The original version of this page can be found at : http://forum.makemusic.com/default.aspx?f=23&m=160695
| Posted By : jamaroney - 8/23/2006 10:32 AM | |
As a college vocal music instructor, I am most frustrated with SmartMusic over their lack of new classical and musical theatre vocal music selections. Since I started using SmartMusic 8 years ago, to the best of my knowledge there has been NO major additions to their classical/theatre vocal repertoire. Why do they keep saying that new accompaniments are constantly being added when they're not (at least in this most significant field)? And their repertoire is rather limited, with notable absences. For example, I suggested to them years ago that they should have at least ONE disk of French repertoire (just pick one of the current French Anthology song books), but to no avail.
Since they've added no new vocal music, I had a set of 20 diskettes which I was perfectly content to keep using. However, several important often-used ones were lost by students. SmartMusic no longer supports nor manufactures the diskettes (nor do they offer software to allow owners to backup their stringently copy protected disks as a benefit to older customers), which means I am now forced to pay additional money annually (subscription) to use music which I had already purchased.
It seems that SmartMusic's interests lie primarily in maximizing profits, rather than the satisfaction and loyalty of their customers. I continue to use SmartMusic because it is of significant benefit to my students, and because it is the only game in town. If another company were to come along with a similar product at even twice the price, but with greater concern for the satisfaction of their customer base, I'd switch in a heartbeat. |
| Posted By : Wheat - 10/22/2006 4:40 PM | Why don't you buy a copy of Finale and create your own SmartMusic materials for use by your students? You can use a scanner to import scores. Most stuff written before 1920 is in the public domain, so with classical music there would be no licensing issues.
I'm just getting started with SmartMusic, and I was considering developing my own SmartMusic scores using Finale. My specific interest would be vocal repertoire for college music instruction.
I have not been involved in college voice instruction in over ten years, so I don't know what the "state of the art" is with regard to using technology in the studio.
1) Can users submit or sell new SmartMusic pieces to MakeMusic?
2) Can users of SmartMusic and Finale create original SmartMusic pieces and share or sell them independently, or does MakeMusic have some scheme in place to prevent that?
3) What are your thoughts about the viability of creating more classical, theater or jazz vocal music repertoire in SmartMusic? Do you think there are enough paying customers out there who would use it? Would anybody else who is currently using SmartMusic in a vocal studio care to comment?
Wheat Williams
Atlanta, Georgia
United States of America |
| Posted By : Michael Wyman - 10/23/2006 12:07 AM | If you have specific music you'd like for MakeMusic to add, contact them and let them know. If enough people call for a specific piece (or just more vocal works in general), perhaps they'll make it a priority.
If you have your own compositions you'd like in SmartMusic, you should probably contact MakeMusic directly. I doubt they'd want to "buy" the music (they're not a publisher), but they may have some way for you to create the accompaniments and license them through SmartMusic. |
| Posted By : Stormstryk - 1/20/2007 12:05 AM | | As a composer AND a voice teacher, I use both Finale AND SmartMusic on a nearly daily basis. I have imported music from Finale to Smartmusic, but the process isn't nearly so "neat" and easy as one would be led to believe. Simply notating the scores (beyond being incredibly time consuming.. I teach over 30 private students weekly) doesn't create a "good" Smartmusic file. I too have been incredibly disappointed that MakeMusic has ignored the vocal arts community COMPLETELY for so long. I refuse to suggest home subscriptions to my students because I don't feel that the repertory is extensive enough to warrant the extra cost. So, Make Music is losing out on a significant portion of home subscriptions because of this.
As for e-mailing them with "suggestions".. I have sent multiple lists of VERY standard vocal rep to them on multiple occasions. They fail to include even complete editions of the current items in many cases. They don't include the Schirmer Arias for Coloratura OR Bass, but they have the other 4 voice types. The Paramount on Parade book has been out of print for God knows how long. Some of the Oxford Editions are no longer available in the US, and the Singer's Musical Theatre Anthology series is hopelessly outdated. The Mezzo and Soprano books have been completely revised and over half of the Mezzo book is no longer represented.
Not that I think this post will have any effect, nothing else has over the last 4-5 years, but here are some items that I feel SHOULD be included in the vocal area.
Expand the Joan Boytim First Book series from Schirmer!!
