Hal Leonard, the leading sheet music and educational publisher has joined digital leader Muse Group in a partnership which they hope will revolutionize access to popular music and creator tools for musicians.
In a joint statement they said: "Muse Group and Hal Leonard are thrilled to continue pioneering new solutions for creatives, music makers and learners as partners in the future."
Supported by investment from Francisco Partners, the agreement marks the next step in a long-standing partnership between the companies. Both will retain their respective headquarters in the USA and Cyprus as well as their distinct operational expertise.
Muse
Muse Group is the maker of one of the world's most popular online libraries, tools and community spaces for audio creators — including MuseScore, Ultimate Guitar, and Audacity.
Along with its massive catalogue of premier educational and classical music, Hal Leonard's licensed arrangements include many of the world's leading artists from Taylor Swift and The Beatles to John Williams and Disney soundtracks.
Combined with over 3 million expert and community-created tabs and compositions on Muse Group's Ultimate Guitar and MuseScore, the joint business now includes a content library of over 5.5 million scores, tabs, books, video courses, backing tracks and presets.
Look forward
A spokesperson said: "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."
It is understood that Muse Group will bring significant creator software and technical innovation to Hal Leonard's digital offerings.
In addition, the educational expertise of the Hal Leonard team will provide impetus to further expand Muse Group's offering to music learners of all skill levels.
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 availableHal Leonard
Valued partnerships
Eugeny Naidenov, Muse Group CEO, stated: "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."
It was also stated that the newly expanded Muse Group remains committed to continuing Hal Leonard's valued partnerships with educators, retailers, distributors, suppliers, content creators and license holders that serve the global music community.
More music makers
Hal Leonard's Chairman, Larry Morton added: "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."
