Wise Music Group
Wise Music Group is an international family of music publishing companies. It is one of the largest independent music publishers and the world's largest publisher of classical music.
Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Music publishing |
Headquarters | Berners Street, London, United Kingdom |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Robert Wise (Group Chairman) Tomas Wise (CEO, Wise Music (USA))
|
Website | http://www.wisemusic.com/ |
Formerly known as The Music Sales Group for over 90 years, the company was founded in 1930 by the Wise family in New York as a printed music company. The company changed its name to Wise Music Group in February 2020 [1][2] following the sale in 2018 of its physical and online print divisions, including Musicroom.com and sheetmusicdirect.com, to Milwaukee-based publisher Hal Leonard for more than $50 million.[3] Hal Leonard continues to distribute Wise Music's publishing catalogs worldwide. The Group is now focused on expanding its already substantial worldwide portfolio of copyrights across all music styles and genres. It is known for actively promoting media use of music in which it holds a commercial interest as well as creating entirely new media and stage productions that incorporate music to which it holds the rights.
Headquartered in Berners Street, London, the Group also maintains fully staffed offices in New York, Santa Monica, Paris, Madrid, Sydney, Copenhagen and Berlin. Warehouse facilities and hire libraries are located in Chester, New York and Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk,UK.[4]
In 2014, Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) acquired French classical music publisher Éditions Alphonse Leduc. Founded in 1842, Éditions Alphonse Leduc administers a broad range of rights for classical and operatic works by the likes of Rossini, Bellini, Weber and Meyerbeer, as well as pieces by Clémenti, Brahms, Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky. It is home to works by well known French composers, including Olivier Messiaen, Francis Poulenc, Jacques Ibert, Henri Dutilleux and Joseph Canteloube.[5]
In November 2016, Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) completed the acquisition of Paris-based publishing house Le Chant du Monde from [PIAS]. Le Chant du Monde is home to a substantial catalog of French and Russian copyrights including works by Honegger, Milhaud, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Khachaturian, as well as a roster of contemporary composers including Nicolas Bacri, Oscar Strasnoy and Ramon Lazkano. Le Chant du Monde was established in Paris by Leon Moussinac in 1938 and has played a prominent part in French musical life for the past eighty years.[6]
In March 2017, Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group), completed the acquisition of Bleu Blanc Rouge (BBR) from legendary Belgian record producer and songwriter Jean Kluger. BBR was established by Huguette and Jean Kluger in Paris in 1967 and includes a string of timeless hits written by Jean Kluger in partnership with Daniel Vangarde, including ‘D.I.S.C.O.’, ‘Cuba’, ‘Que Sera Mi Vida (If You Should Go)’, ‘Hands Up’ and many more.[7]
Wise Music Group specializes in five main areas of music:
- Music Publishing
- Film, TV, Stage, Digital
- Book Publishing
- Record Labels
- Digital Education
1.Music Publishing
Wise Music Group owns or controls over 400,000 copyrights and publishes over 90 living composers. It offers a full-service approach spanning Copyright, Royalty Accounting, Licensing, Income Tracking and Legal & Business Affairs. In addition, it provides A&R services, hire libraries and editorial services.
The group’s publishing arm also oversees and coordinates a range of promotional, production and other activities aimed at maximizing the value for its composers and copyrights.
