Bandlab Buys Cakewalk

[starise]

I always knew Cakewalk was too good a daw to simply die after 30 years of development.  Cakewalk has been sold and plans are being made now to transition the company to Bandlab. 

The new owner has appeared on the Cake site to explain briefly the next steps.

 

http://forum.cakewalk.com/Hello-from-BandLab-m3730905.aspx

[john]

It seems that Gibson are in financial difficulty. They cite cheap copy guitars making a massive dent in sales. Fender own their own cheap copy guitar companies as a way around that. It makes sense for them to sell off Cakewalk, bring some cash in.

[starise]

I think it's the best all round'. I agree Steve. I knew something was up when I seen yet another article in SOS magazine on the Sonar series.

Yes John. Bad financial decisions all round'. I am optimistic about this. Bandlab have a similar thing to SC.They already have some simple software. Sonar might end up being the expansion of that.

[Rudi]

On 2/23/2018 at 9:01 PM, john said:

It seems that Gibson are in financial difficulty. They cite cheap copy guitars making a massive dent in sales. Fender own their own cheap copy guitar companies as a way around that. It makes sense for them to sell off Cakewalk, bring some cash in.

 

Its pretty serious for Gibson, though they own Epiphone for cheap copies too.

 

I'm glad Cakewalk has the chance for a future.

[starise]

I have one Epiphone guitar I really like. I believe there are a few gems in that line.

 

I for one and glad the deal took place. This now ties them in with BandLab. Really big in Asia and getting bigger here. Think Soundcloud with a free music app attached to it. 

Heads up to anyone looking ti upload tracks..check it out!

 

I'm thinking about reinventing myself and posting other stuff over there. Kind of like dual personalities  It's all just fun. If it isn't no need to continue it.

[starise]

Bandlab has announced Cakewalk for BandLab is now Free. As in FREE as in a FREE DAW! Simply join Bandlab.

 

Important to note that BandLab also has their own simple online collaboration software. Don't get the two mixed up. Cakewalk is a pro daw. 

 

Look here- https://cakewalk.bandlab.com/

 

 

[john]

Awesome!

 

I wonder who took on their synths?

[Rudi]

I've never used it. Well, I tried many years back and failed.

Curious business choice?!

[starise]

@John, The synths were likely part of the intellectual property bought by BandLab and will probably be sold as additions to the program.

This is all a hunch. I really don't know. Since BandLab bought the intellectual property they own it but haven't released the synths for free.

 

@Rudi, Much has changed in the program in each revision, so the new program  might not be recognizable to you now. I think they are following a similar line to Fruity Loops who give their program away for free and charge for additions. It's more than that though, there are literally millions on Bandlab which is also a collaboration site. This will boost the popularity of the program even more. The Asian market is huge in addition to the others who join.

 

In fact, for anyone thinking about getting in with other musicians for collab. Look no further than BandLab. It's free to join and you get a free daw. Compared to Souncloud which charges for better versions of the program and doesn't offer anything other than posting your music. I joined it but haven't posted any tracks yet. I'm Starise over there. If you join I'll follow you!

[john]

1 hour ago, starise said:

@John, The synths were likely part of the intellectual property bought by BandLab and will probably be sold as additions to the program.

This is all a hunch. I really don't know. Since BandLab bought the intellectual property they own it but haven't released the synths for free.

 

@Rudi, Much has changed in the program in each revision, so the new program  might not be recognizable to you now. I think they are following a similar line to Fruity Loops who give their program away for free and charge for additions. It's more than that though, there are literally millions on Bandlab which is also a collaboration site. This will boost the popularity of the program even more. The Asian market is huge in addition to the others who join.

 

In fact, for anyone thinking about getting in with other musicians for collab. Look no further than BandLab. It's free to join and you get a free daw. Compared to Souncloud which charges for better versions of the program and doesn't offer anything other than posting your music. I joined it but haven't posted any tracks yet. I'm Starise over there. If you join I'll follow you!

 

I sent them a message with a view to reviewing the new release. I’ll be asking them questions about plans as part of that.

[starise]

Of course you can download and review  it without any permission. Simply join BandLab and open the .exe as administrator. If you have a previous version of Cakewalk on your desktop it should see those paths and use them. The only issues I have had so far are it doesn't always pick up your vst paths, so you need to redirect them at EDIT>PREFERENCES>VST. Then set additional scan preferences.

