Yeah, this is some B. S.   I'm not even upset about Dorico--I use it too.  But being expected to track down all my drives and old computers and search every folder for scores is just unacceptable. 

If one is working with Steinberg to get us a bigger crossgrade discount, work with them to make Dorico able to read my Finale files.

They've already changed course on this, before this post was made.  Read other thread on the matter.

We've already known that we don't own the software we buy, since developed moved to these online authorization methods in the name of "fighting software piracy."

Never works, but they never double back to offline serial key authorization ;-)

That being said, Finale has had a legendary run, but I'm actually surprised that it wasn't shut down earlier.  They probably should have done this instead of releasing Finale 27.

This just in a couple hours ago:

Clarifications on the initial announcement

1.  Finale authorization will remain available indefinitely: Please note that future OS changes can still impact your ability to use Finale on new devices. 

2. Finale v27 to be included with Dorico Pro Crossgrades: We are currently working on a solution for all customers who have purchased or intend to purchase a Dorico Pro crossgrade to be able to download Finale v27. This will ensure that you can export your Finale files using MusicXML 4.0, the most robust version of MusicXML available. Thank you for your patience, we will provide more information soon.

That's inadequate.  If MakeMusic is working with Steinberg to get a discount on Dorico (which I already "own"), they can release to Steinberg the proprietary information necessary to add .mus and .musx compatibility to Dorico.

@samuel, I beg to differ. This is actually good. They screwed up but at least are responsive to their users. Having no authorization limit is a BFD; that means that one should be able to use Finale for the foreseeable future (and no, macOS is not likely to break it fully anytime soon; some features may be challenged by future OS updates but I can't remember the last time I couldn't use Finale because of a Mac update, even development seeds I've run). Let's be real; Finale really hasn't been majorly upgraded or really supported for at least 1-2 years so essentially we are getting the status quo for many years. If someone wants to learn Dorico, there is plenty of time for that (and I might do that; I will see how the 60-day trial goes). Get one's files in shape and convert to MXML-no problem. Same with whether or not to go with a virtual machine. 

this is hardly inadequate. It's a major concession, actually and I welcome it.

Definitely a step in the right direction.

I would love even more if there were a free (or low cost) option for any existing Finale ownership to upgrade to v27, independent of Dorico. I do not know where my music notation journey will end up after all these years, but I shouldn't have to hitch my wagon to a new company (that may be great but is an unknown entity to me) just to preserve what I already have.

 If MakeMusic is working with Steinberg to get a discount on Dorico (which I already "own"), they can release to Steinberg the proprietary information necessary to add .mus and .musx compatibility to Dorico.

Only if Yamaha wants to give MM a whole lot of money for 35 year old source code that they neither want nor need. Steinberg's programming approach is completely different and integrating Finale would involve another version written from the ground up—that will never happen. What the old Sibelius team was doing when they moved to Yamaha/Steinberg and how was pretty well documented before Dorico 1 came out.

The last announcement that I quoted is probably as good as we're going to see — and it's pretty good. Since MakeMusic will still be around, there's no reason not to keep the licensing servers up and making 27 available to anyone who takes up the Yamaha offer. It's not "27 for free" but it's the next best thing.

I would love even more if there were a free (or low cost) option for any existing Finale ownership to upgrade to v27, independent of Dorico...

Although many users would like this, I bet that tech support will be a consideration. By tying it to a single purpose, MusicXML 4 for export to Dorico, that limits support concerns considerably. I will be surprised if they don't hold the line on this. The Dorico crossgrade offer is 50% the normal $299.99. Heck, Apple could screw this up in a couple months for Mac users and MM is trying to distance themselves from that big time.

Another way to look at it is that the Finale 27 upgrade is now $149.95 with a free license for Dorico 5.

Another way to look at it is that the Finale 27 upgrade is now $149.95 with a free license for Dorico 5.

Absolutely true, but I would much prefer that that money go to MakeMusic as the company I've supported since 1994 for the purposes of extending the off-ramp and helping the community reach their ultimate destinations, instead of Dorico, a company whose software I might never use.

What do you mean by "extending the off-ramp?"

I also think they should have reached out to Avid to see if they were willing to offer a similar deal to Finale users.  It does seem weird to have them pick and choose which application they'd rather you go to.

A deal is a deal.  One can't really complain about it, and they could have just not offered one at all.  It just seems weirdly quasi-political.

What do you mean by "extending the off-ramp?"

• Extended technical support for people who can no longer use their preferred tool.
• Eliminating or extending the authorization cutoff (positive change here).
• Utilities / CLI to break old files out of exclusive file formats even in the absence of a running Finale version.
• Open-sourcing the Finale software or (to narrow the scope) the MUS, MUSX file formats so other programmers can help everyone move on, or so other notation software companies can encode their own "Import Finale Files" option.

