Finale ceases support, acquired by Dorico: a quiet theatre industry shake-up

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/26/24 at 10:57am

This is gonna be niche, but it's not off-topic: MakeMusic Finale, which had long been competing with Sibelius for position as "industry standard" for composing and orchestrating/typesetting software, has just announced it is no longer supported, and has been acquired by Dorico as a non-compete.

As a composer and a reluctant arranger, this is HUGE. Unlike writing, which one can do it Word or Pages or even just a Notes app, composing has always been gated behind expensive software requiring frequent paid updates. People thus become fiercely loyal to their arranging software of choice. To suddenly say "bad news, time to migrate to a competitor" is going to throw off a LOT of people's workflow, mine included.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 8/26/24 at 11:35am

Bro, this belongs on the Off Topic board. Has zero to do with the discussion of current and past Broadway shows, which is what this board is specifically about. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/26/24 at 11:49am

Every Broadway composer and arranger is working in this software. People like Charlie Rosen are posting about it. This is far from off-topic, as it's going to disrupt the production workflow of every musical not "set" and frozen.

[greensgreens]

Posted: 8/26/24 at 11:55am

Yeah, this news is awful. I’m sorry for those affected and hope for an easy way to covert all those files! Does xml work universally enough? I only know enough to be dangerous.

[starlightexpress2]

Posted: 8/26/24 at 12:04pm

Converting the files is one challenge. Learning a new tool will be the biggest hurdle.

I've worked with a lot of composers and let me tell ya, they're an opinionated bunch w.r.t. the tools they use. Little intricacies, key combinations, and muscle memory built up over the years can really throw someone off if forced to use another program.

Godspeed! This will certainly impact the production speed of some composers in the coming year or two.

Finale was preferred by many, though I know a couple that used Sibelius and a couple that liked Dorico. Does anyone have more insight into overall industry usage of these tools?

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 8/26/24 at 12:23pm

A Facebook group devoted to musical theater orchestration is freaking out, loudly, because every American licensing house uses Finale. One knowledgeable soul predicts the current plan will create a global archival catastrophe, both within the business and for libraries that take on the challenge of preserving computer files from this era.

As for transferring to Dorico, the process is far from foolproof. On a technical level, hundreds of thousands of computer files will either become inaccessible or have to be laboriously transferred to Dorico/Sibelius to be corrected or updated, and we all know that no software has emerged that makes such a transfer absolutely perfect. On a user level, quoting one guy: "I've done arranging and copying work for a noted opera composer in his 70s who has been using Finale since 1990. He's an able musician but rather scattered in his approach to computers and very set in his ways. I cannot imagine him learning to compose in new software, and I would not be surprised to learn that he's having a panic attack right now."

Currently, every Broadway-bread-and-butter music prep person I know is advising on a wide scale to "crack" one's Finale 25 and 27 ASAP if anyone wants to continue to access their old files. Mac users had not had workarounds for ages, but this lit a fire under their asses; a "crack" for the latest version became available literally today. Right now, there are a couple of competing campaigns forming: either MakeMusic provides Dorico with the code necessary for Finale files to directly transfer as-is, with no MusicXML middle step necessary (those who know what I'm talking about will rejoice if that ever happens), or instead of killing authorization in the way they propose, they simply remove the need for it after August of next year, thus allowing people to reinstall without reauthorizing. (The latter is unlikely since the way this roll-out has gone suggests that Dorico's non-compete partnership involved this "kill-switch" to force sales rather than enabling another free competitor like MuseScore.)

Me, I'm keeping Finale because I finally paid for the damn thing last summer ("cracks" were notoriously easy to find and use, speaking from direct experience, but the discount in last summer's sale was frankly too good to pass up), and I'm gonna get my money's worth while I can. However... I'm also taking the crossgrade to Dorico Pro 5 because there's no way on earth it will ever be available for that low a price again, certainly not in the Pro version.

Updated On: 8/26/24 at 12:23 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 8/26/24 at 3:26pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Bro, this belongs on the Off Topic board. Has zero to do with the discussion of current and past Broadway shows, which is what this board is specifically about."

This is a board to discuss theatre as a whole and this topic is just as pertinent as the many discussions of labor, contracts, rights, budgets, orchestrations, producing models, or any other niche industry topics that have been had here over the years.

And a lot of the theatre music folks I know are indeed freaking out over this. It was a massive blindside that greatly affects how they're able to work.

Updated On: 8/26/24 at 03:26 PM

[trentsketch]

Posted: 8/26/24 at 3:48pm

Yeah, this is going to have a monumental impact on composers, arrangers, and anyone who works with modern sheet music. Finale was still the theater industry standard in America, for sure.

I switched out to MuseScore years ago because I hate pay to play proprietary software, but switching to any other program is going to require a whole lot of retraining and file conversions that will cost a ton of money. 

[auroraspice62]

Posted: 8/26/24 at 5:51pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Bro, this belongs on the Off Topic board. Has zero to do with the discussion of current and past Broadway shows, which is what this board is specifically about."

It's utterly unsurprising to me that your occupation is listed as producer, because this is exactly the attitude that leaves music directors' names off of press releases.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 8/26/24 at 6:16pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Bro, this belongs on the Off Topic board. Has zero to do with the discussion of current and past Broadway shows, which is what this board is specifically about."

“Bro”, it’s absolutely a relevant topic. You aren’t the board police. Calm the hell down and read a different thread if this one offends you so deeply. 

[morosco]

Posted: 8/26/24 at 6:39pm

<i>BrodyFosse123 said: "Bro, this belongs on the Off Topic board. Has zero to do with the discussion of current and past Broadway shows, which is what this board is specifically about."</i>

Off topic? Bro, perhaps you should consider correcting your post after doing some quick research.

Finale, Software That Typeset The Music of Broadway For Decades, Shuts Down

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 8/26/24 at 7:24pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Bro, this belongs on the Off Topic board. Has zero to do with the discussion of current and past Broadway shows, which is what this board is specifically about."

You continue to make a mockery of yourself

[MezzoDiva47]

Posted: 8/27/24 at 12:15pm

seems we have a bro-mance heating up on here

adorable

 

[GaGirrl]

Posted: 8/27/24 at 8:12pm

It looks as is MakeMusic is tired of the international pasting they're getting over how they handled it and they released a statement a few hours ago, so there's somewhat of a reprieve in the go-forward rather than getting cut off in a year.

They're making Finale authorization available indefinitely and they're working on updating Finale 27 with Finale v27 to be included with Dorico Pro Crossgrades to help make exporting to MusicXML 4.0. Still not mus or musx, but something.
Updated On: 8/27/24 at 08:12 PM