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by pclmulqdq 928 days ago
You can still get relatively good published music scores from a few of the old German shops (Schirmer, Henle, etc.), but they are very expensive. They are a joy to use when playing, though, since the music is very clearly laid out and page turns are in the perfect place, etc. Finale and Sibelius are controllable enough that you can use them to do fantastic layout, but many people either do not understand how to make a score readable or don't care enough.
1 comments

That, and what GP describes, is what I see as the overall trend of the market to hollow out the middle. It's not just about technology (though it plays a big role), as all optimization coming from competitive pressure - materials, processes, business models, marketing.

What seems to universally happen is, the market bifurcates - one part is in a race to the bottom, the other (much smaller) aims for super premium tier (overpriced quality), because only those two positions are sustainable, once the race-to-the-bottom side drags all the economies of scale with it. So as a consumer, you get to chose between cheap low-quality garbage that's barely fit for purpose, and rare, super-expensive, professional/elite high-end products. There is no option for "good value for reasonable price".

This has been happening to everything - software, furniture, construction, electronics, vehicles, food, you name it.