What professionals say about Sibelius 7

What professionals say about Sibelius 6 and earlier versions

“Sibelius 5 represents a significant leap forward; this wonderful music notation program just keeps on advancing.”

“... this new version is characterised by speed of operation, ease of use and superb print quality”

“A revelation... Far from being obtuse, within minutes you’re running through a tutorial that has you rewriting Scott Joplin piano rags. Sibelius 5 may well be the best piece of software I have ever reviewed.”

“Sequencer? Score notator? Sound Library? Sibelius 5 is an excellent educational tool, brimming with useful resources. Look out for Ideas Hub, a collection of "oven ready" musical ideas which can be augmented by users' own material and tagged for instant retrieval, and Sibelius Sounds Essentials, a premium selection of sound samples.”

“[Sibelius 5 is] an essential upgrade packed with innovation and improvement.”

“Sibelius 5 is recommended to all. For flexibility, ease of use and quality, I have found nothing to beat it. I welcome this new upgrade with open arms, knowing that my job has just become a little easier.”

"Sibelius has found even more ways to give musicians the freedom to write music without technical worries. These fantastic new features make Sibelius 5 well worth the investment for composers, teachers and musicians alike."

"For a teacher this program is a dream come true.... Composer, performer, teacher or student, there will be something in Sibelius 5 to delight the musician in you."

Overall rating: 4.5/5

"Full marks to Sibelius...Ideas Hub is an indispensably brilliant tool... Panorama is a truly beautiful way of working on a score... An essential upgrade."

"If you’re not already using Sibelius... Well, you’ve only yourself to blame!"

"What is there to say in praise of Sibelius that hasn't been said before?"

"Sibelius 5 is a first class piece of software... an outstanding program"

"The Ideas Hub is fantastic! I've been wanting this feature in every piece of music software I've ever used." Ronan Macdonald (Editor)

Verdict: 10/10

"The Ideas Hub is well-implemented and should prove popular with teachers as a means of kick-starting the composition process... The audio engine is well worth the upgrade price alone"

“Writing music – and hearing it played back – in what is generally considered to be the best score-writing software on the market is, without question, an absolute pleasure”

“It never ceases to amaze us how the company manages to cram so many new features into the program and yet still retain the overall sense of elegance and simplicity to use.”

Overall rating: 9/10 

"If you need to produce musical scores and you care about their presentation, Sibelius is the software to use. [Sibelius 5's] improved playback quality means there's little reason to consider using anything else."

"Sibelius remains by far the more accessible program to newcomers, and it still boasts an extensive list of elegantly implemented features."

Finale 2004 and Sibelius 3.1: Rival Music-Notation Packages Go Head-to-Head

"The program is as elegantly designed as it is powerful."

"The manual is one of the best I've ever seen: it's well written, well organized, comprehensive, and thoroughly indexed."

"Make no mistake: Sibelius's feature set is fully professional."

The magazine for the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters

"If you haven't seen Sibelius yet, then you should - it is likely to change your musical life."

"If you're buying a notation package for the first time, you'll not find anything better than Sibelius."

"Sibelius is the Rolls Royce of music notation: fast, smooth, easy to use, and prints beautiful sheet music. Buy with confidence and enjoy."

"Sibelius is beautifully put together. Everything about it exudes class... it is very user-friendly and produces excellent results... the ultimate professional scoring package and first choice for composers and notators alike"

"Sibelius's automatic Arrange and Espressivo features, coupled with its chord charts, will prove a boon for music students... The guitar notation, chord symbols, and tablature features are the best you'll find... Highly recommended."

"Composers have spent enormous amounts of their time over the centuries simply inking out their music… [Sibelius] saves so much time, they could use it to write from scratch or produce a final copy or extract orchestral parts… saving maybe 50% of their time"

"Most composers find they are writing twice as much music as in their pre-Sibelius days… The only pity is that Sibelius wasn't around to benefit the great composers. Mozart would surely have completed his Requiem before pegging out, Puccini likewise with Turandot, and Schubert's Eighth would not now be called the Unfinished."

The UK's best-selling music technology magazine Computer Music has twice awarded Sibelius a 10 out of 10 rating and its Ultimate Buy Award

"The king of professional scoring packages"

"Sibelius swept the board in our scoring software group test"

"If Mozart had something like this, we would have 10 times the symphonies we have"

"The industry standard for professional sheet music production"

"I can't help being very impressed… an extremely sophisticated and powerful notation program, but in spite of this it was child's play to learn and use"

"It is rare to encounter any piece of software which is this much of a pleasure to work with, and I would thoroughly recommend Sibelius… If you don't try it before choosing a notation package, I reckon you'll end up kicking yourself"

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"I could eulogise for hours about just how fulfilling Sibelius is to use. Watching the excitement of my pupils when they use it for the first time is proof enough"

"Thanks to Sibelius, the world of composing and publishing has changed for ever"

The professional composer/arranger's favourite. Speed of use coupled with the sophistication of its features has won it admirers in all fields of musical endeavour"

"The guitar notation, chord symbols and tablature features are the best you will find anywhere, and the new automatic Arrange features make it possible for anyone to get started with ease"