Musescore is a scam

• Mar 14, 2020 - 05:50

by the title you can tell exactly because only free users like us understand

omg they say the compositions and all the sheet musics are legit free and they promised for it, look what's happening next... when you tries to download a music as midi, it keeps showing you and forces you to use 30-day trial.

What a scam... please remove this site

Comments

• Oct 23, 2022 - 23:07

I agree it's awfully presented, but your subscription should be cancellable if you log in to musescore.com then click your username in the top right, Settings, Subscription in the far left, then the white button "End my benefits" in the middle of the weird advertisement page, next to "Next payment".

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• Mar 14, 2020 - 14:25

To aid understanding...

The musescore.org site is for questions about the MuseScore editor software itself - the free, open source desktop software, along with its support and documentation.

The musescore.com site is for posting, sharing, and discussing MS notated scores; it is also for discussing the mobile apps.
Please check the url address in your browser to verify where you are posting.

Complaining at .org (here) about a latent conflagration at .com is like spotting a possible fire and then speed dialing ....the pizza delivery guy.
Simply put: it ain't gonna help.

Also, see:
https://musescore.org/en/node/302295
which explains more about "downloads".

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• Oct 24, 2020 - 09:06

@musicgenius118
If you explain "this stuff" in a bit more detail, someone may be able to help you. Remember that these forums on musescore.org offer support for the MuseScore free desktop notation software.

And if you are concerned about publishing scores on the MuseScore website or a MuseScore subscription plan, that's covered on musescore.com where you can try the forum there:
https://musescore.com/groups/improving-musescore-com

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• Nov 7, 2020 - 06:18

I would say it's fair, All this music at your finger tips sounds too good to be true if it's free. I would say a pro subscription is way worth the cost.

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• Jan 19, 2021 - 13:21

I'll second the scam claim, don't hand over your credit card details!
I recently trialled this service for 30 days free just to see what it could be used for - I only used it once the first time I logged in. When I needed to cancel my trial a few weeks later I found that my login credentials would not work on the site (like come-on, my details were saved into my browser ffs). After this I contacted their support team and they said they couldn't find my details, but while the "customer support" case was pending for the next days, my credit card was charged for a yearly fee of 65AUD. I asked musescore to refund me, clearly I was neither able to use or cancel the service without functional login details, and the rep had the cheek to say I was not entitled to my money back! This business absolutely stinks of a scam.

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• Jan 19, 2021 - 21:32

Well possible. That program was/is a scam, supporting theft, simply criminal.
Still nothing to do with musescore.org ot ther MuseScore program, nor with users not reading the fine print and entering their credit card number somewhere, forgetting the logon credentials. and then complaining, and on the wrong site to the wrong people.

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• Jan 19, 2021 - 21:20

I know this might not help, but I feel compelled to try and clear things up.

There are two different websites: musescore.org, where you are now, and musescore.com, that jerrychinyong and amberads are complaining about. This site - musescore.org - deals only with the program that you download and run on your computer that creates sheet music. The site that you two are referring to - musescore.com - hosts sheet music created with the computer program. While they're somewhat connected, they're not the same.

MuseScore the computer program is most certainly not a scam, as it's great for creating sheet music, and I've been using it for over ten years. There is no cost for the program, the full version is and always has been free. The website musescore.com is for hosting sheet music, and is also not a scam. Granted, the way they deal with those sheets has changed, but that doesn't make it a scam. In the beginning every piece of music there was free to download in several formats, but music publishers and copyright holders threw a hissy fit about infringement, so now most of it is locked behind a yearly subscription. If you want to download the sheets, you have to pay the fee and be a pro member. I see that you're upset jerrychinyong, but it had to change. It was either put it behind a subscription or take it all offline. At least this way it's not all completely gone, and you still have access if you're willing to pay the subscription.

As for the problem you had amberads, I can't speak to that, but I can say that you're not complaining in the right place. The forum users and admins over here at musescore.org can't do anything about your issue.

