FAQ
ORDERING
What is source material?
Source material is anything you send us to work from: audio, MIDI, video, scores, manuscripts, sketches, lead sheets, reference recordings, AI-generated audio, or lyrics.
What are deliverables?
Deliverables are the finished work we prepare for you: scores, parts, notation files, audio mockups, and any other agreed output.
What is an order confirmation?
An order confirmation is our written acceptance of your project, normally by email, setting out the agreed scope, price, and timeline.
What are the primary services you offer?
Our services fall into two types. Accuracy-based services (Music Engraving & Score Preparation, Music Transcription, MIDI to Score, and AI Music to Score) are judged against a fixed reference: your source material. Interpretive services, Orchestration & Arranging, call for musical and artistic judgment. MIDI to Score and AI Music to Score can also call for orchestration or arranging when the source needs reworking for live performers; any such work is included in your quote.
What is the ordering process?
Our four-step ScoreMasters® brief system:
- Send your files. Fill out the form on our Contact page (also available on almost every page of the site). It walks you through everything we need.
- Get your quote. Within 12 hours, Samy personally reviews your material and replies with a transparent quote: scope, deliverables, format, timeline, revision policy, and final price (in USD, EUR, or GBP).
- Approve, then we craft. Once you approve and place your order, work begins. On larger projects you’ll see a draft at the midpoint, with the chance to course-correct before final delivery. Two rounds of revisions are always included.
- Receive final files. Your completed score arrives in every format you need (PDF, MusicXML, and editable Dorico, Sibelius, or Finale files) ready to rehearse, record, publish, or perform.
How do I request a quote?
Fill out the form on our Contact page (also available on almost every page of the site). If you prefer, email us at samy@scoremastersmusic.com and we’ll reply within 12 hours. For a deadline in the next 24–48 hours, reach us directly on WhatsApp at +30 6944 917 867.
When will I receive the score and parts?
Standard delivery times depend on the service:
- Orchestration & Arranging: 2–4 business days
- Music Engraving & Score Preparation: 3–5 business days
- Music Transcription: 2–5 business days
- MIDI to Score: 2–3 business days
- AI Music to Score: 3–5 business days
The scope and complexity of a project determine the actual time. Share your requirements and we’ll do everything possible to meet your deadline.
Are you available for same-day delivery and pressing deadlines?
Yes. We offer rush orders on all services, subject to our availability and the scope of your project. If your deadline is in the next 24–48 hours, reach us directly on WhatsApp at +30 6944 917 867 and we’ll do our best to deliver on time.
What do your services cost?
Each service has a base rate, with a minimum fee of $49 across all services. The final fee depends on duration, complexity, instrumentation, deadline, and the quality of your source material. Base rates:
- Orchestration & Arranging: from $179/minute
- Music Engraving & Score Preparation: from $14/page
- Music Transcription: from $35/minute
- MIDI to Score: from $49/minute
- AI Music to Score: from $35/minute
Contact us for a specific, no-obligation quote. More detail is on our Pricing page.
Is there a minimum fee?
Yes. $49 on all services.
What is the payment process?
Once you approve the quote, we send a secure link to pay by PayPal or Stripe, both certified PCI DSS Level 1 service providers, the highest security level in the payment-card industry. You may also pay by direct bank transfer.
When do I pay?
Full payment in advance is required to begin work, which is standard practice for commissioned services worldwide. On larger projects we offer flexible options: a 50/50 split, PayPal in 3–4 interest-free installments, or Stripe’s Buy Now, Pay Later. We’ve served clients since 1997; if you’d like extra assurance, PayPal offers purchase protection for digital goods, with a 180-day window to open a dispute.
Do you offer monthly retainers?
Yes. Publishers, institutions, and organizations with a steady flow of work, including orchestras, choirs, and religious organizations, can arrange a monthly retainer. Contact us to discuss terms.
Do you offer discounts?
Yes. The larger the commission, the larger the discount, up to 20%. We also offer discounts for referrals and on special occasions. Contact us for the best price on your project.
What file formats do you accept as source material?
All common formats: PDF, audio, MIDI, MusicXML, scanned handwritten manuscripts, images, and project files from notation and DAW software.
What are your business hours?
We’re open every day, 9:00 am to 9:00 pm Athens time. Reach us any time via the contact form or email (samy@scoremastersmusic.com) and we’ll reply within 12 hours. For urgent projects, call or WhatsApp +30 6944 917 867.
Is your service secure and legitimate?
Yes. ScoreMasters® is a registered business (VAT No. 046917917) based in Athens, Greece. Our site uses SSL encryption and all payments are processed securely through PayPal and Stripe. We treat your source material and deliverables as confidential and never share them outside the project, apart from trusted associates or subcontractors who are themselves bound by confidentiality. If you ask, and we agree in writing before work starts, we’ll handle your project under a formal NDA.
Can I ask for a refund?
Our work is made to order. If you cancel before we start, any deposit is returned in full. If you cancel after work has begun, we may retain a fair amount for work already completed and will hand over the finished portion at our discretion. As a rule we don’t refund completed work. We agree a clear scope at the outset and follow it precisely, and we’ll revise the deliverable to address any reasonable concern.
REVISIONS
What if I’m not happy with the deliverable?
