Keeping Score: Spreadbury Speaks on Sibelius Team Transition

Keeping Score: Spreadbury Speaks on Sibelius Team Transition

News came last week that the former London-based Sibelius team is now opening a new office to work on a brand new notation program–this time under the auspices of Steinberg, a German company known primarily for the sequencer Cubase. Here’s what Daniel Spreadbury had to say about the project.

Written By

Kevin Clark

Daniel Spreadbury

Daniel Spreadbury

Daniel Spreadbury worked on the Sibelius notation software for years, both as a product* and community manager. Then, last July, the software’s parent company, Avid, announced a restructuring, and the Finsbury Park office in London that had been home to the Sibelius team was closed. News came last week, however, that the team is now opening a new office in London to work on a brand new notation program–this time under the auspices of Steinberg, a German company known primarily for the sequencer Cubase. Here’s what Spreadbury had to say about the new project:

Kevin Clark: First off—the question on everyone’s minds: what are you working on and when can we buy it? Of course things are in the very early stages, but any news would be very exciting.

Daniel Spreadbury: Obviously we shall be working on a brand new music notation and composition application, which will sit alongside Steinberg’s other products.  All other aspects and strategies are currently under discussion and will be communicated in due time.

KC: Are there any existing Steinberg technologies that form a good basis for your work?

DS: Certainly – though we’re not sure which just yet. Steinberg has a rich portfolio of technologies, and we can’t wait to get to know our new colleagues and learn from them about the ways in which components or technologies from other products can enrich our new program.

Steinberg logo

KC: Is your team still intact at Steinberg?

DS: Yes, as far as was possible. Steinberg have been fantastic, and were clear from the outset that they wanted to bring the whole team over if they could. However, after it was clear that our office would be closed, a few of our former colleagues took up other jobs and subsequently chose not to re-join us. But the team is definitely intact, and between us we have decades of experience in designing and building great software for musicians, and we are looking forward to combining that experience with the know-how of our new colleagues.

KC: How would a music notation product relate to the rest of Steinberg’s software? Would it be a part of the core business or a separate direction?

DS: Speaking as somebody who has until recently merely been an observer of Steinberg, it has always been my belief that Steinberg is totally committed to providing great products for creative musicians. I see our new application as fitting right in with this ethos, but perhaps targeted at musicians who are more comfortable working with music notation than with sequencer or DAW workflows.

KC: On a separate note, what’s it been like to go through this change for your whole team?

DS: We have been welcomed with open arms by Steinberg. The company’s leaders have shown a real commitment to our team in opening a new office for us in London, and we couldn’t be happier. Many of us have been working together for more than a decade, so the prospect of the team breaking up was pretty distressing, but now we are able to look forward to working together for years to come.

KC: Lastly, what can the community do to help? Any new product will take a while, but in the meantime, if your community wants to help, what should they do?

DS: Right now, it’s very early days. We have a lot of work to do before we can really engage directly with the community in a structured way, but we plan to once our plans are a little firmer. Watch this space!

* An earlier version of this article listed Daniel Spreadbury as a former programmer on Sibelius. He was not. He was a product manager. We regret the error, although we’re glad the actual Sibelius developers got a laugh out of it.