[MEI-L] Sibelius and MEI

[Axel Teich Geertinger]

Dear all,

I guess most of you have seen the information below from Derek Williams about the future of the Sibelius development team (if so, my apologies for re-posting it here).
The following statement made me think of MEI:

“It is highly tempting to throw our support unquestioningly behind Steinberg's bold enterprise, but personally, I can only recommend this if at least the score file format is made open source, even if the application itself remains proprietary. The easiest way to achieve this for now would simply be to extend the already powerful Music XML file format so as to append all the feature assets of the new application as and when they are added.”
Could this be an opportunity to promote MEI, and perhaps make MEI the primary file format for this new notation software instead of extending MusicXML?
Are there any direct contacts to the Sibelius development team already? Is anyone of them on this list, for instance? Would it be worth contacting them?

Best,
Axel


Fra: Derek Williams [mailto:mail at change.org]
Sendt: 15. november 2012 02:05
Til: Axel Teich Geertinger
Emne: Update about "Avid Technology: Sell Sibelius!"


This message is from Derek Williams who started the petition "Avid Technology: Sell Sibelius!," which you signed on Change.org.

________________________________

Dear Save Sibelius petitioner,

This petition together with your individual comments, was printed out and handed over to the new Head of Sibelius, Bobby Lombardi at the specially convened BASCA meeting on 3rd October 2012.

However, with the announcement last Friday 9th November that the Sibelius development team has miraculously survived in one piece and is now safely in the employ of Steinberg in London, the campaign to persuade Avid Technology to divest itself of Sibelius has perforce come to an end. With no development team left, it is highly unlikely anyone will have interest in buying just the source code of Sibelius. As of now, aside from the feature-slim version 8 which was already prepared by the sacked development team for release next year, Sibelius is therefore effectively defunct. This petition is therefore now closed.

This news will of course be received with mixed feelings. On the one hand we are delighted that Daniel Spreadbury and the last 10 of the original Sibelius development team have been retained intact to develop a new, standalone music notation application, which will without question, become the new world leader, soon to displace both Sibelius and Finale. On the other, we are left clinging to the carcass of Sibelius, that until July 2012 had been the world's leading music scoring application, and in which we have all substantially invested financially, artistically and in learning.

Once again, the consumer has lost heavily to high flying corporate avarice, where malpractice goes unpunished, while ineptitude and abject failure are incomprehensibly and staggeringly rewarded. This is completely the wrong environment for ubiquitous resources like music scoring and recording software.

I believe our concern should now be to directed to preventing this from happening yet again. Even though Steinberg is a reputable company with a first class track record in innovation and development, it too was taken over by Yamaha. Yamaha itself of course also has impeccable credentials as innovator of MIDI and manufacturer of products of high quality, but what will happen if a company like Avid monsters them too?

It is highly tempting to throw our support unquestioningly behind Steinberg's bold enterprise, but personally, I can only recommend this if at least the score file format is made open source, even if the application itself remains proprietary. The easiest way to achieve this for now would simply be to extend the already powerful Music XML file format so as to append all the feature assets of the new application as and when they are added.

If this is not going to be the case, then I consider that the long term interests of music composers and arrangers will be better served by a separate initiative to create a new open source application broadly modelled on the feature set of Sibelius, but entirely independent of any corporation.

Speaking for myself, I am not willing to waste any more time and money, continually buying and learning different applications of duplicate functionality, just to do something I could already do on Sibelius, and could already do forty years ago with pen and paper. Paradoxically, I can still open and read my forty year old paper scores, yet I can't open scores written on a music application in the 1990's. Scoring applications are of value to me only if I get to keep my work, and I don't have to keep starting over every time a company like Avid loses interest in its customers or goes bust.

I can only hope that Steinberg will insure longevity by adopting an open format for score files, so that I can comfortably and safely participate in their new application with our friends from Sibelius.

On behalf of the Save Sibelius team, I would like to place on record our deep appreciation for your support in signing this petition. Even though Avid won its fight against its customers in the short term, the Avid board at least know that we didn't go quietly. If Steinberg's initiative proves successful however, then in the long run, it will be a win for us all, because the Sibelius development team are now free to create cutting edge notation software for the 21st Century.

Derek Williams

www.sibeliususers.org<http://www.sibeliususers.org?utm_source=supporter_message&utm_medium=email>
www.savesibelius.com<http://www.savesibelius.com?utm_source=supporter_message&utm_medium=email>

________________________________

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