Sibelius 7

[musicus]

Avid released version 7 of their Sibelius music notation program today. The big news, for me at least, is that they have at last added the ability to export scores in XML format. This means that Finale and Sibelius users can now exchange music files in either direction, without the need (in Sibelius' case) for additional and expensive third-party software.

A full-featured 30-day trial download is available from http://www.sibelius.com

[HallamPhil]

That is good news. I'm on Finale 2010 but use Sib 5 (courtesy of WGRG) to get music to a choir member who is blind. He always has to do so many conversions to get what I imagine I'd intended.

[Nick Baty]

File sharing with Finale makes this an attractive proposition.
Could Mr Bear explain to this technophobe, will I be able to upgrade from Sibelius 5 to 7 while bypassing Sibelius 6?

[musicus]

Indeed you will. See the Upgrade section on the Sibelius site: "To qualify for this upgrade, you must hold a single-user license for any previous version of Sibelius. Your existing license may be for the professional (where the fourth letter at the start of your serial number is P), educational (fourth letter E) or competitive crossgrade (fourth letter X) edition." The cost of the upgrade is £109.95

[JW]

Looking at the cost of the upgrade, and at the risk of being boring and annoying, I have to say that MuseScore has the ability to export files in XML format and it is free, gratis.

Someone who is thinking of composing asked me about software last week. I told her that most of the pros use Sibelius, but Musescore has everything she would need for free and suggested she start with that - can't waste your money (or your community's money) that way.

[musicus]

That's good to know, JW. If you're happy with the printed music produced using MuseScore - or any other program, for that matter - then use it. Free is always good!

[alan29]

What a shame there is no upgrade route from the student edition to the full.

[musicus]

True. But, IIRC, the academic price for the full version is about £157, so that's not too bad.

[gwyn]

What a shame there is no upgrade route from the student edition to the full.

I believe that it's only the price that's different, the academic version and the "full" version are the same.

** Edit **
Ah! I see what you mean. Goood point.

[Southern Comfort]

I told her that most of the pros use Sibelius

Wrong. The real pros use Finale, which is the industry standard on both sides of the Atlantic. The only reason Sibelius survived is because John Rutter (and therefore Oxford University Press) used it.

Composers in the US are finding that if they submit their compositions in Sibelius publishers are simply not interested, since they all use Finale only and can't read Sibelius files.

[alan29]

True. But, IIRC, the academic price for the full version is about £157, so that's not too bad.

Thats fine if you are eligible. Sadly I'm not.

[Nick Baty]

Of course you are.
Aren't you a parish musician?

[alan29]

Of course you are.
Aren't you a parish musician?

I thought that concession was just with finale? will have to read the licence terms again.

[musicus]

I bought Sibelius 6 at the education price only a couple of months ago. I bought it from Softplanet (01334 461244), where a straightforward telephone conversation did the trick. They just wanted to know which parish I was working in. I had scoured Sibelius' online terms and conditions for any mention of church/liturgical/theological use and I hadn't found any, but, since I knew that it was available, I asked Softplanet (www.softplanetgroup.com) and there was no problem. I am sure that there are other equally good UK dealers.

(BTW, if you do buy it in this fashion with your own money (as I did), it is in your own name that you should register it, If the parish pays (I wish!), then register it in its name. I got this from some other small print on the Sibelius site, but I can't find it right now.)

[musicus]

I told her that most of the pros use Sibelius

Wrong. The real pros use Finale, which is the industry standard on both sides of the Atlantic. The only reason Sibelius survived is because John Rutter (and therefore Oxford University Press) used it.

Composers in the US are finding that if they submit their compositions in Sibelius publishers are simply not interested, since they all use Finale only and can't read Sibelius files.

SC, let's keep this thread non-partisan please. The whole point of this thread is that your final point is no longer true.