Hal Leonard Joins Muse Group
In another major merger in the music industry, sheet music, and education publisher Hal Leonard has been acquired by Muse Group. A press release from Muse Group says the partnership solidifies its position as the industry leader in music content and creation. At the same time, each company will “retain their respective HQs in the USA and Cyprus, and distinct operational expertise.”
Muse states that Hal Leonard’s licensed arrangements, which include a vast library of music for bassists, will be available in digitized, interactive formats on their platforms. Muse Group owns several platforms, including MuseScore, Audacity, and Ultimate Guitar, home to over three million expert and community-created tabs. Combined with Hal Leonard, the combined total comes to over 5.5 million scores, tabs, books, video courses, backing tracks, and presets.
“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,” they share. “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.”
“Our passion for improving the lives of all musicians has always been at the heart of Muse Group — and we’re immensely excited to partner with the Hal Leonard team who share that passion,” says Eugeny Naidenov, Muse Group CEO.
Hal Leonard is, however, not going away. The name and legacy will continue. Muse also states that all Hal Leonard employees will continue in their current roles.
“This partnership 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,” commented Larry Morton, Hal Leonard’s Chairman. “Hal Leonard and Muse have been working closely together for over fifteen years and have built trust and mutual respect over that time. Combining the strengths of both companies is a truly exciting prospect, full of potential ways to grow the music industry in new directions.”
