Our ambition is to make all of the world’s sheet music available through the Enote library. This will let musicians everywhere easily access the scores they need and benefit from a digital format that is flexible and reliable.
However, there is more written music in the world than any one person could play in a lifetime. Collecting, prioritizing and digitizing all of these pieces is a huge undertaking, so our team are working through our musical history systematically to reach our goal.
This article explains what music is currently in our library, what will be added next, and why some works are not yet available.
What’s in the library?
We began our digitization effort with Solo and Chamber music formats from the baroque to late romantic era.
The bulk of this music is now available in the Enote library, so our team have begun adding Vocal repertoire from the same period. Orchestral Works, Operas, Oratorios and Ballets written within these years are next in line for digitization.
Note that we do not currently offer arrangements of works through our library, but do plan to make these available in the future.
What about modern works and genres?
The repertoire outlined above exists in the public domain in most regions^. This means that the public are free to view and use these scores without paying royalties to the original composer.
The work of contemporary composers like Shostakovich, Britten or Philip Glass, as well as other modern genres of music like Jazz and Pop, are not yet in the public domain, so require royalties to be paid to the copyright holder every time they are used.
As musicians ourselves, we naturally want to support these composers, and are currently in conversation with multiple publishers on how best to license this material for unlimited use by Enote’s community of musicians.
What about rare works and other “hidden gems”?
We definitely plan to make rare and lesser-known works available through Enote. In fact, we’re particularly excited to do so, as we believe our advanced search filters will help musicians discover incredible pieces of music that have been buried by time.
However, please keep in mind that digitizing scores takes time and precision. Making our library truly comprehensive is a marathon rather than a sprint, but it’s one that we are determined to finish.
How long until the work I’m searching for is added to Enote?
Tens of thousands of works are currently in our digitization queue, and being frequently reprioritized by our musicology team based on a number of factors. Unfortunately this means we cannot offer any exact dates for individual pieces becoming available.
However, our team are always interested to hear what repertoire you would like to see in our library. Just send an email to help@enote.com with your instrument and suggested composers or pieces, and our musicology team will consider this in their prioritization.
Can I add my own works to Enote?
While this isn’t possible yet, we are currently exploring options for adding copyright protected pieces you own in paper or PDF formats to your personal Enote library. We hope to have a solution in place for this soon.
If you are a composer interested in distributing your music through Enote, we’re happy to say this is something we plan to support in the future. However, please remember that we are at an early stage of our journey, so this is still a way off.
To stay up to date with the latest announcements, please follow our social channels and keep an eye on our email updates.
^Be aware that copyright laws differ in some countries, which means a work may be in the public domain in one country, and copyright protected in another. Enote currently only allows you to open works free of copyright protection in your region. Some regions (such as the USA) will have access to a different number of works based on local copyright limitations.
Questions or suggestions? Email us at help@enote.com