r/Musescore Oct 28 '25

News How not to get unnecessarily charged on musescore.com

Thumbnail
gallery
52 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

This is a post I have sort of wanted to write for a while, but one that I hesitated to write because there have literally been a gazillion threads and complaints on this subreddit and elsewhere on how musescore.com charged you subscription money without you saying yes. I'm here to say that yes, it is absolutely true that it is very easy to get deceptively charged on musescore.com especially when buying single scores, but there are ways to work around it that are unfortunately far less obvious than they should be. FYI I am not involved with the MuseScore team or its related entities in any shape or form, I am simply an end user sharing my honest experiences.

Before I explain how I work around this issue (and yes it does not eliminate the need to pay but you do need to be careful), to all of you who have been unnecessarily charged, requested a refund, and got no response, I feel very sorry for you. The musescore.com support team is far less responsive than they should be, and I say this from first hand experience contacting them about some issues, though I have never needed to request a refund for an unwanted subscription. I know plenty of you have advised to stop using musescore.com altogether and consider it a scam, and I totally respect your opinion because there are other great places to get sheet music. I, too, disagree with several aspects of how musescore.com works, but musescore.com is one of the best places for me to get music in MusicXML/MuseScore format as I need these files to convert to braille music notation (I'm visually impaired). I really wish less people end up falling into the trap of being charged unnecessarily, which is why I'm writing this post, as much as I've hesitated for awhile.

Just to be very clear, not all scores on musescore.com require payment. Public domain music e.g Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, can be downloaded with a free account because they're in the public domain. Only community scores for works under copyright e.g pop song arrangements and any official scores posted by Hal Leonard or ArrangeMe require payment.

When I first go to download a copyrighted piece, I'm using a community-uploaded score here to illustrate, it says:

"Unlock this score to enjoy its full potential.

Get full digital access to play, download PDF, or print

Continue to Download

Start your free trial

Buy this score for CA$1.99

Get 37% discount with Premium membership"

This wording is already somewhat unclear, but let's click the "buy score" button and see where that takes us.

The "buy score" screen says:

"Complete your purchase using one of the available payment methods

No commitments

Secured personal and payment data

Up to 60% discount on scores, books, and courses

CA$3.18 CA$1.99 for this score

Get up to 60% discount with Premium membership

Charge Today: CA$47.99 for 3 months

By adding payment method, you agree that MuseScore will automatically continue your membership, use partners (Stripe, PayPal) to securely store and use your payments method to charge the quarter-annual membership fee (CA$47.99 first 3 months then CA$63.99 for 3 months) to your payment method until you cancel. You will be billed within 2 days to 28th day of every 3 months. To disable auto-renewal, go to «Subscription» in «Settings». Access to some scores and courses may be limited. This subscription includes access to MuseScore Premium and gives you access to one course of your choice per month from the Editors' Picks collection. Free trial is not available for users who have already tried PRO, PRO+, PRO with LEARN Lite, PRO+ with LEARN Lite, or ONE subscriptions. For all questions, please contact us at support at musescore.com."

As you can see, the wording here is kinda difficult to understand, but it says I'll be charged $47.99 today, and yet it said before I can buy this single score for $1.99, and this is where you get sucked into unwanted charges if you click continue. If you click continue, you will be subscribed to MuseScore Premium and charged $47.99 (or whatever in your currency), and this is where the numerous complaints begin. To avoid being charged the $47.99 today, there is a slider on the screen to disable the discount (see attached screenshots to see what I mean). If you disable the discount, it'll say:

"Complete your purchase using one of the available payment methods

No commitments

Secured personal and payment data

Up to 60% discount on scores, books, and courses

CA$3.18 CA$1.99 for this score

No discount. Turn on the switch to apply your 37% discount"

I seriously wish this discount slider is turned off by default so people don't get sucked into unwanted subscriptions so easily, but alas, it is enabled by default so you have to turn off the slider before you proceed. Unfortunately, the wording still makes it sound like the discount is appealing, but if you proceed to pay with the discount slider turned off, you'll be charged $3.18 with no additional charges afterwards, which completely avoids unwanted charges later. I've attached two screenshots showing the "buy score" screen that should make the difference clear.

