Gibson Kills Cakewalk

Gibson Brands (formerly Gibson Guitars) has announced that it decided to cease development of Cakewalk products. Cakewalk Sonar has a dedicated following and was one of the DAWs that PC users loved, although the company has recently fielded some Mac products as well.

Here’s the company’s official statement:

Gibson Brands announced today that it is ceasing active development and production of Cakewalk branded products. The decision was made to better align with the company’s acquisition strategy that is heavily focused on growth in the global consumer electronics audio business under the Philips brand.

Cakewalk has been an industry leader in music software for over 25 years by fusing cutting-edge technology with creative approaches to tools that create, edit, mix, and publish music for professional and amateur musicians. Gibson Brands acquired Cakewalk in 2013.

Gibson Brands, a growing company in the music and sound industries, was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Gibson Brands is a global leader in musical instruments, consumer electronics, and professional audio, and is dedicated to bringing the finest experiences to consumers by offering exceptional products with world- recognized brands.

What’s unusual about the statement is that it doesn’t say why the decision to kill the brand was made exactly, but it mentions its consumer audio brand Philips, which is a bit out of context here. It seems to indicate that Gibson is giving up on MI and audio products and moving headlong into consumer electronics. That’s bad news for it’s other companies like Tascam and KRK that are still going strong with pro audio products.

Cakewalk had just celebrated it’s 30th anniversary this year, and although it faced tough competition in the DAW market, it had passionate users who would probably stick by it in the future.

In a separate statement, CTO Noel Borthwick said that “Cakewalk’s servers will continue to operate, you will still have access to all of your online assets, and your software will continue to work normally. A dedicated team has been established during this transition period to continue to serve the Cakewalk community.”