Popular
Our many song catalogues reflect a broad range of popular music encompassing, evergreen, jazz, reggae, blues and pop/rock songs from all territories. The Campbell Connelly catalogue alone owns over 100,000 popular titles. Other notable catalogues include Eaton, Noel Gay, The Sparta Florida Music Group, Bosworth & Co., Dorsey Brothers Music, Embassy Music and Tempo Music. Among our more most famous titles are “Lovin’ You”, “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend”, “Tainted Love”, “Unchain My Heart”, “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll”, “The Tide Is High”, “Kingston Town”, “Sunny”, “The Twist” and “Try A Little Tenderness”. A complete list of artists and works can be found on wisemusiccreative.com .[8]
Classical
Wise Music Group maintains a portfolio that represents the world’s largest independent holdings of classical music. Traditional publishing houses in the Group include Chester Music, Novello & Co, G. Schirmer/AMP, J Curwen, Unión Musical Ediciones, Edition Wilhelm Hansen, Éditions Alphonse Leduc, Le Chant du Monde and Bosworth. The Group also holds international rights to the work of many leading classical composers and maintains its own roster of composers who generate original material that assures the group exclusive rights. The group’s roster includes, among others, Ludovico Einaudi, Philip Glass, Joby Talbot, Igor Stravinsky, Francis Poulenc, Olivier Messiaen, Jean Sibelius, Hans Abrahamsen, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Missy Mazzoli, Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Kaija Saariaho, John Tavener, Samuel Barber, John Corigliano and Tan Dun. A complete list of composers and their works can be found on. Wisemusicclassical.com
2.Film, TV, Stage, Digital
Wise Music Group Collaborations
This division creates original media usage for music in which Wise Music Group holds interests. From offices in London, New York, Santa Monica, Copenhagen, Paris and Berlin; it works with contracted composers as well as with material from its extensive song catalogs.
Film
Music Wise Music Group composers have created scores for many films including The Joker (Hildur Guðnadóttir) The Piano (Michael Nyman), The Wife (Jocelyn Pook), The Happy Prince (Gabriel Yared), McQueen (Michael Nyman), Les Intouchables (Ludovico Einaudi), Whitney (Adam Wiltzie), Calibre (Anne Nikitin) and Puzzle (Dustin O’Halloran). The Group's song catalogs can be found in both classic Hollywood and contemporary films. Examples include,“Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” (Moulin Rouge! ), “La Nativité du Seigneur” (The Favourite), “Lemon Tree”(First Man), “Dance Of The Cuckoos” (Stan & Ollie), “Run Rabbit Run”(Get Out), “Lucky Man” (Blackkklansman) and “Little Liz I Love You” (Fisherman’s Friends).
Wise Music Creative
Wise Music Creative is dedicated to maximizing the value of the group’s music assets, both classical and popular, by promoting their use in theatre, advertising, movies, TV and general broadcasting. Inspired by the global success of the two full-length ballets commissioned by the Royal Ballet for which composer Joby Talbot wrote the scores, Wise Music Creative aims to foster this spirit of innovation, initiative and collaboration in a wider program of movie, dance and theatrical productions including film documentaries.[9]
Schirmer Theatrical
The Schirmer Theatrical division produces new symphonic cinema concepts (movies screened with live orchestra accompaniment replacing the original soundtrack score). Examples include The Pink Panther, The Red Violin and Ghostbusters. The division also creates a variety of other symphonic experiences and theatrical concert productions including Women Rock and Revolution. Award-winning producers, arrangers, directors, production designers and engineers work with in-house creative and technical teams to create imaginative, high-end live productions. In this way the Group’s substantial worldwide music rights become a valuable core component to new productions. Among the international rights holders who have entrusted Schirmer Theatrical to create new productions are Sony Pictures, MGM Studios, Lionsgate Entertainment Corp, Netflix and Sony/ATV.[10]
3.Book Publishing
Omnibus Press
Under its respected Omnibus Press imprint Wise Music Group commission and publish substantial biographies and autobiographies of music artists. To date, best-selling biographies include Morrissey, Keith Moon, Kate Bush, The Velvet Underground, ABBA and Bob Marley. Omnibus Press also has a reputation for publishing pop books and high-quality photographic collections featuring the work of some of the world’s top rock and pop photographers.[11] Its website is omnibuspress.com.