I'm a software engineer by day and a composer by night, so I totally get why Finale would choose to call time of death right now -- it's a sound business decision. However, I also understand that there is a HUGE community of MUSICIANS, for whom Finale is just a tool for getting music out of heads and onto paper scores. For this audience, jumping to new software and embracing another steep learning curve might be risky, scary, or even TRAUMATIC. I would love for MakeMusic to recognize that "Just switch to XYZ!" is merely aspirational for most musicians, some of whom may depend on Finale for their livelihood and will experience a (hopefully brief) period where their livelihood is in stasis while they figure out how to rebound.

I don’t feel I owe anything to MakeMusic. They took a great application, originally developed by Coda, and gradually wrecked it due to bad decisions and overall neglect. When they tried to get Mac users to switch to Windows and even packaged a Windows version of Finale on the same CD as the Mac version to “make it easier to switch to Windows,” I knew this was going to be bad news. They got complacent and ignored their user base. That’s why Finale is essentially dead vis a vis development.

• Extended technical support for people who can no longer use their preferred tool.

Unreasonable.  1 Year of Technical Support is more than enough.

• Eliminating or extending the authorization cutoff (positive change here).

Already done.

• Utilities / CLI to break old files out of exclusive file formats even in the absence of a running Finale version.

Unnecessary considering the above.  Keep a compatible machine available.

• Open-sourcing the Finale software or (to narrow the scope) the MUS, MUSX file formats so other programmers can help everyone move on, or so other notation software companies can encode their own "Import Finale Files" option.

Totally unreasonable.

David Toub - If Finale remained macOS only, they would not have been able to grow their market share to where it was at its peak and the software would likely have been shelved a decade or more ago.  The high cost of Macs provided a huge hurdle.

Being macOS-only in 2024 makes a lot more sense than it did in 1994; given the relatively low cost of machines like the Mac Mini.  Back then, Mac hardware prices were outrageous.

The issues that arose form laggard development pacing and an unwillingness to keep the code base in line with the times has literally nothing to do with them porting to Windows.  Innumerable Windows applications ported over to macOS and didn't have this issue...

@Nathanial: you misunderstand me. I never suggested, or thought, Fonale should be Mac-only. My issue was with the pandering to convince us Mac users to switch to Windows. That was not cool.

A few things. Peaksware, parent company of MakeMusic, is not the Coda Music that so many of us supported when we bought Finale many years ago.

MakeMusic Cloud, formerly SmartMusic, is very much alive — the Finale source code isn't going anywhere.

If Avid wants our business, they can certainly offer a crossgrade and work out a deal like Yamaha is doing. Avid wants everyone on Subscription and does not offer any crossgrade on permanent Sibelius licenses (they exist but it's hard to find them). Finale has had deals with Sibelius for many years now. The free Dolet plug-in that enables advanced MusicXML functionality in Sibelius has been a MakeMusic product ever since they bought Recordare from Michael Good and made him a vice president (since retired). Thank goodness this didn't happen week before last—we caught 10cc in concert ten days ago and my wife would have been most upset if we did nothing but talk about this. 

That's assuming Avid even wants MakeMusic's customers...

Avid's development seems a bit more forward-looking as of late (particularly since their acquisition).  They seem to be trying to branch out and increase their market reach, after decades of coping on specific core market segments.  They have been doing the same with Pro Tools.

Finale has never done that, so it has a fairly rigid user base demographic/profile that may not be attractive to them. Companies can choose whether or not they want to obligate themselves to those users...  Some will, if they are eager to compete and grow their market position.  Others may not, because how they are attempting to pivot may not be in line with what those users expect - and they won't want to deal with the friction this creates.

Allowing users to come to Sibelius at full price (or whatever) means they aren't coming in with any expectation that Avid will cater to them.  When you partner with a company and give deals to crossgrade, users have a different expectation - rightly or wrongly.  This is why so many people are asking Steinberg to put Direct Finale File import into Dorico, or to work with MakeMusic (or obtain assets from them) to develop a conversion utility.

No one is at the Avid forums asking for that, because the expectation is simply that you won't get it because they aren't the ones soliciting your crossgrade (to the extent that Steinberg is).

Finale has basically been Enterprise Software for decades, and market segments that operate like this are historically awful for product innovation and evolution.  It's why companies like Apple have largely exited those market segments.  It's why Avid has had issues competing with newer solutions.

It's also why software like Avid Media Composer will never be able to compete with options like Premier Pro, Resolve Studio and Final Cut Pro in those other market segments.  They cannot make the changes they need to make without dealing with massive industry blowback...  Others can.

To use an analogy:  Finale was the Media Composer of the Notation Software market.  Sibelius is Premiere Pro, Dorico is DaVinci Resolve and MuseScore is Final Cut Pro

The big difference is that the core market segment for Media Composer is better able to sustain that product.  The core market for Finale doesn't scale up the same way, because Notation software is fairly narrow in applicability - wholistically speaking...