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• Jan 19, 2021 - 22:20

Thank you for clarifying, although it's a shame you had to. I love MScore and am amazed at the functionality for a freeware program. I went to the Donate page and was almost disappointed that you don't (can't) accept direct monetary donations. I've done so much with this program, I feel like I owe you at least something. Keep up the great work. This is phenomenal.

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• Jan 19, 2021 - 22:07

Why do we have crap like this in the bug report forum? This is for serious discussions about problems with Musescore, not dumb rants about copyright issues on Musescore.com. Musescore is about as non-scammy as you can get; you pay nothing to download something that is made from time donated by people who want to improve the product the product because they want more out of it.

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• Jan 19, 2021 - 22:25

Why? Because shipwrecked sailors don't choose the beach they rack up on. People come here with complaints about the other site because the difference between the two is "known only to the initiated", i.e., subtle and not at all obvious, and there seems no interest in doing anything about it. And the copyright/download policies and what-is-public-and-what-is-not issues of the .com site are a total mess. "PD" means "I'm arranging a PD song", for one. People come here irate because they are confused by both sites. Happens every single day.

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• Jan 19, 2021 - 22:11

@jerrychinyong:

I only have a free account and have found many, many scores available for free download – I guess that they are all public domain scores. I only ever download the MuseScore file format but you can export as MIDI from the free desktop software.

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• Mar 18, 2021 - 15:52

I'd like to add my comments to this as well, the site is shady, and i have only one reason, i just signed up for the 30 day free trial, and put my card info in. If i were to cancel my sub right now i lose my next 29 days of free trial. They do this so that if i forget to cancel the day before, they will charge me for a year of Musescore, thats a pretty scumy move.

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• Mar 18, 2021 - 22:18

You mean you read through this thread, realized you're on the wrong site here (.org vs .com) but still chose to respond here?
If you'd indeed loose your next 29 days when cancelling, then that would be a new policy as last year you could cancel the very next day, but still use the full trial period.

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• Sep 14, 2021 - 01:45

Musecore is NOT A SCAM and any one who thinks it is has been scammed by a completely different enterprise - NOT BY MUSECORE.ORG. Musescore is an excellent scoring program and its free!!

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• Nov 26, 2021 - 20:02

So why did the MuseScore organization sell the name and logo rights to MuseScore.com?

I've been a supporter of the MuseScore organization and software for many years. MuseScore.com just double-charged me and won't issue a refund for the extra. I call that a scam! To be honest, I trusted the company because I've trusted the open source project all these years. They use the same logos (I'm assuming that's with permission and/or payment). Sure, I'm a fool for not googling MuseScore.COM reviews (red flags all over the place), but I don't see how the organization can deny all connection to a company with sketchy practices, when it gave permission for the company to use its intellectual property. I think the MuseScore.org website should have much clearer messaging that the two are different entities. You can get annoyed at confused and frustrated users posting in your forum, but it will continue as long as the two entities are undifferentiated to the casual user.

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• Nov 27, 2021 - 00:40

Thank you, Soichi. I thought I remembered a notice about money changing hands, and hoping it was for the best. It felt a little icky because I'd donated a lot over the previous years to support the project, but I couldn't blame the creators and runners for wanting security. Most importantly, it explains why there is a stain of unscrupulous business practices on this community. Very disappointing.

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• Jan 23, 2022 - 23:26

As soon as I added the legato lines, after I'd saved the file the notes on my first page had "moved" to page 2 and was unable to fix it the 2nd time it had happened. While their tech support corrected it, one of them ALSO changed the key on my piece . . . messing with someone else's creativity is NEVER a good thing. Was also told to change the doc file name often, something I've yet had to come across. Will be using another brand of software as of tomorrow. Aside from what happened to me yesterday with this, there's not enough room for legato lines, dynamics and the words to the choral part of my piece.

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• Jan 24, 2022 - 00:28

Your post is irrelevant to this thread.
Your post is irrelevant to this website (this is the user support forum for the free software, not the score sharing site).

