Billy,
"Here's how they made money:"
You forgot one key element. When they rolled out "free" Cakewalk By Bandlab, you HAD to agree to "share" feedback. What it means... For years they had direct access, mining usage data supposedly from millions of people. You, user = product. I believe this is also true for their new free Sonar.

Mike,
"How much of the software on your computer is owned by You?
None."

True, however there is certain hard historical statistics. I had only two instances in 25+ years were software was remotely "disabled". That only happened because they relied on specific two way server communication / exchanging data.
Cakewalk is the third...and this has zero to do with network backend. And while 95% of software I have, I don't "own", I am still able to use it аs long as my operating system & hardware can handle it. I have some software that was purchased over 2 decades ago that I still use weekly, while the companies who wrote them vanished long ago.

If they had unlocked/ untethered dated "free" Cakewalk by Bandlab, I would have 0 issues with company. Forcing the change in a matter it was done... I have no desire to play their games. When they roll out standard license model, the one you activate once to a machine and be done, I will gladly re-join the party.

P.S. What completely puzzles me and many other Cakewalk users is that a single license purchase would be equal to several years of subscription. Why waste that opportunity and drive away the segment of people who are willing to pay for the license? Judging by AI generated (linked poll). Cakewalk usage is about 1.3% among producers, on a declining path. It could of easily been in 8-10% if they have changed their marketing posture. Ball is in their court.


Thankfully PGM doesn't play these games and has a very acceptable and affordable license structure for the core program.