
What’s loosely been termed the Adobe model (as Adobe were the first big company to switch to it) replaces the traditional boxed, fixed–fee purchase with a subscription of monthly payments.

Sonar Platinum, as it’s now called, is the first major DAW to step away from traditional ideas about purchasing and support, pre–empting Avid’s similar move with Pro Tools 12 by a couple of weeks. Both Propellerhead and Steinberg got in their version 8s before the end of the year, while Cakewalk chose to unleash the latest iteration of their Sonar DAW in the build up to NAMM 2015. Maybe it’s the weird weather that’s driven developers into full gear, but this winter has certainly been the season for major updates. And Sonar ‘membership’ provides plenty of goodies.

Sonar’s Skylight interface is largely unchanged.Ĭakewalk are the first major DAW developer to move to a monthly payment model.
