Sibelius Compass shortlisted for a coveted BETT award 2005

Sibelius Software is proud to announce that its market leading Sibelius Compass composing programme has been short listed for one of the most sought after awards in the education industry: a BETT Award 2005 in the secondary software tools and content category. Compass fought off tough competition from a variety of educational software and hardware suppliers from across the country to be short-listed for this prestigious accolade, which has become renowned among teaching communities across the world for setting the standards in Information Communication Technology (ICT).

Sibelius Compass, which was first announced at last years BETT, is a unique programme designed to help students learn how to compose. It covers all of the topics associated with successful composition including melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, texture and form. These lead on to complete composition projects, allowing students to write and play back their own pieces.

Sibelius CEO Jeremy Silver commented: "We are delighted to be shortlisted for this prestigious award. Developing Sibelius Compass has been an exciting project for us, allowing us to combine our experience in composition with our new sequencing technology. We have been very pleased by the positive reaction of music teachers to this innovative, inspirational and practical way to teach music composition."

The Awards, one of the many highlights of the BETT 2005 education technology show (12-15 January 2005, Olympia, London, www.bettshow.co.uk), are run by EMAP Education, in association with the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), EC&T magazine and the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta).

Ray Barker, Director of BESA and Joint Chair of the Judges, comments: "The BETT Awards provide that much needed link between the ICT industry and the teaching community. The BETT Awards also play a key role in demonstrating how ICT can be embedded into subjects across the curriculum. The year-on-year rise in entries illustrates how important the BETT Awards have become in the eyes of teachers and suppliers alike."

The BETT Awards, launched six years ago, have become the benchmark for ICT product development. The awards recognise and reward creativity, innovation and commitment in developing the highest quality and most effective educational ICT resources. The winners of the BETT Awards 2005 will be announced at the BETT Awards Gala Dinner on 11 th January 2005.

Notes to editors

About Sibelius Software Ltd (Sibelius):

• Sibelius is the world's market leader in the music software business, with 17 music products for the professional, educational and home user, ranging from Internet publishing to guitar software.
• Sibelius has customers in over 100 countries.
• Sibelius is used in 50% of schools in the UK , Australia and New Zealand.
• Leading music companies such as Yamaha, Boosey & Hawkes and Hal Leonard all use Sibelius technology and it is endorsed by the Royal Academy of Music.
• Famous Sibelius users include: Steve Reich, Michael Tilson Thomas and John Rutter.
• Sibelius is headquartered in London , UK , with its US subsidiary Sibelius USA Inc in California.