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                                Finale's Finale

   Adam Engst

   Thanks to TidBITS reader Matt McCaffrey for [1]passing on the sad news
   that the decades-old music notation program [2]Finale is fading into
   silence. In an email to customers, Greg Dell'Era, president of Finale
   publisher MakeMusic, announced that [3]the product would cease to
   receive updates.

   Although [4]Finale is no longer in development or available for sale,
   current copies will continue to work. MakeMusic initially said users
   would be able to authorize new installations of Finale for a year but
   quickly revised that to 'indefinitely.' However, the company only
   promises that Finale will work in macOS 10.14 Mojave through macOS 14
   Sonoma. It remains to be seen [5]if Finale will be compatible with
   macOS 15 Sequoia, due out in September 2024, but it will never be a
   supported operating system. Speaking of which, MakeMusic has committed
   to providing tech support for Finale through 25 August 2025.

   Launched in 1988, Finale was a mainstay of the music world for decades,
   although it has more recently faced significant competition from
   [6]Sibelius, [7]MuseScore, and [8]Dorico Pro. MakeMusic is partnering
   with Dorico maker Steinberg to offer crossgrade pricing of $149 (Dorico
   Pro retails for $579.99, though Steinberg currently discounts it to
   $289.99). The crossgrade offer also includes Finale 27, the latest
   version of the app, to ensure that users' files can be exported to
   MusicXML and from there into other apps, including Dorico Pro.

References

   1. https://talk.tidbits.com/t/the-end-of-finale/28709?u=ace
   2. https://www.finalemusic.com/
   3. https://www.finalemusic.com/blog/end-of-finale-new-journey-dorico-letter-from-president/
   4. https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/25843888130839-Finale-Sunset-FAQ
   5. https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/25843931684759-macOS-15-Sequoia-and-Finale-Notation-Products
   6. https://www.avid.com/sibelius
   7. https://musescore.org/
   8. https://www.steinberg.net/dorico/

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