Sibelius

What Sibelius does

Sibelius is a music notation software product developed and distributed by Avid Technology, serving composers, arrangers, musicians, and music engravers who need to create, edit, and publish musical scores in both digital and printed form. Originally developed by Sibelius Software Ltd (founded 1986 in the United Kingdom), the product has been part of Avid's portfolio since the 2016 acquisition, and is now operated as a standalone application under the Avid brand rather than as a modular platform. As a single-product offering, Sibelius provides dedicated notation functionality — score input, editing, playback, and engraving — and is distributed alongside Avid's broader professional audio and media production ecosystem (which includes Pro Tools).

Name

Sibelius

Website

https://sibelius.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Sibelius is a music notation software product owned by Avid Technology that enables composers, arrangers, and engravers to create, edit, and publish digital and printed musical scores as a standalone application.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music Notation Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Music Notation & Scoring Software (MPAIAIAE)

Keywords

• Music notation software
• Score composition tools
• Music engraving software
• Digital sheet music
• Music publishing software

Headquarters

HQ city

Edwardstown

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Core offering

Sibelius is a professional music notation software application that allows composers, arrangers, engravers, and musicians to create, edit, and publish musical scores in both digital and printed form. The product is sold as a standalone desktop application distributed by Avid and is positioned as a dedicated notation tool rather than a modular platform. It serves professional and educational users who need precise score layout, playback, and publishing capabilities.

Product overview

Sibelius is a single unified notation software product offered by Avid. It serves as a dedicated music composition and notation tool, providing musicians, composers, and engravers with the ability to create, edit, and publish musical scores. The product exists as a standalone application rather than a platform with modular components.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sibelius notation software

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves1 record

Broad incumbents

• Cubase (Steinberg): Cubase is Steinberg's flagship DAW and includes a built-in score editor; while primarily a production tool rather than a dedicated notation product, it competes for the same composers' budgets and workflow share as Sibelius.
• Logic Pro (Apple): Logic Pro is Apple's professional DAW and includes score editing capabilities; it competes with Sibelius on macOS-based composer workflows and represents an incumbent alternative bundled with the Apple ecosystem.
• Avid Pro Tools: Pro Tools is Avid's flagship DAW and Sibelius's sister product under the same parent; it bundles light notation features and competes for the same film/TV composer budget share that Sibelius targets.

Direct peers

• MuseScore: MuseScore is a widely used open-source notation application that serves students, hobbyists, and even some professionals as a free alternative to Sibelius, putting price-led pressure on the lower end of Sibelius's market.
• Finale (MakeMusic / Momentus): Finale was Sibelius's historical arch-rival in professional notation; it remains the most direct category rival and overlaps almost entirely on feature set, target users, and use cases.
• Dorico: Dorico is Steinberg's professional music notation software, competing head-to-head with Sibelius among composers, arrangers, and engravers on engraving quality, playback, and workflow — the closest 1:1 product substitute.

Emerging players

• Noteflight: Noteflight is a web-based music notation and composition platform focused on education publishers, schools, and individual composers; it overlaps with Sibelius on notation editing and publishing use cases from a cloud-native angle.
• Flat: Flat.io is a browser-based collaborative notation platform targeting music education and ensemble use; it competes with Sibelius on accessibility and collaboration while leaning into the EdTech segment Sibelius also serves.
• LilyPond: LilyPond is an open-source text-based engraving system used by composers who want scriptable, high-quality output; it serves an overlapping user base with Sibelius, especially engravers and academic users.

Others

• music21 (MIT): music21 is a Python-based toolkit for computational music analysis and symbolic music processing; while not a notation editor, it is thematically adjacent and serves a subset of musicologists and developers who would otherwise work in Sibelius.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/avid
• Facebookfacebook.com/avidsibelius
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sibelius-for

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sibelius