Sibelius vs. Spotify for Podcasters

It is simply easy to use and serves the function that it needs to serve. Once you get the hang of the basic functionality and a few of the keyboard shortcuts, it will be extremely easy and quick to write out music. The option to go back and transpose to another key without writing the whole thing out again is crucial.

Incentivized

Anchor is great for getting started with podcasting. It makes getting started in the space really accessible to anyone with a smartphone. It seems to work great for individuals and small businesses. There are probably better options for more established brands out there, as Anchor does limit some of your options, but for those getting started or those that don't have needs beyond Anchor's limitations, I would highly recommend it over the competition.

Incentivized

• Once you get the hang of it, it will be faster than writing by hand.
• Very easy to transpose and write out band arrangements.
• "search" tool is very useful for figuring out what tool you need in each specific situation.

Incentivized

• Podcasting Hosting and Distribution Solution: Anchor offers a great solution for hosting and distributing podcasts to various platforms and provides you with the RSS Feed which you can add to supported platforms.
• Recording Facility: Anchor has features to help you record podcast episodes without any special equipment or much technical knowledge. It even allows guests to record together remotely.
• Editing: Anchor has a workflow available that allows arranging various parts and recordings of the podcast and allows adding elements like advertisements, music, sound effects, etc.

Incentivized

• Barrier to entry could be a bit lower.
• Options for types of arrangements are somewhat limited and the interface is a bit convoluted.

Incentivized

• As with many help systems, the search results can always be more precise to the query. Not a deal-breaker by any means.
• More guided tutorials to help the new podcaster get going with a little less trial and error.
• Live chat support would be awesome.

Incentivized

Once Sibelius is purchased, the user is given one year of unlimited free customer service to help in using the product. After that first year, users can either pay to utilize customer service with questions or use online helps, which are very helpful. One of the bigger issues I had was getting the sounds to work properly because my Internet connection wasn't consistently working well enough to accommodate the large files, which were taking up to 10 hours to download. The download would fail, and then I'd have to start over. I wanted to get a CD sent to me but was told this would be very costly, and so I declined. I wasn't happy with the lack of customer service in that situation but was eventually able to get the files to download and the software working properly.

Incentivized

I have not used Finale exclusively, but I know friends/colleagues who have. In the past, it was complicated to transfer and edit any of the music they created for me because it would not transfer to Sibelius. As a result, I would have to request the edits I wanted and ask them to make the changes themselves. If I wanted to make any changes later, it was extremely inconvenient to do so, and I often chose not to, as I did not want to bother anyone other than myself to do any edits after-the-fact. Though it is now possible to transfer Finale files to Sibelius through creating .xml files and then importing as .sib files, the files still do not entirely retain all of the integrity of the original composition (as completed in Finale). Sometimes text and markings are missing, microscopic, or shifted once opened in Sibelius. Text fonts must often be edited. When working with other major music publishers, it has been extremely convenient and helpful to have the same software.

Incentivized

We selected Anchor because of the known branding with Spotify and the built-in audience. It was also one of the first search results when trying to learn about producing a podcast, which made it easy to find and get started. We don't even need to use GarageBand to capture audio with the Anchor app and other resources for getting podcast content ready to go.

Incentivized

• Digital files are easily distributed to customers/no shipping costs.
• Collaboration with other sheet music retailers has been established and maintained.

Incentivized

• Minimize the time our clients require to find the resources and help they are looking for.
• Maximize my support teams' time by having users self serve themselves with the information in our audio files.
• Free usage of the service, via both web and mobile apps.
• Excellent audio quality and streaming support.

Incentivized