The Infamous MuseScore.com Sheet Music Scam

 

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Hello readers. I haven't posted on this blog in quite a long time (I just didn't have anything to write about). However, I recently discovered a very notorious and easy-to-fall-for scam that I figured I should let you know about, so you can avoid it in the future. This scam has to do with one of the most popular sheet music websites out there: MuseScore.com.

And emphasis on "com". MuseScore.org is most certainly not a scam, and never has been. The "org" domain is simply a download page for a 100% free and open-source music notation software with no paywalls whatsoever. The "com" domain is the scam which we're going to be talking about today.

Before we begin, let's start by searching the term "musescore" on Google. One of the first results will likely be for MuseScore.org, which, as mentioned, is not a scam; so ignore that one. However, the second or third result will probably be MuseScore.com. I want you to focus on that one.

Once you've located the link to MuseScore.com, look at the site's tagline for a moment, as well as its text snippet. If you don't have access to Google or simply don't want to leave this page, I've inserted a screenshot below.

Before the tagline is cut off by the ellipsis (the three dots), you will see the phrase "The world's largest free sheet music catalog". Notice how I italicized the word "free". What the site is attempting to get across to the users is that the sheet music they offer is free. Also, the short text snippet underneath the link will elaborate: "Share, download and print free sheet music for piano, guitar, flute, and more". Once again, we are told that the sheet music is free to print and even download to a person's device.

After reading the site's tagline as well as a snippet of its text, we are now going to click on the link and use MuseScore's search tool to find some sheet music; for example, this version of Ludwig Van Beethoven's "Fur Elise":

We are now met with several buttons. The one I will focus on for now is the print button. Also, just a fair warning, I would advise you not to click that button, or the download button, as the site could potentially trick you into losing your money. I will talk more about this in a minute.

Anyways, after clicking the print button, we are met with the following popup:

As you can see, things are already beginning to look very shady. There is a button that reads "Continue to Print", written in a color that I often refer to as "Clickbait Green". There is also a button that reads "Use 1 MuseScore Credit", which looks quite scammy in my opinion. The last button mentions a "free trial". Once again, do not click on these buttons yourself, as based on reviews that I've read, this company is very good at tricking and deceiving people into giving away their money.

Despite looking like each button performs a different action, they all do the exact same thing: take you to a page where you can "start a free trial", in quotation marks.

It turns out that MuseScore does not offer sheet music for free, despite how it is advertised. In reality, users must first sign up for a premium subscription; and then the sheet music becomes free to download and print. Only if you are paying nearly $50 per year. However, we all know that anything that requires payment is not truly free, meaning that MuseScore falsely advertises their website.

Regarding the free trial, MuseScore downright lies about the trial. Before writing this post, I read several reviews for the site on Sitejabber.com as well as TrustPilot. One review on Sitejabber features screenshots of the reviewer setting up the free trial. One of the screenshots says that to start the 7-day free trial, the reviewer must first add an active payment method to her account. This should be enough for any user to detect that this service is misleading, as no free trial should require a credit card or payment method.

However, after this reviewer signed up for the free trial, and after the trial period ended, she was apparently charged $50 automatically and without warning. And, according to the review, MuseScore refused to send her a refund. It's important to note that charging someone without warning is considered stealing, and it should not be legal. Any legitimate service which offers a free trial should not ask users for their payment information until the trial is over; as obviously, it's meant to be free. Keep in mind that once a person or company has your payment information, they can charge you at any time and even leave you broke in some cases. Only share payment credentials with legitimate online shops which you trust.

And that wraps up today's blog post. I hope this helped you to avoid the infamous MuseScore scam and save yourself from losing large amounts of money.

--ILikeSlugs