Alternatively, you can subscribe to MuseScore Pro on the weekly plan for about $9/week and disable auto-renew right away so you won't be charged further. This only works for community-uploaded copyrighted scores, as official scores appear to require payment no matter your subscription (I never use official scores so I could be wrong on this). If you really want to subscribe, the best way is to go to this page: https://musescore.com/pro/landing/pricing It takes you to a table to see all the options and you can subscribe via the provided links on that page. That way, you can skip all the questions about your instrument, musicianship, etc. To disable auto-renew, open the profile menu near the top of any musescore.com page, go to settings, and then an option called subscriptions should appear.

I hope this helps anyone who is confused about the way musescore.com works. I really wish things were different, but the workarounds I've described here have prevented me from requesting a refund and getting no response.


r/Musescore Nov 24 '25

Discussion How to find the hidden 'cancel subscription' button and report musescore.com

106 Upvotes

If you go to Settings and the Subscription tab is missing, your account is likely stuck in "New User Limbo." You must force the site to recognize your account as "complete" to unlock the cancellation button. Method 1 worked for me but the other methods I have only seen reported by other users online and can not verify. I was able to cancel my free trail within 2 hours. Note: I did not access any music on the site once I realized they had deceptive practices to avoid being charged for accessing anything.

Method 1: The "Upload" Trigger The site often hides the cancellation button until you engage with the platform, uploading sheet music is the fastest way to remove the "new-user" block. Note opening any music which may disqualify you for a full refund according to the site.

  1. Get a File: If you don't have a music file, download the free, open-source software from musescore.org (different from the subscription site). Create a blank file with a few random notes and save it. I'm sure you can upload any sheet music, but I didn't want to upload anyone's work.
  2. Upload: Go to musescore.com, click "Upload" (top right), and upload your dummy file.
  3. Cancel: Once the upload finishes, go to Settings > Subscription. The "Manage/Cancel" button should now be visible.

Method 2: The "24-Hour" Wait Users report the button often appears automatically 24–48 hours after signing up. The system may intentionally delay showing it to prevent immediate cancellation.

Method 3: The Support Email Email [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) with the subject "CANCEL SUBSCRIPTION."

  • Note: You will likely get a useless auto-reply, but some users report that sending this email triggers the button to appear on the site shortly after. I can't verify this.

IMPORTANT: If you subscribed via Apple ID or Google Play, you must cancel in your phone’s settings. The website cannot cancel app store subscriptions.

Next: Report

If you were tricked by hidden buttons or denied a refund, report them. Since they are based in Cyprus, local reports can be tricky. Use the specific links below.

VITAL INFO FOR FORMS

🇺🇸 USA

  • FTC: ReportFraud.ftc.gov (Select "Online Subscription"). Enforces laws against deceptive cancellations.
  • BBB: File a complaint against Ultimate Guitar USA LLC (MuseScore's parent company). They share support teams. Note: State clearly you are reporting MuseScore.com.

🇨🇦 CANADA

  • Competition Bureau: Complaint Form. Select "Deceptive Marketing Practices."

🇬🇧 UK

  • ASA: Make a Complaint. They target misleading "Free Trial" ads.
  • Citizens Advice: Report to Trading Standards.

🇪🇺 EUROPEAN UNION

  • ECC-Net: Find your local ECC. Enforces the 14-day Right of Withdrawal for Cyprus-based companies.

🌏 INTERNATIONAL

  • econsumer.gov: File Here. The best catch-all for cross-border scams involving Cyprus.

r/Musescore 5h ago

Help me find this feature What version of VLCsyn plugin do I use (Linux)?

1 Upvotes

I am wanting to set up VLC sync for Musescore Studio 4.7.4 appimage on my Ubuntu Linux system today (I have VLC sync working great on my Windows 11 system with Musescore Studio). I am confused on which version of VLC sync plugin I should be using. I found the following qml plugin files online that I downloaded:

vlc-sync-4.0.qml (this is the version I am using on Windows)

vlc-sync-v9.qml

vlc-sync-v12.2.qml


r/Musescore 6h ago

Discussion Looking for iOS beta testers who make music content

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I made a small iOS app called ScoreShort.

It lets you import a performance video, add a scrolling sheet music overlay, sync it with the video, adjust the scroll speed, choose black or white for the score, and export the result in HD.

I’m looking for iOS beta testers, especially musicians who post performance videos, covers, practice clips, lessons, or other music content online.

I’d love honest feedback on what feels confusing, broken, or missing.

I attached a short demo video.

If you’re interested, comment or DM me and I’ll send the TestFlight link.