Easy Solos for Beginning Singers (SATB)
First Book of Solos Part 2(SATB)
First Book of Solos Part 3(SATB)
Second Book of Solos (SATB)
These books alone would make be much happier and provide a good balanced challenge for most students!
In the new Hal Leonard "The Vocal Library" Series -
The Christmas Collection
The Lieder Anthology
American Folksongs
Anthology of Spanish Song
G Schirmers newly published American Opera Aria Anthologies (SATB)
I am consciously avoiding the publishers who seem to be less readily available, but ALL of the above collections are standard items in stock at most reputable sheet music retailers. A few additional selections below are more of a Wish List that SHOULD be more popular. There is a fairly obviously lack of modern living American composers represented in the system. Ned Rorem, Jake Heggie, Ben Moore, Edwin Penhorwood, Lori Laitman etc... But sometimes that's just TOO much to ask.
The Ditson Series of songs for School and Studio are a VAST treasure trove of rep from many periods, styles and languages, though not in common usage in the states for some reason.
Schott "The New Operetta Book" Volumes 1 - 5 would also be of great value to expand performance of this neglected field.
Particularly beloved is Popular Ballads for Classical Singers from Hal Leonard. Great standards in VERY challenging and interesting arrangements by Richard Walters. I would LOVE to be able to assign these pieces more frequently, but without a solid practice system, they are too advanced for many of the students.
I won't even mention all the new edition arie antique books which are gaining popularity. Voice teachers are SICK of the 24 and 26 Italian Arias books! There is such rich rep waiting to be discovered and popularized.
If MakeMusic was serious about supporting the vocal community, they would survey the users who are actually TEACHING with SmartMusic on a daily basis to determine where the rep lists are deficient.
Stephen Jackson |
| Posted By : jamaroney - 5/22/2009 12:12 PM | | Well, it's been almost three years since my first post on this, and to date SmartMusic has yet to produce any new vocal files - that makes it over a decade since any new vocal music. For shame, SmartMusic! |
| Posted By : James Lund - 5/22/2009 1:34 PM | Jamaroney,
Our primary decisions for repertoire selection in SmartMusic are made by the data submissions from customers at:
www.smartmusic.com/FindMusic/Request.aspx
While we do make some internal decisions and choices made in consultation with publishers, the "Request New Title" link from the website provides the vast majority of additions in the years we've been expanding the library. I can't guarantee the rapidity of additions to our library through the web form submission (and in some cases, we're simply not able to acquire permission from the publishers), but I can guarantee that each request goes onto the list. If you've followed the release schedule since SmartMusic 9 and onward, you've seen a large push for wind band music in particular for addition into SmartMusic - this is the largest portion of our SmartMusic community and now that we're able to add this music, it's a large backlog of requests that we've been rolling out. The more requests we hear from vocalists and choral folks, the faster and likelier you'll see additions.
I'd encourage you to use this resource so we can queue up any particular titles you'd like to see.
Thanks,
James H. Anderson
MakeMusic, Inc.
These on-line forums are intended for the exchange of ideas among the users of MakeMusic products. If you'd like individual help from our technical support staff, please contact us directly at support.makemusic.com/. |
| Posted By : jamaroney - 5/23/2009 7:02 AM | Thank you for responding, Mr. Anderson. But the total lack of any new vocal material in over a DECADE implies an intentional neglect of this field on your company's part.
Some recommendations? Too many to mention specifically, and to place the burden of SmartMusic's decade-long vocal abandonment on customers to rectify is absurd. But, for a start, just look at all the new anthologies of German, French, Italian, English & Spanish art song/operatic literature. And don't forget the Broadway anthologies!
And, of course, SmartMusic has yet to even START providing any choral music. Are you really waiting for suggestions to begin construction of a basic choral library?
SmartMusic has successfully devised their own Catch-22: They neglect singers for years, who in turn use SmartMusic less and less, which results in fewer suggestions for new vocal music. SmartMusic then justifies the neglect by saying that they receive no new requests!
It must be SmartMusic who makes the first move - not the customers. I'm not holding my breath waiting....
