Tradition is an enormous hurdle to overcome despite the fact that there are newer and easier methods (take for example the metric system in the United States).  Big change is slow and can take generations.  Traditional sheet music notation has slowly evolved with small incremental changes over centuries.  But there have been no major overhauls to address what many believe are significant challenges to beginning students of music. 

It’s important to remember that the Alternative Notation movement is not about changing the music itself nor music theory.  It’s about simplifying the reading of music so that more people can participate in the joys of playing music.  And in the end, does the listener know or care what sheet music notation musicians are using?  Sheet music notation is just a musician's tool.  I believe there is plenty of room in the toolbox for new and better tools.

Today, thanks to tradition, if one wants to participate in the mainstream of the music world, one must speak the language of traditional notation (unless you can manage your goals via playing by ear*).  So those who are dedicated to a “serious” path in music are likely going to need to be able to read it.  However, many younger students of music simply want to play in the school orchestra or marching band.  Many adults want to play for their own enjoyment, alone or with fiends and family.  Many retirees want to fulfill a lifelong desire to make music. However, for some, the challenge of reading traditional notation slows down the learning process to the point that it takes all the enjoyment out of playing.  For most of these amateurs (and I mean this in the sense of the word's origin: lovers), there is no need to needlessly suffer when an alternative notation can reduce the frustration, speed up the learning of music the student loves, and bring joy into making music.  Unfortunately, there are no viable full function alternatives available other than Klavarskribo (which I do not recommend). 

Breaking centuries of tradition will not be easy. Generally, neither students nor teachers are not even aware of the concept of alternatives. I confess I can remember the days when one could say the same thing about cell phones.  Adoption of them ramped up over decades as the technology evolved, cell tower networks expanded, and adventurous users tried them. Nowadays many people don't use, or even have, a landline.  Thus, with a fully developed innovative product that makes life easier and is widely promoted can within a lifetime revolutionize the the telephone system. I believe it is possible for alternative notations to do the same when properly developed and promoted.  The difference is that there are not enormous amounts of money to be made.  But I believe there are societal benefits when more people are playing music across their lifetimes.  

The free market system is based on supply and demand.  Like the cell phone system had in the beginning, the alternative notation movement has a chicken and egg problem.  Students can't use an alternative they don't know about (no demand), and music teachers are not teaching them (no supply).  

One barrier for adopting a new notation is the requirement to have sufficient sheet music available for its users.  These days, thanks to electronic device apps, virtual (and printed) sheet music can be generated from digitized scores in MusicXML and MIDI file formats.  But the larger barrier is tradition itself.  Pretty much everyone involved in the Western music mainstream has spent their musical lifetime with this notation.  As a result, there is no interest in, and often strong resistance to, any proposed alternatives. 

There may also be an “initiation” syndrome in effect: “I suffered through the initiation into this club and so by golly all new members are going to have to go through it too!”  Musicians brought up on traditional notation, even if they may have struggled to learn it, are now in the club.  And many of the club members do not want to make it easier to join by breaking tradition.

In my own experience with friends and family regarding alternatives, I have gotten rather abrupt and dismissive reactions.  I have also observed online discussions of Alternative Notations with comments that represent the view that those who cannot read Traditional Notation are stupid and/or lazy.  “People who think it's difficult were probably taught badly, or couldn't be bothered to work at it, or are a bit dim.”  That is an actual comment on an online video about alternative notations, and here are some more.)  I suppose a hundred years ago those with that same logic railed against using the Arabic numbering system over the traditional Roman numerals (try doing your taxes with the latter).

So in the end, there’s really not much point in trying to convince most current sheet music readers that alternatives merit even a look much less actual consideration.  Unfortunately because of this, those most likely to benefit from alternatives do not even know they exist: the beginning students of music. This is because the gatekeepers to music education, the instructors, are also in the club. However, if they can be convinced that an alternative provides a more effective, enjoyable, and productive learning experience, then perhaps they will realize that they can attract and retain more students. Hopefully, that will provide an incentive. But they are not going to adopt alternatives without some persuasive evidence of their value.  And this is where academic research comes in.  Read on.

*There are many famous professionals musicians who can’t read music at all, or have/had difficulty reading it, e.g., Prince, Eric Clapton, Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Dave Brubeck, Irving Berlin, and Joni Mitchell.  Of course, these are the exceptions to the professional musician “rule”, but they illustrate that the challenge of reading music is not limited to beginners.