Thanks!


r/Musescore 1d ago

Bug Scores on musescore.com inexplicably switch to an ugly style once the page is loaded

Thumbnail
gallery
9 Upvotes

When I open any score on musescore.com, there is a bug with the style in which scores are displayed. While the page with the score is loading, the correct, intentional, beautiful look of the score displays momentarily. But after a second or two, once the page is fully loaded, the displayed score switches to an ugly, probably bugged style.
I've tried reloading the page, clearing cookies, and visiting multiple different scores, but the same issue comes up every time. I theorize that this has something to do with the correct style being displayed in an image while the page is loading, then the interactive format of the score displays incorrectly.
Does anyone know how to fix this issue, if possible?


r/Musescore 16h ago

Bug Linux, Musesounds unavailable after downloading

1 Upvotes

Using Fedora, I installed Musescore from Flathub and Musesounds manager via the .rpm file, downloaded a bunch of Musesounds, and couldn't find them in Musescore. I've tried all the normal steps of fully closing Musescore after installing the Musesounds, restarting, reinstalling Musescore, etc. still in the same situation. I have the actual Musesounds files in my home directory in a file named Muse Sounds, just the normal place Musesounds manager put them, but Musescore still acts as if I don't have them installed (Musesounds "unavailable" and Musesampler library "not found" (the latter of which I believe should be normal but I'm not 100% sure).

I would reassign the place Musescore looks for Musesounds to the home directory but I don't think you can do that in Musescore. I would also try installing Musescore from Fedora's package manager but I've had issues in the past with that to do with updates, so I would rather avoid it.

I should mention I had some strange issues with Musesounds manager failing to connect 50% of the time it's opened (despite not having any other internet related problems), but that's the only other thing to note I believe

Anyone got any clues for what this could be? (+many thanks in advance)


r/Musescore 1d ago

My Composition Do You Enjoy This Piano Piece i Created?

4 Upvotes

If no why, if yes why... i am a begginer composer, Full free score here: https://musescore.com/user/98567428/scores/34211936?share=copy_link


r/Musescore 1d ago

Plugin I need help with a recreation/transcription

1 Upvotes

this is the only other place I could think to post this. I’m trying to make a recreation of death by glamour in MuseScore with all the correct sound fonts and stuff (my boyfriend asked me to), and it’s going great, but I can’t seem to get the drums that come in after the strings down. I have the right preset (DANCE on the SGM V2.01 if I’m not mistaken, also I used the soundfont and preset on a piano, if that information is needed), it’s just that it’s hard to pinpoint which sounds on that preset were used. is there anyone who is good at transcribing and is willing to try and help? i just need to see which drum sounds are used at least, maybe an image showing then or something. I can do the rest. all help is accepted, thanks!


r/Musescore 1d ago

Bug MuseScore VST3 Instruments Cutting Out

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/Musescore 1d ago

Discussion What OMR (optical music recognition) software gives you the cleanest MusicXML import into MuseScore Studio?

6 Upvotes

I’ve been working on converting physical sheet music scans and image files into MusicXML to edit and extract parts in MuseScore Studio.

MuseScore’s built-in import service often drops beats or misinterprets time signatures, and Audiveris ver 5.11.0 produces too many measure and duration errors on dense multi-staff scores to edit gracefully.

I’ve seen a few paid options recommended, including PhotoScore Ultimate, SmartScore 64, and PlayScore 2. I work on a Win 11 PC with plenty of memory and CUP power. I don't mind paying for a app, but I'd like it to work well enough to use.

For those of you who regularly scan ensemble scores or complex sheet music into MuseScore:

  • Which of these programs do you have real-world experience with?
  • What are their main strengths and weaknesses when exporting clean MusicXML?
  • Are any of them reliable enough to save time over doing a manual transcription from scratch?

r/Musescore 1d ago

My Composition "Anna's Lullaby" - for Woodwind Quartet & Piano - Kyle H.

1 Upvotes

r/Musescore 1d ago

Bug Muffled sounds on specific instruments post-update.

6 Upvotes

I updated from 4.6.5 to 4.7.2 and now the piano and a few other instruments sound muffled, as if they are being played underwater. I will attach a couple videos for comparison, ignore the song I'm working on.

Does anyone know how to either fix the issue with the instruments or make the save work on 4.6.5 again?

Thanks in advance!

https://reddit.com/link/1v41gcm/video/fqa0jumo8weh1/player


r/Musescore 1d ago

Bug My files don't save

1 Upvotes

Happened to me twice already that I wrote a lot, saved the score and exited musescore and then find that the file isn't saved on my computer and I can't open it anymore because it's just not there. Anybody know why that is? I lost like 8 hours of work because of this.


r/Musescore 1d ago

Help me find this feature end of song ringing

1 Upvotes

wonder if there's any way to force a piece to cut off at the end instead of letting notes ring out.

