In the world of digital scores, two applications stand out: Newzik and forScore. They offer musicians powerful tools for improving their practice and performance. While both applications have their strengths, Newzik offers a unique, collaborative and flexible experience, ideal for musicians seeking innovation, fluid connectivity and advanced interactive features.

Why choose Newzik?

Newzik is a digital score management and playback application that stands out for its advanced PDF reading and score organization features. It enables musicians to manage their scores flexibly and interactively, facilitating their daily practice.

Reading scores in PDF format

Newzik offers a PDF reader optimized for musicians, providing a fluid and customizable experience:

✅ Flexible display: page switching in portrait or landscape mode, with automatic scrolling option.

✅ Advanced page turning: use Bluetooth pedals or touch controls to change pages without interrupting play.

✅ Performance mode: simplified interface to avoid distractions during live performances.

✅ Half-page turn: feature that lets you anticipate the next bar without taking your eyes off the score.

Intelligent partition management

Newzik does more than simply read PDFs: its score management system makes it possible to organize and use a music library efficiently:

✅ Import and cloud storage: scores can be added in a variety of formats (PDF, MusicXML, MIDI) and easily retrieved via cloud storage.

✅ Filing and organization: create folders, setlists and collaborative projects to structure scores as needed.

✅ Advanced annotation tools: add notes, drawings and highlights with customizable layers, compatible with the Apple Pencil.

✅ Scanning paper scores: integration of a scanner to convert physical scores into PDF files that can be used directly in the application.

These features make Newzik a powerful solution for musicians seeking to digitize and optimize their score management.

Newzik's OMR and LiveScore, a unique tool!

Music is a constantly evolving art form, and digital tools play a key role in this transformation. Among these innovations, Newzik's LiveScore stands out as a revolutionary Optical Music Recognition technology based on artificial intelligence and deep learning. This breakthrough enables musicians to easily convert their paper or PDF scores into interactive LiveScores, opening up new perspectives for musical practice.

Newzik's LiveScores revolutionize the way musicians interact with their scores, transforming simple PDF documents into dynamic, interactive media. Thanks to advanced optical music recognition (OMR) technology and artificial intelligence, Newzik can convert paper or PDF scores into LiveScores, offering an enriched musical experience.

What is a LiveScore?

A LiveScore is an interactive digital sheet music that combines the advantages of PDF, MusicXML and MIDI formats. This fusion enables musicians not only to visualize their score, but also to listen to it, transpose it, modify tempo and even isolate specific instruments for personalized accompaniment. The automatic tracking cursor, synchronized with MIDI playback, makes it easy to decipher and learn songs.

The benefits of LiveScores

Interactive playback: Listen to your score with automatically generated audio, making it easy to learn and familiarize yourself with new pieces.
Total control: Modify tempo, transpose music to suit your needs and isolate instruments to create accompaniments tailored to your practice.
Extended compatibility: Export your LiveScores in MusicXML or MIDI format for use in music notation software or digital audio workstations (DAWs), allowing you to customize and arrange your scores according to your preferences.

How do I create a LiveScore with Newzik?

Import your score: Use the Newzik app on iPad, iPhone or via the Web to import your scores in PDF format, or scan them directly from the app.
Convert to LiveScore: Thanks to Newzik's OMR, based on artificial intelligence and deep learning, your score is analyzed and converted into an interactive LiveScore.
Take advantage of advanced features: Once converted, you can listen to, transpose, annotate and share your LiveScore with other musicians or students, facilitating collaboration and teaching.

Real-time collaboration and annotations

Newzik allows multiple users to annotate and edit scores simultaneously, perfect for ensembles, teachers and conductors wishing to share instant updates. The platform's organization lets you arrange your work sessions as you see fit. On the one hand, your library and setlists correspond to your score repertoires, and on the other, you can collaborate with other musicians in a dedicated collective space.

This gives you access to each other's comments and lets you know about potential changes in real time.

Hands-free page-turning with Newzik: a revolution for musicians

Turning the pages of a score while playing can be a real challenge. Newzik offers an innovative solution: page changing using facial gestures, ideal for musicians who want to keep their hands free (also compatible with Bluetooth pedals).

How does it work?

Newzik uses your device's front camera to detect your gestures and turn pages automatically. Two modes are available:

Wink: A wink to turn the page.
Lip movement: Move your lips left or right to navigate.

Customization and Settings

You can adjust gesture sensitivity, activate backtracking or reverse directions to suit your preferences. The angle and position of the device also influence tracking efficiency.

Transposition of PDF and scanned scores

Transposing a PDF or scanned score has always been a headache for musicians. Until now, there has been no quick and easy solution. But at Newzik, we've changed all that. Thanks to our LiveScore technology, we're the only ones to offer smooth, automatic transposition of digital scores, without having to recopy everything by hand.

Transpose a score in seconds

With Newzik, transforming a score into a transposed version is child's play:

Open your PDF or scanned score in the application.
Click on the transposition button at the bottom of the screen.
Let Newzik automatically convert your score into an interactive format.
Choose your tonality and press "Create" to instantly generate a new version tailored to your needs.

In just a few seconds, you have a perfectly legible score that can be modified in the tonality your choice.

Why is it a revolution?

Before Newzik, transposing a PDF or scan meant rewriting everything by hand, or using impractical tools. We're the first to offer such a fluid, high-performance solution. No need to waste time rewriting every note: with LiveScore, the music adapts to you, not the other way round.