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| Posted By : Flutehub - 6/5/2009 11:02 PM | The issue is certainly not unique to vocal music. When SmartMusic was first introduced, it was introduced to serious musicians as a tool, and they were assured that the repertoire would grow quickly. They came out with a lot of stuff at first, but then things died off. about the time of the dotcom crash, so maybe a relation. Now they seem to be dedicated to elementary and junior high bands and orchestras. Serious solo music is not updated in years. New classical flute music is just not added anymore. And worse, some of the old music that was on our cartridges (yes, we predate the disks, though now we have a subscription) is no longer available on the subscription.
Seems like the answer would be an active user community that publishes accompaniments, and tools by SmartMusic to make that easy. If people paid for the accompaniments (I guess that doesn't fit the sub model, but if you aren't getting new stuff anyway, who needs a sub?), then maybe serious musicians would be interested in generating income by producing quality SmartMusic accompaniments. And if there was some money in it, I don't understand why publishers couldn't be brought onboard.
SmartMusic always claims they can't add many items because of copyright. If that were the barrier, then VCRs, DVDs, CDs, ipods, etc., would never have been commercially successful. Where there's money to be made, agreements are usually possible. |
| Posted By : raytayzmd - 6/6/2009 3:11 PM | | ...no disrespect intended but Mr. Anderson response is FOS...I got the same response 5 YEARS ago when I requested some romantic violin sonatas and then again when I made a similar request about 5 months...word for word, the same exact response...it's nonsense...and then see someone recommending using Finale to make my own...well, yeah, I could -- but isn't that the COMPANY'S job?...moreover, once I do it on Finale, why even bother transferring it to Smartmusic -- Imay as well just use it there...the company's a joke. |
| Posted By : Tyler - 6/6/2009 4:52 PM |
raytayzmd said...
...no disrespect intended but Mr. Anderson response is FOS...I got the same response 5 YEARS ago when I requested some romantic violin sonatas and then again when I made a similar request about 5 months...word for word, the same exact response...it's nonsense...and then see someone recommending using Finale to make my own...well, yeah, I could -- but isn't that the COMPANY'S job?...moreover, once I do it on Finale, why even bother transferring it to Smartmusic -- Imay as well just use it there...the company's a joke. James' answer is correct. The choice of new literature is based on customer feedback and research. The literature that appears to be in the highest demand, both in terms of actual titles and category, is the music the company goes after the hardest. It isn't just about when titles are requested, but also how many different people ask for them.
Flutehub said...
Now they seem to be dedicated to elementary and junior high bands and orchestras. The ensemble content contains a lot of selections for high school and college level groups as well. I see just under 600 titles rated Medium (which seems to equate to about a grade 4) or above. |
| Posted By : Michael Wyman - 6/7/2009 2:03 AM | Flutehub said...
SmartMusic always claims they can't add many items because of copyright. If that were the barrier, then VCRs, DVDs, CDs, ipods, etc., would never have been commercially successful...
It has taken the movie and recording industries many years to come to grips with online distribution of movies and music. It's only been in the last several years they've gotten involved en-mass... And there were even battles getting the movie industry on board with VHS...
And whereas the movie and recording industry is mostly run by a few giant multinational corporations, sheet music is largely in the hands of many small- to medium-sized publishers. Apple convinces Sony on the value of the iTunes Store, and they gain copyright clearance for millions of tracks... SmartMusic plays in a different universe. |
| Posted By : raytayzmd - 6/10/2009 10:44 AM | | ...oh, brother!...cut me some slack!...I have copies of CD Sheet Music's collections of violin sonatas as well as their collection of string quartets...these appear to be all in the public domain...exactly how much effort would it take for the company to turn these into Smartmusic files? |
| Posted By : MaxM - 6/22/2009 1:31 PM | Dear members/users of Smartmusic...
Hmm it has been a long, long time that I received any new music... is anybody there ?
Kindest regards,
Dr. Max J.M. Verdoes
The Netherlands |
| Posted By : Jim Jolley - 6/22/2009 2:34 PM | I think it is because a new version is expected to roll out soon. I hope they work on the interface..
Jim
Jim Jolley - Band Director www.chbands.com
Finale 2006c, 2008a, 2009b - Smartmusic 11 - Garritan CoMB - Vista |
| Posted By : MaxM - 6/26/2009 12:30 PM | | Hm Jim, where did you get this info?? |
| Posted By : Jim Jolley - 6/27/2009 10:02 AM | Smartmusic sent me an e-mail saying so. I think it should be ready in July but i am not sure.