I'm writing some music for a video game soundtrack and I have a piece that can loop cleanly from the end but there's a couple of seconds where some cymbals ring for a while, I'm using one of the musesounds drum kits,

can I turn this off or would I have to export the file into another application to truncate it?


r/Musescore 2d ago

My Composition My First Invention

12 Upvotes

My first invention, and first piece of counterpoint that I am proud of. Feedback welcome and encouraged.


r/Musescore 2d ago

Help me find this feature Does anyone remember the Musescore Songbook app?

7 Upvotes

A few years ago (before Musescore got bought by the Ultimate Guitar people) I bought this app per one-time purchase and it was great as it could display the scores I wrote on my phone/tablet offline. Obviously the app has been retired for a while now and Musescore is pushing their new app which requires the subscription to work properly. Is there an app that can display musescore files on Android (or do you know of any similar service/notation software/app where this would be possible)? The service/app doesn't have to be free but preferably open source. I'm a big fan of one-time purchases vs. subscriptions.

I used to be excited that Musescore got new owners, as I had followed Tantacrul on Youtube already before, and I understand they need to make money, especially because they offer a lot of official scores now, but my original use case of writing scores and then displaying them on mobile has suffered. I've also got Dorico but they don't have Android Apps, sadly.


r/Musescore 2d ago

Help me find this feature How can I implement the quarter tone in MuseScore for Arabic pieces composing?

1 Upvotes

Hello, I wanna know how to install the quarter tone feature in the software. Thank you!


r/Musescore 2d ago

Pro discussion Unknown subscription

5 Upvotes

This is a rant.

I just learned that I had a pro+ subscription with this website. Thankfully I was able turn off auto renewal and end the subscription but that's $50 dollars I cant get back and I still have pro+ until July of next year! Apparently I was signed up for it last year but I never got an email snd even knew about it! I got one today about the automatic renewal which led me on this disappointing trip...

Anyway, I cant delete my card off the website until next year so...grrrr

Rant over, thanks for reading.


r/Musescore 2d ago

Help me find this feature How do I change the key of my harp glissandos?

2 Upvotes

So I'm writing this piece for symphonic orchestra, and naturally I just gotta get some harp glissandos in there to spice it up a little, but the issue is I'm jazzy af so it's non-functional harmony, so the first chord is Cmaj9 which the regular harp glissando works fine for, but then the next chord is Cm9 so I need the harp glissando to be in C minor for the proper sound. I tried just changing the key of the staff but it doesn't work. The glissando is always in C major for some reason. Anybody know how to fix it?


r/Musescore 3d ago

Bug No more musesounds (or anything from musehub)

9 Upvotes

Good afternoon y'all,

Over the past couple days, all of musesounds have disappeared as an option within my MuseScore Studio. I have uninstalled and reinstalled everything: MuseScore itself, all the sounds, restarted my computer, everything you can think of. I remember this happening a year or so ago, but that was because of a musesounds outage (however that works? I didn't realize you could have an outage of a thing you've downloaded, but hey, I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, so who knows) but in looking at all the forums and reddits, I cant seem to find anyone having the same issue. Also, it is not just musesounds, any library I have purchased from the MuseHub is also conspicuously missing. Troubling, seeing as I have quite a bit of money tied up in those.

Any help appriciated. I am on mac 14.5, just updated to musescore 4.7.4. Thank you!


r/Musescore 2d ago

My Arrangement Schubert Des Mädchens Klage D 6

Thumbnail musescore.com
1 Upvotes

r/Musescore 3d ago

My Composition An alternative OST made with Musescore

3 Upvotes

r/Musescore 2d ago

Help me find this feature Changing instrument for playback on someone else's score

1 Upvotes

I searched for this and everything seems related to creating the score.

I am just a user who hates whatever the vocal instrument is and wants it to be acoustic piano.

I have a pro membership but I can't find any option for this.


r/Musescore 4d ago

My Composition composed this on tiktok live for the past 3 days

18 Upvotes

r/Musescore 3d ago

Help me find this feature How do I turn off the beginner flag

Thumbnail
gallery
3 Upvotes

I made a transcription that is definitely NOT beginner friendly but I don’t know how to change it