We take accuracy and client satisfaction seriously, with projects at the highest level behind us. Send us your revision requests and we’ll do what it takes for you to be fully happy with the result.
How many revisions do you offer?
Two rounds, at no extra cost, on every service.
What do revisions include?
For accuracy-based services (such as transcription and engraving) we guarantee accuracy: any genuine error, measured against your source material and the agreed scope, is fixed free of charge. For interpretive services (such as arranging and orchestration), the two rounds cover normal adjustments of interpretation and taste.
What is not included in the revisions?
Reworking the structure, significant reharmonization or arrangement changes, altered instrumentation, new material, or a change of overall direction is treated as a new project with a new quote.
Can I request changes to the deliverable I received?
Of course. If the changes fall within the revision policy, we carry them out free of charge. Otherwise we’ll quote the most reasonable additional fee for the extra work.
SERVICES
Can I see examples of your work?
Yes. Our Portfolio page has many examples, as do the individual service pages. We’re also glad to share further examples relevant to the service you need.
Do you offer a free trial or sample?
For most projects we provide a free 8-bar trial so you can judge our work before committing. The trial is for evaluation only: it isn’t a deliverable, carries no right to use, perform, distribute, or publish it, and remains our property until you accept our quote and the project is paid in advance.
Do you take on large projects?
Yes. Clients have trusted us with everything from lead sheets to piano concertos and large orchestral works, for recording, live performance, and publication.
What files do I receive as deliverables?
Standard delivery includes a print-ready PDF and an audio mockup. If you own the intellectual property in the underlying work, or are authorized to commission it, you also receive the editable project files at no extra cost: MIDI, MusicXML, and notation files. Editable files are available to non-rights-holders for an additional fee.
What notation software do you use?
Our main programs are Dorico Pro, Sibelius Ultimate, and Finale. On request we also deliver in MuseScore Studio, Fender Notion, or Guitar Pro.
Can you match a specific publisher’s house style?
Yes. We can adjust our engraving to your specifications or replicate a house style you supply.
What’s the difference between Music Transcription, MIDI to Score, and AI Music to Score?
All three turn existing material into a clean, readable score, but they start from different sources. Music Transcription works by ear from audio, video, or a live performance, every note captured by credentialed musicians, no AI shortcuts. MIDI to Score starts from your DAW or MIDI files and produces a session-ready score with the articulations, voicing, and page turns that notation exports miss. AI Music to Score takes output from tools like Suno, Eleven Music, Mureka, or AIVA and turns it into a performance-ready score and parts, with orchestration or arranging added where the music needs it. If you’re not sure which fits, describe your material and we’ll point you to the right one.
How should I prepare my source material?
Send the clearest version you have. For audio, a clean stereo file (WAV or high-bitrate MP3) with minimal background noise gives the most accurate result. For notation, the original file or PDF rather than a photo of a screen. For handwritten manuscripts, a flat, well-lit scan. If all you have is a rough recording or a sketch, send it anyway. We work with imperfect sources every day and will tell you upfront if anything affects the quote or timeline.
Can you work from a video or a YouTube link?
Yes. We can transcribe from a video file or an online link as well as from audio. Send the link or file with your request and we’ll confirm whether the audio is clear enough for an accurate transcription.
Do you work with clients abroad?
Yes. We’ve worked online with clients worldwide since 2006. We quote in USD, EUR, or GBP, correspond in English, French, Greek, or Arabic, and schedule around your deadline and time zone.
COPYRIGHT
Will using your services raise any copyright issues?
By sending us source material and placing an order, you confirm that you hold the rights in the underlying music, have the rights-holder’s authorization to commission the work, or accept that your deliverables are for private, non-commercial use only. If you intend to use the deliverables publicly or commercially and they were made from copyrighted source material, you’ll need a license or permission from the copyright holder. Please consult a music attorney.
If I own the source material, do you keep any rights to my deliverables?
No. When we work from material you own, we don’t withhold any rights, unless a signed contract precedes an orchestration or arranging order. Our house style, templates, engraving conventions, and professional know-how remain ours and may be reused on other projects; this doesn’t affect your ownership of your specific deliverables.
Do I own an orchestration or arrangement I commission?
If you’re the copyright holder of the source material, yes, you own the rights to the orchestration or arrangement we create. Where you don’t own the underlying work, the orchestration or arrangement is for your personal use. We may separately agree, for an additional fee, to sell you the rights in the work we produced; any such buyout covers only our own work product and gives you no rights in the underlying composition, for which you remain responsible for obtaining clearances. Please consult a music attorney.
Do I need to credit ScoreMasters®?
Yes. When you perform, use, or publish our deliverables, we ask for appropriate credit; the exact wording can be settled in the order confirmation.
Is my source material kept private and secure?
We treat your source material and deliverables as confidential and never share them outside the project, apart from trusted associates or subcontractors bound by confidentiality. On written agreement before work starts, we’ll work under a formal NDA. We never use any part of your project (score images, audio, or any other excerpt) in our portfolio or for promotion without your prior written consent.
Do I own deliverables you prepare from AI-generated source material?
If your source comes from an AI tool (such as Suno, Eleven Music, Mureka, or AIVA), bear in mind that the copyright status of such material is unsettled and still developing. We offer no opinion on it, and the AI platform’s own terms may limit how its output can be used. You take full responsibility for any claim connected to its use, including any brought by the AI provider.