. Then just offer Cakewalk for free.

https://bandlabtechnologies.com

[eclipxe]

I didn't release Bandlab went on a purchasing spree and bought all these brands. Its a real music conglomerate now. In theory they could make their money selling magazine subscriptions and guitars. Then just offer Cakewalk for free.

https://bandlabtechnologies.com

There's no money in magazine subscriptions. Dying industry, very little profit.

[JoseC.]

Well, that´s pure speculation.And the theory that Cakewalk exists solely as "advertising" of the Bandlab online platform is just a theory.

Why else would they release such a comprehensive software for free? After all, you have to download the Bandlab client, and register, if you want to use Cakewalk. Of course it is to get people to join Bandlab.

"Why else?" is not a proof of your beliefs. Their business is not only the Bandlab platform. They own the largest chain of music stores in South East Asia, four musical instruments manufacturers, five if you count Bandlab, that sells hardware, too. I do not know their business plan, but neither do you.

[chk071]

Hello? Company which needs to make money buys other company, and incorporates its flagship software into their service. What's to discuss?

Do you offer your work for free in your day job? What brings your food on the table?

[Passing Bye]

Not everyone is desperate to make money with everything they do, some folks are already millionaires, some folks have expensive hobbies that doesn't earn them a buck, how many people from here just buy plugins and DAW's and never saw single cent from their music, I spent fortune on drinks, drugs and raves, what an stupid investment that was, imagine millionaire buying some companies instead...

[JoseC.]

I didn't release Bandlab went on a purchasing spree and bought all these brands. Its a real music conglomerate now. In theory they could make their money selling magazine subscriptions and guitars. Then just offer Cakewalk for free.

https://bandlabtechnologies.com

There's no money in magazine subscriptions. Dying industry, very little profit.

That is true. But they are online, and they sell advertising. And look:
https://www.musictech.net/guides/buyers ... bile-apps/

That´s what I meant before when I said that they don´t need Cakewalk for advertising. By the way, they say that they have 16 million Bandlab users. I don´t know how much of that is true, but if they manage to get just a small number of them to use Cakewalk, that is a lot of people who´ll want to buy audio interfaces and other studio gear.

[JoseC.]

Hello? Company which needs to make money buys other company, and incorporates its flagship software into their service. What's to discuss?

Do you offer your work for free in your day job? What brings your food on the table?

They did not buy the company, They bought the IP. Probably very cheap. I don´t believe that Bandlab (the online service) is even their core business.

[chk071]

Regardless of that, if you buy someone's IP, it's to make money with it. What else? Even if it's just for PR reasons, you want to make money with it. And, I don't think they just do this for PR reasons. They want people to join their service, otherwise, they wouldn't let people download their client, and join Bandlab in order to download Cakewalk.

Totally normal business stuff, nothing bad about it.