David (and then Darcy) wrote:
If Finale doesn't start listening to its core users and stop
dicking around with fancy playback issues, it's going to lose the
entire educational and professional market, plain and simple.
David, this is a baseless assertion. First, hardcore engravers
don't drive sales of Finale. Second, what on earth makes you think
the educational market isn't interested in playback? Third, Finale
is only just now catching up to (and, in some was, surpassing)
Sibelius in terms of playback capabilities. Sib has had it together
on playback for a while now, which is why they were able to be
innovative in other areas, like the new Dynamic Parts.
My school here in Sydney, Australia uses Finale, but this is because
I like it and I introduced it here when we brought computers into the
music department some years back (being head of music has its
privileges :-) ). However, all around us, it seems to be all
Sibelius. Most Music Technology and Music Education stores sell both,
but only seem to push SIbelius. The nearest Music Education store
regularly promotes Sibelius in their literature and technology
training days (and the other Sibelius - linked products like
Auralia). They are quite happy to sell you Finale products, but you
usually have to ask specifically.
So I would conclude that most music teachers who didn't have any
previous notation software experience would end up as Sibelius uses
here in Sydney. The only difference could be what software is being
used in the Universities in around Sydney that offer Music Ed degrees
(and I don't know what that is now - when I went through it was
Notator Logic on Atari and Master Tracks Pro on a Mac Plus!)
This school semester I even got a potential new parent asking why we
didn't use Sibelius - they assumed it was what school's use (They had
not ever heard of Finale!).
I hear a lot of baseless comments among music teachers at other
schools, and also among our own students (stemming from their private
teachers) about how Sibelius is better - but when you dig deeper it
nearly always comes down to what they heard off some sales rep or at
a conference trade display rather than experience with both software
packages. I don't at all mind that some (or many) people prefer
Sibelius, but I hate when the marketing engines drive the buzz
instead of reality.
I am probably going to have to buy a copy of Sibelius soon, just so
that our school can cater for students who already have this package
at home and are more used to it. If a student from our school goes to
a shop without talking to me first, they always seem to be directed
to Sibelius.
Later in the thread Matthew Hindson wrote:
However unless they've integrated Scroll View into Sibelius, made
articulations draggable, added handles to slurs and other items, add
a graphics creator/editor and release a free "Notepad" version of
Sibelius for my students, (amongst many other things) then I will
for the time being stay put. The hours of frustration from these
missing/malfunctioning items will not quite compensate for saved
hours in linking revisions in parts to score, as tempting as it
seems: though it is getting much closer... Finale is going to have
to lift its game.
Notepad free is also a clincher for me. To be able to tell all our
elective students to go home an download for free something that will
look just like the "expensive" software at school is a great bonus,
and has been the prime reason that computer technology has caught on
among our music students. Some of these students go on to buy the
full Finale at the education price (currently AUD$299). I doubt many
parents would have paid that without seeing its use first.
You (and I) might stick to Finale, but I don't think you are the
typical education user (you make your own fonts for goodness sake!).
The average B.Mus/B.Ed from UNSW or Sydney or Newcastle or the
Crematorium are still not greatly technology savvy (or interested)
and will go with the marketing flow. Even if Finale lift their game
they will need to win over the Retailers and Trade Show marketers.
--
Rocky Road - in Oz
"Fleeing from the Cylon tyranny, the last Battlestar, Galactica,
leads a ragtag, fugitive fleet, on a lonely quest, for a shining
planet known as Earth."
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