You allude to problems you had with a score which was of your own doing. Several people - ordinary users willing to help, not TECH SUPPORT - stepped in to help you. One piece of advice was to save your work regularly with different filenames - that way if you make a mistake or a file error occurs you can roll back to a recent version without too much loss of work. You were not TOLD to do this, it was just sensible advice, freely given.

As for messing with you CREATIVITY by changing the key signature, that was just a mistake. All the notes were still there in their original pitch and all that needed done was to re-insert the key signature. Nothing about the piece was actually changed - well, apart from FIXING your errors.

Good luck with your new software. Please use the same username in their forums so that we can see how well you are doing.

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• Jan 24, 2022 - 00:32

Okay, first off, there's no technical support for MuseScore. The person who helped you is a user of the forums just like you and me, they don't work for MuseScore.

Secondly, I looked at the thread that you're referring to (https://musescore.org/en/node/328693), and the person helping you appears to say that they deleted the first measure, then added a fresh first measure, and then added your music back into it. That would probably be the reason for the key change.

So a normal person that frequents the forums fixed something you had screwed up, and your response is to come over to this long post, trash them, and declare that you're leaving a free piece of software.

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• Apr 5, 2022 - 15:26

I started with MuseScore because it suited my needs to provide legible scores for my Choir members to use during service and it helps me to easily have separate ones for singers and accompanist. I'm happy to be a paying member for the downloads available for pieces that I'd like to use not only for church service but to customize for volunteer retirement/assisted/nursing home entertainment "gigs". My payments help support continued development of the application... even if I choose to stay with a 2.x version due to familiarity and simplicity.

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• May 1, 2022 - 04:30

yes I beleive this is extremely close to scam. I have tried to contact the sight but the contact link only brings up a blank screen.
for all the thousands of sheet music they claim to have available, on first attempt only one of several numbers I was seeking is available, but can not be downloaded or printed.
I bought in to this in early Jan this year, and shortly after every thing in my life got twisted around so to day was the first chance I have had to try again. Mostly the same anything I want is not available to download or print.
I wasted $ 30 US on this and get nothing. I consider that a scam!

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• May 25, 2022 - 06:06

...it kind of implies the scores are more valuable than the software, which isn't how I see it.

Okay, but...
That's not how the music publishers and copyright holders see it. That's mainly why Wikifonia* met its demise, which prompted Thomas to create the musescore.com business model, spinning it off of musescore.org.
So...
You can always get a free mug at .org and BYOB (create your own scores); or get some free samples (PD scores) at .com; or pay .com for the premium stuff. Party on! :-)

*Wikifonia, see: https://www.standaard.be/cnt/gb2143ppq

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• May 1, 2022 - 21:10

It's possible there was a temporary site glitch when you clicked the contact link, but it has always worked for me, and it worked for me when I tried it just now. So instead of calling it a scam just because there may have been a temporary internet glitch, I'd recommend simply trying again, and then politely and respectfully explain to the support personnel why you have changed your mind about the subscription you signed up for. It's certainly possible they'll offer you options, But definitely, expressing your regret over your choices over here won't help.

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• May 25, 2022 - 11:25

"What a scam... please remove this site..."

"Scam". I do not think it means what you think it means.
I'm contributing to MS with a membership. Please DO NOT "remove this site".

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• Dec 24, 2022 - 06:16

I went there and in 3 mins I knew I had no reason to be there could not cancel , then my credit card got blocked and then they charged my other credit card $70 - they do not respond to my request to cancel and refund my card....very upset, bad company, wish they would respond

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• Jan 23, 2023 - 23:07

Agree! Same exact situation. I signed up for the 7 day trial and they immediately charged me on day 1! And they just say they will give me a 25% discount or add six months to the subscription. No... they should make it right.

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• Jan 24, 2023 - 00:20

yeah there's many of us that doesn't like that... but there's nothing we can do about it.
if you don't like it, go away, i don't mind about it, i just like to listen to arragements and compositions of people
and... this is not a very good place to talk about it... support and bug reports??
and go to musescore.com to talk about it, not here

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