4.Record Labels
Storyville Records
Storyville Records is a renowned label featuring recordings of New Orleans jazz, swing, big band, free jazz, blues and contemporary jazz. Founded in 1952 in Copenhagen, it holds a catalog of highly collectible re-issues as well as original recordings made by legendary jazz and blues musicians when they toured Europe and Scandinavia. Classic musicians represented on the label include Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Big Bill Broonzy and Sonny Boy Williamson. Storyville also releases new recordings by contemporary jazz performers such as Thomas Fonnesbæk, Justin Kauflin, Sigurdur Flosason and the Lars Jansson Trio. Its website is www.storyvillerecords.com/.[12]
Node Records
Node Records is a boutique label that records and releases soundtrack music from ground-breaking films. Recent successes include Stanley Clarke’s score for “Halston”, Jocelyn Pook’s Music+Sound Award-winning best original Composition for “The Wife”, and Marco Beltrami & Brandon Roberts’ Emmy nominated music for “Free Solo”. Releasing recorded music whose rights we represent ensures that it achieves the widest possible exposure and so maximizes its value to the group. Based in Los Angeles and New York, Node Records partners with BFD/The Orchard Sony for marketing and distribution purposes.Its website is www.noderecords.com.[13]
5.Digital Education
MusicFirst
The US Digital Education Division, MusicFirst, is based in the New York office. It offers music teachers and their students easy-to-use, cloud-based tools that enable music learning, creation, assessment, sharing and exploration. Designed to work 24/7 on any browser, the system is based on the proprietary MusicFirst Classroom – the only learning management system designed specifically for K-12 music education. All teacher and student work is saved in the cloud, guaranteeing seamless automatic updates as well as removing to the need involve school IT departments. The MusicFirst team comprises current and former music educators with decades of combined experience of integrating technology into music curricula. Its website is www.musicfirst.com.[14]
Charanga
Charanga is an award-winning digital education unit for teaching the UK’s New Music Curriculum. Based in Brighton, Sussex, Charanga offers three broad strands of online learning: Musical School (for Primary Teachers), VIP Studio Sessions (for Secondary Teachers and young people aged 12 to 18) and Music Professional (for Instrumental Teachers). Charanga maintains thriving partnerships with over 100 Music Services and Hubs and as well as with several large international teaching organizations. Its website is www.charanga.com.[15]
Companies in the Wise Music Group[16]
G. Schirmer/AMP
Part of Wise Music Group international network of publishing houses, G. Schirmer/AMP, is the oldest continuously active North American classical music publisher. Schirmer publishes most of the leading Russian composers, notably Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Khachaturian plus many other celebrated composers of the past and present including Barber, Ives, Menotti, Ellington, Aucoin, Catan, Corigliano, Dennehy, Kernis, Mazzoli and Tan Dun.
Wise Music USA
This company was founded in 1930 by Alexander Wise and has been family run ever since. It is the holding company for the US based publishing houses with offices based in New York and Santa Monica. It represents a diverse catalogue of pop evergreens such as “Let’s Work Together” (Wilbert Harrison), “Only in My Dreams” (Debbie Gibson), and well known standards such as “Autumn in New York” and “April in Paris” (Vernon Duke), “It’s All in the Game” (Carl Sigman), “Chances Are” (Al Stillman), “Angel Eyes” (Matt Dennis) and “Strange Fruit” (Lewis Allan).
Embassy Music Publishing
The Embassy catalogue represents contemporary music from the 20th and 21st centuries. The company also publishes many hits and standards, including: “Two Tickets to Paradise” and “Baby Hold On (Eddie Money), “Inside My Love” (Minnie Riperton), “Stay” and “Little Darlin” (Maurice Williams), “Opus One” (Sy Oliver), “Native New Yorker” and “Swearin’ to God” (Denny Randell).
Éditions Alphonse Leduc
One of France’s oldest and most prestigious music publishing houses, Leduc was founded in 1841. Today its catalogue includes the works of Jacques Ibert, Gabriel Fauré, Darius Milhaud, André Jolivet, Francis Poulenc, Olivier Messiaen and Henri Dutilleux among many others.
Edition Wilhelm Hansen
This prestigious Danish imprint was established in Copenhagen in 1857 and is still managed by the latest generation of the Wilhelm Hansen family. It publishes many renowned Scandinavian composers, including Nielsen and Sibelius and contemporary composers such as Hans Abrahamsen, Per Nørgård, Bent Sørensen and Poul Ruders, as well leading writers from other genres such as Sebastian and Jacob Groth.
Première Music Group
This distinguished Paris-based music group is the umbrella company for several publishing companies including Le Chant du Monde, Éditions Choudens, Éditions Alphonse Leduc, Éditions Bleu Blanc Rouge and Éditions Transatlantiques. Authors represented include Henri Salvador, Serge Gainsbourg, Mort Shuman, Alain Bashung and Jean-Max Rivière.
