Draft:Musicnotes
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| Musicnotes | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Music publishing and online retail |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Digital sheet music |
| Website | www |
Musicnotes is an American digital sheet music retailer and publisher. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.[1]
The company also provides apps for viewing and playing digital sheet music, and operates Musicnotes Marketplace, a self-publishing service for composers and arrangers.[2][3]
Products and services
[edit]Musicnotes offers digital sheet music for purchase, download, and printing under licensing agreements with music publishers and other rights holders. Its online catalog includes arrangements for a variety of instruments and ensembles.[1][4][5]
Musicnotes provides mobile and desktop apps for accessing purchased sheet music and importing PDF scores. Features include annotation, set lists, and, for supported scores, playback and transposition. Downloaded scores can be accessed offline.[6][2]
The company also operates Musicnotes Marketplace, a self-publishing service through which composers and arrangers can upload and sell original compositions, arrangements of works in the public domain, and arrangements of copyrighted works covered by the company's licensing agreements.[7][3]
History
[edit]Founding and early years
[edit]Musicnotes was founded in 1998 by Kathleen Marsh, Walter Burt, and Tom Hall. It was spun off from the Madison-based music publisher A-R Editions, where its digital sheet music delivery technology had been developed during the 1990s.[8][6]
According to the company, the first sheet music sales on its website took place in late 1999.[9] In a 2019 interview with Billboard, Marsh said that, during the company's early years, music publishers were reluctant to license sheet music for online sales because they doubted the demand for digital sheet music.[4]
By 2004, Musicnotes was selling downloadable sheet music alongside established publishers such as Hal Leonard, which offered downloads through SheetMusicDirect while maintaining its network of traditional retailers.[5]
Expansion
[edit]In 2007, Musicnotes acquired MXTabs.net, a website for sharing guitar, bass, and drum tablature that had shut down the previous year over copyright concerns. Musicnotes announced an agreement with the Harry Fox Agency to relaunch the site as a free, advertising-supported service that would share advertising revenue with music publishers. Individual copyright holders still had to authorize the inclusion of their music.[10][11] The site relaunched in 2008[12] and closed again in the fall of 2011.[13]
In 2012, the company introduced Musicnotes Anywhere, a suite of software and mobile apps that allowed customers to access their sheet music across multiple mobile devices. The company's annual sales increased from $15.2 million in 2011 to $18.7 million in 2012.[14]
By 2019, Musicnotes offered more than 300,000 titles for download.[4] In July 2020, the company announced that it was opening an additional office in Nashville.[15] In April 2022, the company announced the launch of Musicnotes Marketplace.[7][16] As of March 2026, the company reported that its catalog included more than 500,000 licensed sheet music and tablature titles.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Who We Are". Musicnotes. 2026-03-12. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - 1 2 "Musicnotes Apps". Musicnotes. Retrieved 2026-10-26.
- 1 2 "Marketplace FAQ". Musicnotes.
- 1 2 3 Knopper, Steve (2019-06-01). "Sheet Happens: One of Musics Oldest Businesses Is Growing in the Digital Age". Billboard. Retrieved 2026-10-26 – via Starlight PR. Reprinted by Starlight PR on June 11, 2019.
- 1 2 Reingold, Jennifer (2004-03-01). "What We Learned In The New Economy". Fast Company. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- 1 2 Vanden Plas, Joe (2018-08-01). "Corporate music disruption". In Business. Retrieved 2026-10-26.
- 1 2 Breeze, Garrett (2024-04-26). "How to Publish Sheet Music — A Simple, Step-by-Step Guide". Digital Music News. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
- ↑ "About Us: Principals". Musicnotes.
- ↑ "Musicnotes Surpasses $75 Million in Payments to Artists and Songwriters" (PDF) (Press release). Musicnotes. 2018-06-05.
- ↑ Resnikoff, Paul (2007-03-27). "Shuttered Guitar Tabs Destination Plans Legal Resurrection". Digital Music News. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ Anderson, Nate (2007-04-02). "Legal guitar tabs return to the web". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ "Free & Legal Tabulature Network Launches". Future of Music Coalition. 2008-07-03. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
- ↑ Myers, Lauren (2012). "Possible Solutions to the Guitar Tablature Problem: Why an International Approach May Be Best for All" (PDF). Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal. 30: 405.
- ↑ Saettler, Michelle. "Musicnotes.com builds mobile success via minimum viable product testing". Marketing Dive. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
- ↑ Musicnotes. "Worldwide Leader in Online Digital Sheet Music Opens Major Office in Music City". PR Newswire (Press release). Retrieved 2026-10-16.
- ↑ "Sell Your Sheet Music With Musicnotes Marketplace!". Musicnotes. 2022-04-25. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
