August 26, 2024 I Closure
MakeMusic Sunsets Finale Notation Software
On Aug. 26, MakeMusic announced that it would be sunsetting its popular Finale software.
“Today, Finale is no longer the future of the notation industry — a reality after 35 years, and I want to be candid about this,” said Greg Dell’Era, president of MakeMusic. “Instead of releasing new versions of Finale that would offer only marginal value to our users, we’ve made the decision to end its development.”
A company statement read that, effective immediately, the following changes would be enacted: no further updates to Finale, or any of its associated tools, including PrintMusic, Notepad and Songwriter will be made, and it will no longer be possible to purchase or upgrade Finale in the MakeMusic e-store. That said, Finale will continue to work on devices where it’s currently installed, barring any Apple OS changes.
Beginning in August 2025, Finale users won’t be able to authorize Finale on any new devices and support for Finale v27, or any other version of Finale, won’t be available.
The future of notation will come in the form of Dorico, developed by Steinberg, the creators of Cubase and a subsidiary of Yamaha.
“While Finale development has come to an end, we know your musical journey has not,” Dell’Era statement continued. “I want to sincerely express our warm and deep gratitude to all of our loyal and passionate users. Our entire organization thanks you for your trust, and we believe you have a bright new phase of creativity, productivity, and efficiency ahead with Dorico.”