 

From my initial impressions Meng  is a very easy going , knowledgeable and cordial individual. You might get a review with him if you're lucky. Having said that, every online mag on the web is reporting this news. It's big news. So far all we've had are press releases.

It has the potential to really hurt the competition, so I think he has the attention of the competition and that whole industry. The most recent info I'm getting is that they will be selling the synths and plug ins as side items. If you already had Rapture or one of the others. The BandLab app will find it and you can then use it in the new version. All of my 3rd party stuff loaded right up!

 

Good luck!

[john]

22 hours ago, starise said:

Of course you can download and review  it without any permission. Simply join BandLab and open the .exe as administrator. If you have a previous version of Cakewalk on your desktop it should see those paths and use them. The only issues I have had so far are it doesn't always pick up your vst paths, so you need to redirect them at EDIT>PREFERENCES>VST. Then set additional scan preferences.

 

From my initial impressions Meng  is a very easy going , knowledgeable and cordial individual. You might get a review with him if you're lucky. Having said that, every online mag on the web is reporting this news. It's big news. So far all we've had are press releases.

It has the potential to really hurt the competition, so I think he has the attention of the competition and that whole industry. The most recent info I'm getting is that they will be selling the synths and plug ins as side items. If you already had Rapture or one of the others. The BandLab app will find it and you can then use it in the new version. All of my 3rd party stuff loaded right up!

 

Good luck!

 

Hi Tim

 

Oh I know I can download it for free, and review it... but by contacting them I can see what their support is like, get help resolving any issues (and give them useful feedback), get access to artwork and images, and get quotes from their staff to be used in the article. If I just download and comment I don't get any of that. With smaller companies, sometimes you get to deal with the head of the company. Even with Gibson/Cakewalk I got to deal with their VP of marketing and their development director. It helps you gain an insight into the company and sometimes their development direction. Additionally, it really gives you an ability to influence development and get key, annoying bugs addressed, by not letting them off the hook.

 

One more thing. When you build a working relationship with them, you can get products ahead of time, and when you post your review... assuming it is not damning, they will share it on social media and their websites. If it is damning, depending on the company, they work to resolve the issues you highlight allowing me the ability to help drive change. Songstuff may not be massive, but it is big enough that they listen, especially if your observations and suggestions are on the money.

 

It's good to know Meng is cordial. Fingers crossed we get to deal with him.

 

When reviewing Studio One I found several bugs and made some suggestions that they took on board. Some issues they immediately addressed, others they have added to longer term development because of the amount of effort involved. Mostly developers are glad of such feedback.

 

It should be fun. I'll be sure to contact you to discuss any observations and get your input if that is ok?

 

Cheers

 

John

[starise]

In all likely hood you could get a visit online with Meng. FWIW they don't really have all of their systems lined up right yet. I just indicated over in their features area that the link to Cakewalk should be a huge visible link. In order for current users to find it they need to be looking specifically for it.

Not to get too far off the subject here, I like the new layout of the site here with the large easily seen pics for each heading. Makes it easier to navigate to where you want to go...so kudos there.

As you know I have kind of dropped off the radar with my site and the scary thing is I don't really care. Too many other things to care about, but yeah I had the same direction when I had the interest....go for the corporate top dogs, find the right people. The whole get products early to test is basically what SOS does and they do it well with both online and magazine versions. I attempted it and never made much headway. I didn't really try very hard either. 

I wish you the best in making contact. Things might look a little small on the surface but in reality they aren't in terms of the company that acquired Cakewalk. Meng comes from a family of Chinese billionares. His portfolio is filled with other companies. His direction is to use Cakewalk as a marketing tool for his other ventures. He would likely be like the Gibson of Singapore. If anyone can make Cakewalk work he can. JMHO, YMMV.

I'm certainly willing to help with all I know about the product if you need it

[starise]

Update-

 

Cakewalk by BandLab or CbB...just do it. The only thing that trips some people up is the Bandlab application. Just as an FYI you can change the setting in it so that it doesn't launch every time you start your computer. 

 

The BandLab app is a collaboration tool. Simple in approach but a cool way to hook up with someone and make a song. Once CbB is downloaded the BandLab app  doesn not need to run if you don't want it to run. The downloaded daw can be run offline. Bandlab recently announced the next update to CbB. 

 

If you are short on funds and want a daw that is no compromise this is a really tough deal to beat.

 

If someone wants to join me just for fun in a collaboration, let me know and maybe we can put it up here so others will see how it all works. Alternately I can also put up a basic track you can add to and "fork" from.