Finale notation software
The Finale notation app for Mac and Windows has been used by musicians since Macs had 9-inch black-and-white screens, but the developer is now discontinuing it and directing users to alternatives.
No app for writing scores and notation would ever have become truly mainstream. But Finale’s passionate users have been talking about the app on the internet. AppleInsider Forums since at least 2002.
“Finale is no longer the future of the music notation industry – a reality after 35 years, and I want to be honest about that,” writes Greg Dell’Era, president of the development company MakeMusic. “Rather than release new versions of Finale that would provide little benefit to our users, we have decided to stop development.”
“Even though Finale’s development has come to an end, we know that your musical journey is not over yet,” Dell’Era continued. “I would like to express our warm and deep gratitude to all of our loyal and passionate users.”
Development of Finale began in the 1980s and the first version was released in 1988. It required a Mac Plus, Macintosh SE or Macintosh II and preferably needed 1.5 MB of RAM.
To put this in historical context, Finale soon had a competitor whose name is more familiar today – but whose original function is forgotten. Apple’s current digital audio workstation app, Logic Pro, started out as third-party Notator Logic in 1990 and was a competing notation app.
Dell’Era says the app’s continuous evolution over the past four decades has produced millions of lines of code, and making more than incremental improvements has become exponentially more difficult.
As of now, Finale and the associated PrintMusic app can no longer be purchased. Existing users can continue to use the app and download it again until August 25, 2025.
After this date, the software will no longer be available for download and support will no longer be available for existing users. It will no longer be possible to authorize Finale after installation on a new computer.
MakeMusic and Dell’Era recommend that users upgrade to Finale’s biggest competitor, Dorico Pro. Normally, Dorico Pro 5 costs $579, but users of any version of Finale or PrintMusic can purchase it for $149.