Jim Jolley - Band Director www.chbands.comFinale 2006c, 2008a, 2009b - Smartmusic 11 - Garritan CoMB - Vista |
| Posted By : ChoirProf - 7/31/2009 4:36 PM | Tyler said...
James' answer is correct. The choice of new literature is based on customer feedback and research. The literature that appears to be in the highest demand, both in terms of actual titles and category, is the music the company goes after the hardest. It isn't just about when titles are requested, but also how many different people ask for them.
You must be a band teacher. We choir teachers have been requesting ever since SmartMusic came out, to no avail. At first their response was "Oh, it's coming." Then it was simply a "I don't know." Then it was "No, we don't, sorry."
MakeMusic has PURPOSEFULLY not courted the choral side of things. It was an insult that for years they used the word "choir" in their advertisements and website for nothing. The choice of new literature may be based on customer feedback and "research" for bands and orchestra, but it isn't for choir or voice studios. For us it's based on IGNORE.
I noticed that Mr. Anderson, nor anyone else from SmartMusic has replied since. That's because jamaroney is dead on in his/her reply to him. (His reply, BTW, was lame.) And so after years of our requests being ignored, of course we are not going to make as many requests anymore compared to an active band/orchestra group who actually have a reason to use SmartMusic!
Don't know why they do not want to make money in this area. Total mystery.
I've been loyal to Finale since 1990. In terms of SmartMusic (please plug your ears, now, as I'm going to shout to get MakeMusic's attention [yeah, right]) I'M GOING TO LOBBY AVID TECHNOLOGY (makers of SIBELIUS) TO DO THEIR OWN VERSION OF SMARTMUSIC. Like jamaroney said, I would pay more money to get this technology into my classroom. AND I DO NOT HAVE TIME TO MAKE MY OWN SMARTMUSIC SCORES!!! I use Liquid Avid anyway. I could easily make a complete switch.
I also have a very active voice studio. And because they have not added titles, I do not recommend this to my students. It's like abandon-ware--I'm not going to buy software that hasn't been updated in a reasonable amount of time. And 10 years? |
| Posted By : Jim Jolley - 8/3/2009 9:36 PM | Yes Brad I am a band director. Can't speak for Tyler and I won't out of respect for him.
If you feel slighted in what you want, I am sorry. The moderators just moderate the forum and do not pass along the info to the power that be. That's just the way it is.
Makemusic allows you to vent all you want (within reason of course) and if you wish to speak to AVID, go ahead. But I think your venting on the forum doesn't solve your problem which is no music in smartmusic that you want. All I can suggest is keep trying to talk to makemusic and get some of your choir people to also.
Smartmusic is meeting my needs and I am sorry it isn't meeting yours. Not having time write your own scores seems to be a time issue of yours. So enjoy not using smartmusic and not recommending it to others. I will happily recommend to others as it meets my needs and makes my students better.
I hope you enjoy your continued use of Finale.
I am through griping now.
Jim Jolley - Band Director www.chbands.comFinale 2006c, 2008a, 2009b - Smartmusic 11 - Garritan CoMB - Vista |
| Posted By : ChoirProf - 8/3/2009 10:12 PM | Jim,
What do you mean by "enjoy not using smartmusic and not recommending it to anyone?" That just doesn't make sense. I think you think that I was venting at you personally about MakeMusic's ignoring us choir directors. I was responding to your apparent lack of understanding that we HAVE been communicating with them (and not just in this forum, either). In that regard your post showed that you (as a happy band director using SmartMusic) didn't get what we were griping about. I'm happy for you and envious, as a matter of fact.
And yes, not having time to write my own scores is an issue, as it is for many choir directors. I have seven choirs and teach 20 voice students in my studio while fulfilling my responsibilities as a husband and father, so I do not appreciate your tone of self-righteousness in this regard. I am always looking for ways to optimize my time while effectively educating my students which is why I had an interest in SmartMusic to begin with.
As far as using Finale, I've already downloaded the demo of Sibelius and trying it out. Anyway, I didn't jump into his post to pick a bone with you. My issue is with MakeMusic.
Regards to you,
Brad |
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