Alfred Music Publishing has been honored with four Paul Revere Awards for graphic excellence by the Music Publishers Association of the United States during their annual meeting held on June 3, 2011 at the Harvard Club of New York City.
“After 86 years in music educational publishing, you would have thought there were no more ways to print music, but what the Shredhed guys have done is unique and revolutionary,” says Alfred’s Ron Manus. “They have found a way to improve on the way music is delivered. For certain types of music, their system truly makes learning and understanding music easier and more fun.”
“What we’ve done is maintain the integrity of these publishers’ work,” Steve Wilson, executive vice president, Business Development of Music Sales, says of the many companies that have been rounded up under the Music Sales banner in recent years. “We have made a strong effort to establish different publishing brands and imprints and have them maintain their own identity.” They have had a strong start, acquiring several well-known music publishing companies in the last few years: Boston Music, Bosworth, Wilhelm Hansen, Chester Music, Novello, and Shawnee Press, among others.
“We’re always looking at ways to use new technology,” says Larry Morton, president of Hal Leonard. To emphasize this point, he and chairman/CEO Keith Mardak are more interested in another anniversary rather than the Milwaukee-based company’s 60th birthday in 2007: “It amazes me that sheetmusicdirect.com was launched 10 years ago,” says Morton. While the first-ever worldwide downloadable program was initially was met with trepidation, “it has evolved into a substantial business, instigated a number of dealer partnerships, and launched other sites as well.”
