Updated September 2012

Every year brings major updates and improvements to many of the major music notation software companies.  New features are added, others dropped, prices change, and ease of use goes up and down.   This document shows the major features and key comments regarding several of the big names in sheet music notation programs.  All have been reviewed in greater depth here on MusicEdMagic and whenever possible links are provided to Amazon.com to provide the most up to date pricing and availability on each product.  Feel free to leave a comment below and voice your own personal opinion on each of these programs.

2012 Comparison of Professional Music Notation Software Programs

	Sibelius 7	Finale 2012	Maestro Composer	Notion 3
Current Pricing			$199.00 Available via Maestro Composer's web site
Site License?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Academic Pricing?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Upgrade Pricing?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Crossgrade Pricing?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
MEdM Editor Rating
MEdM Review	Read our review of Sibelius 7	Read our review of Finale 2012	Read our review of Maestro Composer	Read our review of Notation 3
Max # of Staves	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Custom Staff Styles	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Complex time signatures	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
US/UK Terminology	Both	Both	US	US
Tablature support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Plugin Support	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Live tempo, vamping, and skip ahead support	Live tempo (tap time support)	No	Yes	All*
Input via MIDI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Input via microphone	Yes	Yes	No	No
Input via scanner	Yes, with PhotoScore	Yes, with SmartScore Lite (included)	Yes, not included	Yes, not included
Exports to	MIDI, MusicXML	MIDI, MusicXML	MusicXML, Karaoke, MIDI	MIDI, Music XML
Imports from	MIDI, MusicXML	MIDI, MusicXML	MIDI, MusicXML, Karaoke	MIDI, Music XML
Imports image file formats for use in scores	TIFF	JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF,TIFF,EPS	JPG, GIF	No
Parts dynamically linked to score	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Custom note head styles	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Video support	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Audio Output	MIDI, VST, WAV	MIDI, VST, WAV, MP3	WAV, MP3	MIDI, VST, WAV
Save files as	WAV, MIDI, TIFF, EPS, BMP, PNG, EPS	MIDI, MP3, WAV, AIFF, JPG, PNG, TIFF, EPS	TIFF, PNG, JPEG, GIF, WMF, EMF, WEB	MIDI, Music XML, WAV
Open files in	StarPlay	SmartMusic Studio	N/A	N/A
Teacher Control (computer lab capable)	No	Yes	No	Yes
Support options	Phone (9 months free, $99/yr after), online forum, email	Phone, online forum, email	Email, online forum	Email, Phone
Additional Info	Scores can be posted on Internet using the Sibelius Scorch plugin	Over 300 educational worksheets, range checking,magnetic layout	Maestro Composer for MS Word allows interactive insertion of music notation into Word documents.  No need to cut and paste between the two programs.	- Pro-Audio Mixer   - Bundled with ove 10 GB of sounds including exclusive London Symphony Orchestra Sample Library   - VSTi presets in Score Setup for Vienna Symphonic Library SE and SE PLUS,        East West Quantum Leap Platinum, Miroslav Philharmonik, Garritan Personal Orchetsra (ARIA version) with more to come   - ReWire Slave and Host   - Sequencer Staff   - 4 internally mapped MIDI out ports   - All Score symbols are a single click away from entry

* Live tempo, vamping, and skip ahead during performance, specify exact rhythms for tempo control or use default beat, pause on fermatas,cutoffs support, take 2nd ending support, navigate the score while performing

Disclosure notice: The owner of this web site has had a previous writing relationship with the authors of the Maestro Composer software in which he was compensated for services rendered. However, no payments of any kind were received by the author in regard to the information or reviews on this site.