Nearly every audio app requires access to the microphone. Until a few years ago, apps didn't ask; permissions were granted on installation. This caused quite a problem with Finale 2012 on new 2013 Macs that did not have microphones toll CodaMusic fixed that.

Finale, like every other audio app on my Mac, opens the mic if my default is System/CoreAudio. You can change the Mic Level slider to 0 and Save. 

https://usermanuals.finalemusic.com/FinaleMac/Content/Finale/PRECCONFG.htm?Highlight=microphone 

Your System Preferences/Sound settings do not change—only the Finale document. Unfortunately, I cannot see a way to save this as a default when creating a New Document.

Although many audio apps require microphone access and will not launch without it (tons of DAWs have support threads on this), I'm not positive that Finale can work without it.

There's an easy way to test. Go to System Preferences/Security & Privacy. Unlock with your Admin password and click on the Privacy tab., then Microphone. Uncheck Finale (see below). Close System Preferences. Reboot. See if Finale still works for you. Note that there will be other apps with the box checked and that some of them will not work at all if unchecked—I have 25 apps in my tab.

I believe that your security concern is misplaced. MM makes it clear that microphone access in Finale exists only to allow it to record. As I mentioned earlier, after I turned the slider down, the mic volume in System Preferences/Sound was unchanged. Just now, I turned that /Sound/microphone slider down all the way (I only use it for Zoom)  and it had no effect on my Finale documents. You can Submit a request to MM Support to confirm this.

Hi Mike, thanks for your reply.  Finale works fine for me with microphone access unchecked (I don't usually need to record any audio).  

The workarounds are helpful, thanks, but the security issue is clear: Despite their statement that mic access is only used for making audio recordings for the user, Finale starts listening to the mic on launch, instead of when a recording is started by the user.  This might make sense for an app whose sole purpose is audio recording, but not for an app that is only occasionally used for audio recording.  I'm a former member of the CoreAudio/CoreMedia software team at Apple (retired now after 25+ years); I know exactly what I'm talking about when it comes to Apple's mic/camera security concerns.

How do I go about getting the attention of the Finale developers to get this fixed?  It should be a straightforward shift of some code from one place (app launch/app quit) to another (start/stop of audio recording).

Greg, send it in by using the Submit a Request tab at the top of the page. 

Then, forget about it. Finale has shown remarkable resistance to making such changes, regardless of how simple they may appear to a knowledgeable coder.

Thanks, MikeR...  (BHS, huh?  Me, too!)

I will do that, and set my expectations accordingly... :-)

Finale starts listening to the mic on launch, instead of when a recording is started by the user.

Yes. That's the only way this can work and MakeMusic can't change that. Apple does consider it a security issue and they require developers play by their rules which are very strict whether you agree with them or not. You can change the volume in the document—whether or not it is allowed to access the microphone at all can only be set in Security & Privacy. So while it is a security issue, you are mistaken as to whose it is. Apple thinks it's theirs, not Finale's.

It is still a good idea to go through all of your apps that have the box checked. Every one of them accesses the microphone upon Launch. If there's anything that launches upon startup that you don't recognise, disable or remove it after finding out what it does and why it's there, of course.

I'm only the messenger and am not here to argue. Just explaining how it works. 

Hmmm... I think you are confused about Apple's requirements (and here I _am_ the expert; I was in the room when Apple's "get permission from the user" stuff was designed and implemented, and I had work to do to get various things working again with the mic, specifically).  There is no Apple requirement that the audio device be opened at app launch in order to trigger the permission dialog (or for any other reason).  Even if there were such a requirement, one could simply close the audio device afterward, and never open it at app launch again (there's an API you can call to find out if the mic permission dialog has already been seen, and if it has, don't do anything special at app launch at all).

In any case, I've filed a report via "Submit a request", and if nothing happens (as expected), I'll just work around it.

Your concern is that you think this is a Security issue. With a properly registered app (MM from Apple), it is not. I tried to explain why and do not care if you believe me or not. I also suggested that you verify this with MM in my first reply. If you call Apple Support, they should verify this also. What Apple will not do is give you a written statement but they may point you to Support docs like this:

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/control-access-to-the-microphone-on-mac-mchla1b1e1fe/mac 

If you feel that there is a serious Security or Privacy concern, you should report it here. 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201220 

You will not get a reply other than acknowledgement that it's been submitted.