Finale Closes Shop

When I heard that Finale was no longer going to support their product, I couldn’t believe it! I honestly felt heartbroken, and I didn’t even use Finale. It was just that they have been such a top contender for the best music writing software program out there. How could they leave us!

Feeling the Loss of Finale

I had a similar feeling some time ago regarding Eastern Airlines. Today’s generation younger than 35-40 years old have no recollections of Eastern. By 1930, Eastern was considered one of the “Big Four” airlines in the country. If you visited Disney World before 1990, you would have seen a ride sponsored by Eastern Airlines. At that time they were the “Official Airline” of Disney World. I don’t remember much about the ride other than it was cool and cool! Well now that I think of it, almost any ride that was out of the heat was a nice place to be! Anyway, my father worked for Eastern at Newark Airport and later transferred to Atlanta. I have fond memories of seeing my dad at work in the freight building. All kinds of interesting things went through there. One day some baby ducklings made their way to my house! They also disappeared the next day. I was about 4-5 years old then. My dad started working for Eastern when he was fairly young. He never had another job. He worked for Eastern his whole life until they closed their doors. That was a very dark time for our family, but especially my dad who never worked again.

A Legend in Music Software

Finale- Well getting back on track here, I just could not believe this fate happened to Finale. As you may know, Finale music notation software was first published in 1988 by Coda Music Software. Finale has been regarded as one of the industry standards for music notation software and quickly became known as the “Microsoft Word of music” for powerful capabilities and widespread use. The software revolutionized music notation by allowing composers, arrangers, and publishers to create professional-quality sheet music with unprecedented detail and flexibility. Over its 35-year history, Finale became the gold standard for professional music notation, offering advanced features for everything from simple lead sheets to complex orchestral scores.

The Ending of Finale Support

In August 2024, MakeMusic made the shocking announcement that it would discontinue Finale after 35 years of development. Finale installations will continue to work and users can still download the Finale installer for any previously purchased version . MakeMusic has also committed to keeping the authorization servers running indefinitely, allowing users to install Finale on new computers if needed. While no future updates or bug fixes will be released, current Finale users can continue using the software for their existing projects and workflows until they face compatibility issues with future operating system updates. I bet we will see Finale in operation for the next decade.

Finale Users to Alternatives

Dorico

For Finale users looking to transition to new music notation software, three primary alternatives stand out in the market. Dorico, developed by Steinberg, has emerged as a leading professional option that has quickly gained recognition for its exceptional capabilities, making it a strong alternative to Finale. The software offers modern workflow design and sophisticated automatic music engraving features that appeal to professional composers and arrangers. Ryan Leach did a YouTube video on Dorico. He actually videotaped himself trying it for the first time. It is a great video to see what it might be like to start with Dorico. Ryan is comparing Dorico to Sibelius and not Finale but the value of the video is no doubt there. It was created about 3 years ago so some improvements may have been made with Dorico since then but it is worth a look. Here it is: Can DORICO get this Sibelius user to switch?

Sibelius and Musescore

Sibelius remains another industry-standard choice, particularly for users seeking a familiar transition experience. According to user feedback, Sibelius is the easiest writing software to transfer to from Finale. Finally, MuseScore presents an attractive free alternative that offers a very similar range of features and user experience as the legacy software Finale, but is a completely free option, making it accessible for students, hobbyists, and professionals working within budget constraints. Each of these alternatives provides exceptional music notation capabilities.

Finale- You gifted us with your presence. We will miss you