Sibelius 8 Academic for Students and Teachers

This review is from a full-time PhD student in music theory with a background in composition. I used Sibelius early in my college career and have used Finale for several years at subsequent institutions.The program Sibelius itself is excellent. Super user-friendly. I actually like this version better than Finale so far.The PROCESS of getting Sibelius on my laptop, however, was unreasonably time consuming (30+ hours).I expected the download card to arrive Friday afternoon. It did. I also expected to be able to use Sibelius later that day. Wrong. I was unable to use this program until Sunday. Afternoon. The process of downloading the program consumed an entire weekend that I could have used to compose. Fortunately, my university is on a quarter system, so we don't start back up for another couple weeks, but I seriously have no idea how I would have downloaded this program if I were in the middle of a term.Some tips to make the download process go as smoothly as possible:1. Downloading Sibelius Installer took my computer on my internet 4-6 hours. However, it took me closer to 12 hours total because I tried to do it overnight and didn't realize that my laptop would terminate the download if it went into sleep mode (as it is programmed to do automatically after a certain amount of time). So, be prepared for downloading just the Installer to take several hours and MAKE SURE your computer is set to NEVER go to sleep or shut down while plugged in or on battery.2. Downloading Sibelius Sounds took my computer on my internet almost 24 hours. No joke. A process of that length is not one you can afford to restart, so aside from a few short errands, I hung out by my computer ALL DAY to make sure nothing interrupted the download process. Other reviews have also cautioned that the sound files take the longest. Heed their advice.The process for activating the purchase was less than straightforward, which is especially frustrating when you've already handed over a lot of money for the product. As a customer, I should not have to jump through hoops to get something I've already paid for, especially something I've invested that much of my money in. As a budget-tight grad student, there are few worse feelings than wondering if you're actually going to be able to use something on which you've spent something equivalent to a month and half's worth of groceries. I understand Avid's need to be cautious, but I would love for Avid to make the download and activation process crystal clear and more efficient.All that being said, verifying that I was a student was actually way easier than I thought it would be. Initially they warn that it can take up to two business days to process the verification (! again, I don't think it's too much to want to be able to use the program the day your download card arrives), but fortunately they were able to verify my student status very quickly through my school email address.If I were just rating the program, I'd give it 4.5 to 5 stars, but the process of downloading it was unruly. I hope they are able to make the process of downloading and activating the program more user-friendly and, if possible, less time-intensive.So, I definitely recommend the program, but be prepared for downloading it to take a day or two.

I love the product - no issue with Sibelius. But, having downloaded the product advertised, I can tell you it is NOT SIBELIUS 8!!! My Avid account recognized the product as 7.5, which is not the edition advertised. Overall I'm not gutted about it, since there aren't that many new essential features in 8 versus 7.5, but even so I think people should avoid this particular product if they explicitly want Sibelius 8 for its annotation features etc.

This is my first real music writing software purchase. It is not very easy to figure out. YouTube video was helpful. It can be improved in the future with the touch screen. I found much easier app for iPad for free (first 10 song). And the files are too big. It slowed my computer quite a bit.

The download process was absurdly difficult. I have a brand new macbook pro, and it took hours to sort it out with tech support. The software was poorly designed for direct downloading. The software itself is okay once it's installed on one's computer.

The package includes only a download code. When I entered the download code, I was asked for information to verify academic eligibility. I received an email stating that I was approved and was given both a academic eligibility verification code and a new download code. The new download code does not work and I am still emailing back and forth with Customer service to figure out the problem. Their technical support has not been helpful. We chose Sibelius because that is what my daughter used in school, so once we get it downloaded, then I am optimistic that the program will work out just fine. I think the problem is with the downloading instructions.

This product performed easier and better than the previous Sibelius 7

Found this program, more intuitive and much easier to use than Finale. Especially liked the tutorials.

last version you can install on a computer. It works great!