Despite pushback, there is still a receptive audience waiting.
There have been and there are growing audiences that are receptive to an easier way to read music. Two important examples that demonstrate this are tablatures and Synthesia.
Tablatures are a "short cut" around Traditional Notation that allow a musician to directly map notes to fingers on a particular instrument, like Guitar Tabs. And there are a few are the piano. While they are not full-function general notations like WYSIWYP, they demonstrate that musicians are open to easier ways to learn and play. Klavarskribo is both a tablature for the piano and a full function notation; and it continues to be an alternative for many musicians at all playing levels (although as I have said earlier, I am not recommending it for beginners).
Another example of musicians wanting a simpler way to read music is Synthesia (here on Wikipedia). While Synthesia is not sheet music notation, it works like an animated Klavarskribo sheet music. If you’re not familiar with it, go to YouTube and search for it. Young people use the videos or even the Synthesia app to learn to play their favorite tunes. This demonstrates they find it an easier and more enjoyable way to play music.
(The name Synthesia is not to be confused with Synesthesia, a neurological condition!. While Synthesia AI is the name of a synthetic media generation platform used to create AI-generated video content.)
The most important lessons taught by Synthesia are:
1. It demonstrates that there is an interest in an easier way to learn to play music.
2. It shows how ideas can be quickly spread on the internet and adopted thanks to websites and social media.
3. it proves young people will experiment with new tools, techniques, and apps.
4. it proves young people are not bound by tradition and are willing to experiment.
And thus, the take-away is that a well-designed and easy-to-read music notation app might also appeal to a large segment of Synthesia’s users as well as others. And as a result, the app and its notation could also spread like a meme on the internet.