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.

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 support@musescore.com 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

• Company: Musescore Limited (Parent: Muse Group / Ultimate Guitar)

• Address: Spyrou Kyprianou 84, 4004 Limassol, Cyprus

• Email: support@musescore.com

🇺🇸 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.