Winona plant to remain. No layoffs, according to Cyprus-base Muse Group, the purchaser. Remaining too will be the iconic brand name “Hal Leonard.”
Deal described as a separate but equal partnership
WINONA, Minn. – The giant Hal Leonard sheet music publish company, founded in Winona in 1947, has been acquired by Muse Group, which is based in the eastern Mediterranean island Cyprus. It’s a multi-million dollar deal, but the scope is hard to establish because companies are privately held and their financial data are tightly held. In the music industry the deal is described as “huge.” In announcing the deal, Muse said it’s more a merger than an acquisition The massive sheet-music printing plant at Winona’s East End technology park, which has 250 employees, employees, will remain in Winona. The Hal Leonard headquarters, which moved to Milwaukee in1986, also will remain in place. So too will the brand name “Hal Leonard.”
Verbatim
Joint Muse-Hal Leonard statement: ““This merger will create more music makers worldwide and will lead to even more advances in music education technology, while also expanding ways creators and rights holders can make their musical works more widely available. The companies have collaborated for 15 years and built trust and mutual respect over that time” and now have the opportunity to take the music industry in new directions.
“Now musicians can look forward to learning more from Hal Leonard’s high-quality arrangements and top-selling content in digitized, interactive formats on Muse platforms. With over 300 million annual visitors and over 40 million accounts on Ultimate Guitar and MuseScore alone, a whole new global audience will discover Hal Leonard’s library. Muse Group will also bring significant creator software and technical innovation to Hal Leonard’s digital offerings.
“In addition to their invaluable licensing and arranging experience, the considerable educational expertise of the Hal Leonard team will provide impetus to further expand Muse Group’s offering to music learners of all skill levels, through both crafted curriculums and pioneering AI-powered tools.”
Hal Leonard profile
Entrepreneurs Hal and Leonard Edstrom wondered in 1947 whether they could expand their modest sideline of mimeographing music for high school bands. They ventured to New York, made contacts on Tin Pan Alley, and came home with contro lof the copyright to “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now.” Other New York music publishers followed and turned to Hal Leonard to sell band arrangements of their songs. It was a brand new industry. Hal Leonard grew not only a high-school band clientele but also expanded through aggressive acquisitions. Among them:
> 1989: Jenson Publications (band, orchestra and choral).
> 1995: Homespun Music (instructional video and audio lessons).
> 2004: Applause Theater and Cinema Books.
> 2006: Amadeus Press, Limelight Editions, and Backbeat Books (music reference guides).
> 2009: Shawnee Press (online music notations).
> 2014: Niteflight (global music publisher).
> 2017: Sheet Music Press (online music retailer), Music Sales Group, and Group3 (tutorials videos),
Hal Leonard also holds exclusive license rights to Disney Music and Universal Music.
Muse Group profile
Muse Group is known mostly for open-source and private software for music notation and audio editing. Muse is headquartered in Limassol in Greek-speaking Cyprus. The company has offices in London and in Kaliningrad, and St. Petersburg in Russia. Among acquisitions:
> 2020: Muse Group was founded. Predecessors included Ultimate Guitar USA (tablature archive), MuseScore (guitar effects app for Apple and Android device), and Audacity (cross-platform, open-source, audio editor )
> 2021: SoftPad (scorewriting app).
> 2023: Hal Leonard (world’s largest sheet music publisher).
Want to perform some an old favorite? You’ll likely need to buy the sheet music from Hal Leonard. The company holds legal ights, for example, to lyricist Kim Gannon and composer Walter Kent’s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Yes, Hal Leonard has been cashing on the tune since Bing Crosby made it a hit in the 1943 namesake movie. Hal Leonard’s copyrights are vast. Think Broadway. Think the Beatles. Think Elvis. Think Taylor Swift.
Through the years
A Winona storefront. On Fourth Street. Founded in n 1947 by brothers Harold “Hal” Edstrom andEverett “Leonard” Edstrom, and fellow musician Roger Busdicker.
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Milwaukee headquarters. Administative headquarters to Milwaukee in 1996 to facilitate air connecions with cultural centers Los Angeles, Nashville and New York and also London and Europe.
Sells Mark Street plant. To sports paraphernalia manufacturer Wincraft in 2015. At 960 East Mark Street in Winona..
Massive update. Hal Leonard built a 165,000 square foot printing plant, warehouse and distribution centern in 2015. Has a 30-foot tall racknig system, a multi-story raised storage syste,. and 7,000 square feet of office space off a mezzanine . Cost: $18 million All designed as expandable.