Unión Musical Ediciones
Madrid-based UME was founded in 1900 and has been part of the group since 1990. Its catalogue includes a wealth of Spanish music with works by Joaquín Rodrigo, Manuel de Falla, Joaquín Turina, Isaac Albéniz, Xavier Montsalvatge, Enrique Granados and Federico Mompou.
Bosworth Music Group
Based in Berlin, Bosworth is a 126-year old company with a substantial catalogue of rights spanning pop and classical as well as film scores. Composers represented include the perennially popular James Last, American singer songwriter William Fitzsimmons, and Volker Bertelmann, the pianist and composer who mainly performs and records under the name Hauschka. Bosworth also enters into creative collaborations with other publishers for individual ventures.
Wise Music Pty
Established in Australia in 1972, the Australia & New Zealand office made an early catalogue acquisition that featured classic songs, among them Eric Bogle’s outstanding “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda” and “No Man’s Land”. It has also acquired the Australia and New Zealand rights for songs of Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and other writers from the Chess Records’ Arc catalogue.
Chester Music
Founded in the 1860s in Sussex, England, Chester Music at first imported and distributed classical editions from Europe. Under new ownership it published Igor Stravinsky, Francis Poulenc and Manuel de Falla. Eventually it became part of the group where it added many prestigious British and European and American composers to its roster, among them Witold Lutosławski, Hans Werner Henze, Henryk Górecki, John Tavener, Michael Nyman, Philip Glass, Kaija Saariaho, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Nico Muhly, Judith Weir, Ludovico Einaudi, Bryce Dessner and Joby Talbot.
Novello & Company
Novello was established in London in 1811 by Vincent Novello to publish editions of his own church music. His son subsequently used it to establish a dominant presence in low-cost mass sales of choral music. Educational publishing became an important part of the Novello catalogue which today remains a major choral publisher and champion of new music. Novello composers include Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, Malcolm Arnold, Richard Rodney Bennett and Tarik O’Regan.
Eaton Music
Eaton Music was founded in 1975. Early signings included Harry Nilsson, Jimmy Webb, Ringo Starr and Status Quo. It soon established a reputation for attracting film composers and today the company maintains publishing relationships with a list of composers that includes Anne Nikitin, Oliver Davis and Andy Price.
Campbell Connelly
One of the legendary names in popular music, the Campbell Connelly publishing imprint was started by Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly in 1925. Today it has grown into a vast catalogue of popular music that includes many evergreen popular songs, among them “Try A Little Tenderness”, “Goodnight Sweetheart”, “Show Me The Way To Go Home” and “We’ll Meet Again”.
Curwen Edition
The origin of Curwen was as an East London printing business but in the early 1900s it became a music publisher with a distinguished catalogue that included Holst’s “The Planets” and “St Paul’s Suite”, and Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis”.
Noel Gay Music Company Ltd
In 1938, the composer Noel Gay started a music publishing company to feature his show songs and light music. Today Noel Gay remains a uniquely popular catalogue of British songs dating from the late 1930s and 1940s. Among the best known are “Leaning On A Lamp-Post”, “The Lambeth Walk”, “Run, Rabbit, Run” and “Me and My Girl”.
Les Éditions Choudens
Choudens is one of the largest French music catalogues and includes famous names like Hector Berlioz, Georges Bizet, Charles Gounod, Jacques Offenbach, André Messager, Paul Landowski and Henri Dutilleux. It also represents many renowned composers of film music.
Bleu Blanc Rouge
BBR was established in 1967 by Jean Kluger and his wife Huguette. Jean Kluger would co-write co-wrote the Club Med favourites: “Hands Up”, “D.I.S.C.O.”, “Cuba” and “Aieaoa” as well as hits for Petula Clark, Sheila, Rika Zaraï, Claude François, Dalida, Sacha Distel and Ringo.
Le Chant du Monde Le Chant du Monde has played a prominent part in French musical life for the past eighty years. It holds French publishing rights for some of the greatest Russian composers of the 20th century, including Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Aram Khachaturian and Dmitri Kabalevsky.
Shawnee Press
Shawnee Press was established in the 1930s by Fred Waring, businessman, television personality and choral director of the famous Waring’s Pennsylvanians. Its catalogue includes the songs “When You’re Smiling”, “Bugler’s Dream (Olympic Fanfare)”, “Summertime, Summertime” and “Chiquita Banana”.