Whether you're a singer, instrumentalist or teacher, this feature changes the way you work with sheet music. Try it now and discover the new era of digital music!

➡️ Find out more here: Transposing a score (scan or PDF)

Cloud storage and multi-device access

Newzik is available on iOS on these different supports, but has also developed a web version that lets you access your work from any computer, phone or tablet. Unlike conventional PDF-based apps, Newzik saves your scores in the cloud, guaranteeing easy access from any device and preventing any loss of data.

Customized setlists and intuitive organization

Easily organize and rearrange your scores with setlist management, ideal for concerts and rehearsals.

Convert PDF scores to MusicXML with Newzik

Newzik offers an innovative solution for transforming PDF scores into MusicXML files, thanks to its LiveScores technology. This feature uses Optical Music Recognition (OMR) to analyze and convert static scores into editable files for use in software such as MuseScore, Sibelius or Dorico.

With this conversion, musicians can modify, transpose and rearrange their scores with total flexibility, while benefiting from Newzik's collaborative and interactive tools. An ideal solution for modernizing and optimizing digital score management.

Learn the 3 best ways to convert a PDF score into MusicXML

Dedicated customer support

Newzik has a highly responsive free customer service. Members of the startup answer your needs and questions, and guide you through your first steps with the interface. This active service guarantees a response within 48 hours at the latest.

We attach great importance to the relationship we have with our users. They can trust us and rely on us at all times.

Forscore, on the other hand, offers its users paid customer service.

forScore: A strong competitor

forScore is a digital score reading and management application for iPad and iPhone, specially designed for musicians. It lets you view, annotate and organize scores in PDF format.

1. Local partition management without cloud dependency

100% local storage: Newzik relies mainly on the cloud, but forScore has chosen to allow musicians to manage their scores directly on their device.

2. Advanced playback and navigation in scores

Double-page display mode: Two pages can be displayed side by side, ideal for musicians playing on a large iPad.
Page turning by sound detection: Experimental function enabling the application to change page by reacting to the sound of the instrument.
Internal hyperlinks: Create clickable links between different pages in the same document for quick navigation (useful for cover versions and codas).

3. Integrated scanner for digitizing sheet music (also Newzik)

Scan directly from the camera: scan a paper score and instantly convert it to PDF.
Automatic perspective correction: intelligent adjustment to avoid distortion and improve legibility.
Page merging and reordering: change page order after scanning.

4. Advanced annotation and customization tools

Custom stamps and symbols: Create stamps with custom musical symbols for quick score annotation.
Advanced drawing tools: Annotation layer management, allowing you to add different layers of notes without modifying the original score.
Smart Eraser: Allows you to delete only certain annotations without deleting an entire layer.

5. Integrated music tools

Advanced metronome:
- Visual, audible or vibrating mode to adapt to game situations.
- Tempo synchronization with individual scores.
Interactive audio player:
- Association of an MP3/WAV file with a partition.
- Loop function to repeat a specific passage.
- Tempo adjustment without altering pitch (ideal for practice).
Built-in tuning fork: For fast instrument tuning without the need for an external application.

6. Flexible sharing and exporting

Export with integrated annotations: Unlike Newzik, which relies on cloud-based collaborative annotations, forScore only exports a PDF score with annotations applied directly to the file.
Create separate annotated versions: Save multiple annotated versions of the same score and switch between them easily.

7. Rehearsal mode and concert song management

Dynamic setlists with internal links: add songs to an interactive playlist with quick navigation.
Repeat" mode: Allows you to program automatic returns to certain pages to manage repeats without manual intervention.

Conclusion

forScore stands out for its offline autonomy, advanced annotation tools and interactive music functions.

If you prefer local management and tools for individual use, forScore is a good choice. On the other hand, if you're looking for the same tools plus a cloud and collaborative solution, Newzik is more suitable. ??

Comparison table


Functionality	Newzik	forScore
Real-time collaboration	✅	❌
Cloud storage	✅	❌
Automated page turner	✅	✅
Fast transposition	✅	❌
Customized setlists	✅	✅
Dedicated customer support	✅	❌
Single purchase	✅ (Essentials and Premium Lifetime	✅
Subscription	✅ (Annual or Single Purchase)	❌
Multi-device synchronization	✅	❌
Audio and video integration	✅	❌

Pricing

Newzik: Available as a one-off purchase or via subscription. Users can choose between Essentials ($24.99) and Premium versions, offered as a one-off purchase ($149) or via an annual subscription ($49.99), offering flexibility to suit different needs 📲 Download Newzik App
forScore: One-time purchase of $19.99 with optional integrated purchases. Pricing details may change and should be checked regularly.

Which application is right for you?

Both applications offer high-quality tools, but the choice depends on your musical needs and the way you work. If you're looking for a connected, collaborative solution with multi-device synchronization and more user-friendly, interactive features, Newzik is the best choice. Its sharing and automation capabilities make it an ideal solution for modern musicians seeking efficiency and innovation.

Conversely, forScore remains an excellent choice for those who prefer a more traditional approach.

Ultimately, Newzik's innovative features make it a forward-looking solution, ideal for musicians wishing to take full advantage of digital sheet music. Whether you're a soloist, a teacher or a member of an ensemble, Newzik offers a unique, connected and highly customizable experience that brings music back to life in an interactive and collaborative way.

Newzik - What is it?

📲 To find out more, take a look at our our website. You can also reach us at contact@newzik.com

Newzik or Forscore, that's the question!