The End Of Finale After 35 Years
MakeMusic has announced that, after 35 years, it’s the end of the line for Finale notation software.
The official statement from MakeMusic President Greg Dell’Era:
It’s over for Finale notation software.
“35 years ago, Coda Music Technologies, now MakeMusic, released the first version of Finale, a groundbreaking and user-centered approach to notation software. For over four decades, our engineers and product teams have passionately crafted what would quickly become the gold standard for music notation.
Four decades is a very long time in the software industry. Technology stacks change, Mac and Windows operating systems evolve, and Finale’s millions of lines of code add up. This has made the delivery of incremental value for our customers exponentially harder over time.
Today, Finale is no longer the future of the notation industry—a reality after 35 years, and I want to be candid about this. 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.”
Effective immediately:
- There will be no further updates to Finale, or any of its associated tools (PrintMusic, Notepad, Songwriter).
- It is no longer possible to purchase or upgrade Finale in the MakeMusic eStore.
- Finale will continue to work on devices where it is currently installed (barring OS changes)
- Beginning in August 2025, it will not be possible to authorize Finale on any new devices, or reauthorize Finale.
- Technical support for Finale v27 or any other version of Finale will no longer be available
MakeMusic has partnered with Steinberg to offer a crossgrade discount for Dorico Pro. For a limited time, users of any version of Finale or PrintMusic can purchase Dorico Pro – the highest tier of the product – for $149 (retail price $579). Find out details on the MakeMusic website.