The Sparta Florida Music Group
Sparta Florida was formed in the 1960s by the songwriter, lyricist and entrepreneur Hal Shaper. Shaper’s “Softly As I Leave You” was a major hit for Matt Monro. Later Shaper’s eclectic taste prompted diversification into reggae, and Sparta Florida published hits like “The Tide is High”, “Kingston Town” and “Pass the Dutchie”.
Selected imprints
- Acorn (pennywhistles)
- Amsco Publications
- Ariel Publications (classical guitar only)
- E. J. Arnold & Son, Limited (recorder books)
- Ashley Publications Inc.
- Schuberth & Co., Inc.
- Larrabee Publications
- Lewis Music Publishing Co.
- Heritage Publications, Inc.
- Kammen Music Co.
- Bosworth Music GmbH, Berlin
- Campbell Connelly, founded by Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly
- Carlanita Music Company LLC, founded after the death Carlos Chávez by his daughter, Ana Chávez Ortiz), G. Schirmer, selling agent
- Chester Music Limited
- Eaton Music
- Embassy Music, founded by Tommy Dorsey
- Edition Wilhelm Hansen
- Le Chant du Monde
- Nancy Music Company Inc., books of Chez "Bugs" Bower; né Maurice D. Bower; born 1922
- Node Records
- Noel Gay Music Company, founded by Noel Gay
- Novello & Co., Ltd., London
- Oak Publications, folk music and pennywhistles books
- Omnibus Press
- Passantino Manuscript Papers
- Première Music Group
- Éditions Alphonse Leduc
- Éditions Choudens (fr)
- Éditions Bleu Blanc Rouge, founded by Jean Kluger
- Éditions Musicales Transatlantiques (fr), acquired in 2009 by Music Sales Group
- Rhinegold Education, a division acquired from Rhinegold Publishing by Music Sales Group in 2010
- G. Schirmer Inc. (subsidiary)
- Associated Music Publishers
- J. Curwen & Sons Limited London
- Boston Music Company, founded in 1885 by Gustav Schirmer, Jr. (1864–1907)
- Schirmer Trade Books
- Shawnee Press, acquired by Music Sales Group. in 1989; sold, with Music Sales Group., in 2009 to Hal Leonard Corporation
- Sparta Florida Music Group, founded by Hal Shaper
- Storyville Records
- UME (Unión Musical Ediciones S.L.), founded in Bilbao in 1900; acquired by Music Sales Group in 1990
- Wise Publications
- Yorktown Music Press
References
- "Music Sales changes name to Wise Music Group, signs Ólafur Arnalds and Evan Dando of The Lemonheads". Musicbusinessworldwide.com. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- "The Music Sales Group is now Wise Music Group". Wisemusic.com.
- "Music Sales is now a pureplay publisher with $50m+ in the bank, after selling books and retail business". Music Business Worldwide. 2018-04-04. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "Contact - Wise Music Group". www.wisemusic.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "Music Sales acquires classical French publisher". www.prsformusic.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "The Music Sales Group acquires Le Chant du Monde - Wise Music Group - News". www.wisemusic.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "The Music Sales Group acquires Bleu Blanc Rouge - Wise Music Group - News". www.wisemusic.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "Home - Wise Music Creative UK". uk.wisemusiccreative.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "Home - Wise Music Creative UK". uk.wisemusiccreative.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "About Schirmer Theatrical". Schirmer Theatrical. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "About Us". omnibuspress.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "About us - Storyville Records - The Best in Jazz since 1952". www.storyvillerecords.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "Node Records". noderecords.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "MusicFirst-About Us". www.musicfirst.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- Home; School, Primary Teachers Musical; Sessions, Secondary Teachers and Young People 12-18 VIP Studio; Yumu, Home Learning; Professional, Music Hubs Music; School, International Schools Musical; Musikpartner, Denmark; Musikpartner, Rest of Europe; organisations, Collaborations Projects with other. "Charanga - Primary music curriculum, Secondary & Instrumental music". Charanga. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "Our Companies - Wise Music Group". www.wisemusic.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.