A question about MuseScore that I saw brought up

[MichelRE]

I saw some mentions of this, but was wondering if it was just random rumour-mongering or if it had some basis in truth:

Is MuseScore funded by Russian money?

While others may not agree with me, my political leanings make it impossible for me to use a product that is developed with Russian money.

[Harpsichordmaker]

Here is said Musescore company is (or was) based in Russia: https://musescore.org/en/node/301153

In 2021 there were rumours about Audacity having become a spyware: viewtopic.php?t=765

That’s all I know.

[Fred G. Unn]

Well, Ultimate Guitar was certainly originally Russian. They even famously argued that their "site violated no laws because its headquarters were in Russia, and the site’s practices complied with Russian laws."
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/tech ... 1ecom.html

Ultimate Guitar purchased MuseScore in 2018, so I assume Russian money has been involved since then anyway:
https://www.scoringnotes.com/news/ultim ... musescore/

Looks like MuseGroup is headquartered in Cyprus now.

[NeeraWM]

While others may not agree with me, my political leanings make it impossible for me to use a product that is developed with Russian money.

However difficult that may be, I always try to keep politics away from the music.

Let's try to reverse the coin for a moment: would anyone here stop using Dorico or Sibelius (both based in the UK) if the UK started to massacre an ethnic minority inside of their territory or if they invaded, say, Ireland or France?
Imagine this happening in the middle of a big project with a tight deadline. Would you suddenly XML your project away to... no idea what...

This is just to widen a bit the scope because, as an Italian, my public school education kept all of us in the shadow of the fact that, in 1915, Italy invaded a sovereign state (Austria) with the pretext of "freeing" the Italians living in Veneto & Friuli, the true goal being expansion. My country, back then, did the same thing Russia did in 2022, invading with the pretext of "freeing" their people from oppression.
Still, we have not stopped eating pizza and pasta, right?

Of course, everyone should do what they feel right to do.

[benwiggy]

Is MuseScore funded by Russian money?

The choice of Cyprus as headquarters for the company is interesting, after reading this article…

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cyp ... an-wealth/

[JJP]

Let's try to reverse the coin for a moment: would anyone here stop using Dorico or Sibelius (both based in the UK) if the UK started to massacre an ethnic minority inside of their territory or if they invaded, say, Ireland or France?

Oh, this is hard to read living in a country that currently refuses to rule out a military invasion of Greenland, Panama, and even Canada.

It is difficult to choose companies based on ideology. There are corporations that have direct ties to, perhaps controlled by, or directly funding evil regimes. There are corporations that are independent, yet are located in unfortunate places. There are also independent corporations that cynically wield excessive influence or power within governments for their own ends, not caring about the citizens. Some of these companies have also limited our ability to choose the products we use.

It’s a complex, thorny set of questions; but questions we should continue to ask. The answers may not always be clear, but we are better for asking and then acting according to our conscience where we can.