Sibelius Internet Edition FAQ

A special new version of Sibelius called Sibelius Internet Edition, which provides various special features including online printing security and e-commerce.

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I don't intend to sell printouts on the Internet, but can I still make use of Sibelius online?

Yes, you can provide:

print-disabled scores for customers to view and play back on the Internet or on CD-ROM
'music minus one' scores for customers to practice or sing along to, e.g. the piano accompaniment of an instrumental piece, a karaoke backing track, or the other voices in a choir
print-on-demand services (e.g. to mail one-off scores to customers)
coursework, distance learning and library archives to view and print
free scores for special promotions
digital archiving

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Advantages over other methods

What's the advantage of putting scores online with Sibelius Internet Edition?

'People anywhere in the world can view, play and print scores instantly and securely from your web site, and even change the key and instrument of the music. If you publish music online using Sibelius Internet Edition you'll have no printing, stocking or distribution costs, and much-reduced production and marketing costs.

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What's wrong with putting PDF/TIFF/GIFF/BMP/JPEG files of scores online?

They don't play back, they can't be transposed, you can't change the instruments, they are tens or hundreds of times larger than Sibelius files (so they take far longer to download), and they are insecure (they can easily be copied without authorization).

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What's wrong with putting MIDI files of scores online?

MIDI files play back but they can't be viewed, transposed or printed unless the customer has a program which can turn them into notation; even then the notation produced is crude and omits many musical markings. Also, MIDI files are completely insecure.

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Internet publishing for individuals

I already use Sibelius but I'm not a publisher. Can I publish my scores on the Internet?

Yes - you can offer them (for playback or free printout) from your own site, or go to our sister site SibeliusMusic.com to sell or give away your Sibelius & Finale scores.

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I'm a teacher and I want to put coursework online for my students. Will I be able to do this?

Yes - either on your own web site or on our sister site SibeliusMusic.com.

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I've heard that the standard Sibelius is not licensed for commercial Internet use. What counts as commercial use?

If you're an individual using Sibelius/Scorch to provide free playback, printouts or downloads (even if you sell scores by mail order), we treat it as non-commercial use, so you're OK.

If you're an organisation of any kind then we treat using Scorch on a publicly accessible web site (or CD-ROMs) as commercial use - please contact us about getting a commercial license. The only exceptions are schools, colleges and universities, who may use Sibelius/Scorch freely for coursework.

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Printing

How good is the print quality when printing online?

It's exactly the same top publication quality as from Sibelius itself. The only constraint is the resolution of the customer's printer, but most domestic printers are more than satisfactory for music printing.

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What kinds of music can be printed?

Virtually anything, from rock to avant garde music and from guitar tab to full orchestral scores. For practical purposes the most suitable scores are shorter ones such as songs, keyboard music, solo pieces and parts, because they don't need to be bound or double-sided. In the next few years printers which print double-sided and bind will become widespread (they are already starting to be used by bookstores to print books on demand).

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Can customers print double-sided?

Almost all printers are designed for single-sided printing and may jam if the pages are fed back in to print the reverse side, so we only recommend customers print single-sided. Scores of up to a few pages (e.g. songs, parts, keyboard music, solo pieces) are ideal for single-sided printing anyway, because you can put the pages side-by-side on a music stand without having to turn.

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Putting existing scores on the internet

I've already got lots of scores in other file formats (e.g. Finale, Score, Sibelius 7). Can I publish these on the Internet?

Yes - file converters for Finale, SCORE, Allegro, PrintMusic and the Acorn Sibelius programs are now included with Sibelius.

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I've got various scores printed which I don't have computer files for. Can I get those on the Internet?

Yes - Sibelius Internet Edition includes scanning so you can quickly convert your existing printed scores into Sibelius format.

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Can I scan handwritten scores into Sibelius Internet Edition?

The accuracy is not good enough for practical purposes (even if the handwriting appears to be very neat). This is not surprising, as reading handwriting accurately is currently beyond the ability of text OCR programs, let alone music!

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Can I distribute scores on CD-ROM?

Yes. Using Sibelius Internet Edition, you can provide scores on CD-ROM for customers to view and play; if they want to print, they are automatically taken online so they can pay on your web site. Sibelius files are so small that you can fit over 50,000 scores on one CD-ROM! This means publishers can give away their entire catalog on CD instead of a printed catalog; customers can view and play the scores securely, and only pay for those scores they want to print.

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Security

Once someone has paid for a score, how do you stop them printing lots of copies or emailing the score to other people?

Every printout is individually authorized so people can't print multiple copies without permission or pass on a printable file. In addition, Scorch prevents customers creating PDF files or printing to file.

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Can I control whether the music can be played, or how much of it can be played?

Yes - Sibelius Internet Edition lets you specify which bars are played, set the duration of playback (e.g. 30 seconds), or switch playback off entirely. These settings can be different in each score.

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I don't want people to be able to change key/instruments - can I control this?

Yes - Sibelius Internet Edition lets you set this in each score independently. If you let customers change instruments, you can even set the list of instruments the customer can choose from.

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Miscellaneous

How long do Sibelius scores take to download?

Typically just 2 seconds! This is because Sibelius files are so small (around 15K for typical scores of a few pages).

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How good does playback sound?

Playback uses MIDI, normally through the customer's soundcard. The quality of MIDI sounds depends on the customer's equipment, but most recent computers have good soundcards and produce surprisingly effective playback. Scorch plays back using the correct instrumental sounds with stereo and reverb. It reads musical markings such as dynamics and tempo marks, and can also adjust Sibelius' Espressivo and swing features to make playback even more realistic.

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Our web site already has e-commerce. Can we use it to sell sheet music online?

Yes. Sibelius Internet Edition is compatible with virtually any e-commerce system and payment method.

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How much does Sibelius Internet Edition cost?

Sibelius Internet Edition is licensed, not sold. The charges depend on your monthly volume of Internet sales, so that it is affordable for everyone from low-volume users to large publishers. Updates and technical support are included in the cost. Click here for more details.

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How do I find out more?

Click here for details.

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This page last updated 4 November 2001.