Muse Group, a company that specializes in music creation tools and software including MuseScore, Ultimate Guitar and Audacity has acquired Hal Leonard, a publisher of sheet music and educational content.
The acquisition was backed by a “growth investment” from Francisco Partners, the US-based private equity firm that acquired Native Instruments in January 2021 and a majority stake in Kobalt Music Group last year.
Both Muse Group and Hal Leonard will retain their respective HQs in the US and Cyprus.
Muse Group’s new backer, Francisco Partners, reports to have invested in more than 400 technology companies. In addition to Native Instruments and Kobalt Music Group, Francisco Partners has also previously invested in ticketing tech platform Eventbrite.
According to a press release, the new combined company (Muse Group) will use Francisco Partners’ investment to “accelerate organic and inorganic growth and is actively looking to partner with innovators in the sector”.
The value of Francisco Partners’ investment has not been disclosed.
According to the companies, Hal Leonard “revolutionized print music publishing in the 1940s, by providing arrangements of popular songs to school bands for the first time”.
Today, Hal Leonard’s exclusively licensed, premium arrangements include some of the world’s best-known artists and scores from Taylor Swift and The Beatles to John Williams and Disney soundtracks.
Ultimate Guitar, meanwhile, the forerunner of Muse Group, sparked what the company says was a “similar revolution in the late 1990s”, by providing tabs to guitarists in the internet’s “formative era”.
The company reports that Ultimate Guitar and MuseScore alone count 300 million annual visitors and over 40 million accounts.
Combined with over 3 million tabs and compositions on Muse Group’s Ultimate Guitar and MuseScore, the joint business says that it now includes a content library of over 5.5 million scores, tabs, books, video courses, backing tracks and presets.
“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.
Larry Morton, Hal Leonard
“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,” said Larry Morton, Hal Leonard’s Chairman.
“Hal Leonard and Muse have been working closely together in commercial partnerships 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.”
“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.”
Eugeny Naidenov, Muse Group
Eugeny Naidenov, CEO of Muse Group, said: “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.”
“We are excited to partner with Muse Group and Hal Leonard to help enable their combination and usher in the joint company’s next stage of growth.”
Matt Spetzler, Francisco Partners
Matt Spetzler, Partner & Co-Head of Europe at Francisco Partners: “We are excited to partner with Muse Group and Hal Leonard to help enable their combination and usher in the joint company’s next stage of growth.
“The combined business will offer its customers unparalleled content and technology focused on music learning across digital, print, and educational channels.”
“We are thrilled to provide a tailored capital solution in support of this transaction and are excited to back the innovative growth strategy of the combined company.”
Lee Rubenstein, Francisco Partners
Lee Rubenstein, Managing Director at Francisco Partners, said: “We are thrilled to provide a tailored capital solution in support of this transaction and are excited to back the innovative growth strategy of the combined company.”Music Business Worldwide