Wise Music Group
A British global music-publishing group focused on classical, contemporary, theatrical, educational and popular-music copyrights.
Last updated August 22, 2026
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Overview
Wise Music Group is a privately held British music-publishing group headquartered on Berners Street in London. The business traces its origins to the early 1970s, when Robert “Bob” Wise, an American living in Britain, established The Music Sales Group as a specialist in printed sheet music and the acquisition and administration of music copyrights. Over time, the company expanded from a sheet-music operation into a diversified international publishing house with interests in classical composition, choral repertoire, educational music, theatrical works, contemporary music and selected popular-music catalogues. The group’s publishing activities are conducted through a number of established imprints and specialist businesses. Its classical portfolio includes Boosey & Hawkes, one of the best-known names associated with modern classical publishing, as well as Chester Music, Éditions Alphonse Leduc, Novello & Co and the Edition Peters Group. These catalogues include works by major twentieth- and twenty-first-century composers, French classical composers, opera composers and earlier European composers. Chester Music has particular historical importance in the publication and promotion of modernist and contemporary music, while Novello is strongly associated with choral and classical repertoire. The acquisition of a controlling interest in Edition Peters Group in 2023 broadened Wise Music’s position in the historic European printed-music market. Wise Music’s catalogue is not limited to concert music. Through its creative and theatrical operations, the group administers music for stage, screen and other performance contexts. Schirmer Theatrical develops concert and theatrical productions, including film presentations accompanied by live orchestras and large-scale symphonic entertainment. The group also controls or represents popular and contemporary copyrights, with catalogue examples including “Tainted Love,” “My Sharona” and “The Twist.” This combination gives Wise Music exposure to both long-term classical publishing income and commercially prominent songs used in recordings, performances, audiovisual productions and other licensed settings. The company has also changed the balance of its activities through acquisitions and divestments. It acquired Éditions Alphonse Leduc in 2014 and the disco publisher Bleu Blanc Rouge in 2017. In 2018, it sold its physical and online print divisions, including Musicroom, to Hal Leonard, while retaining worldwide distribution arrangements for the Wise Music publishing catalogue. MusicFirst, the group’s digital education division, was sold to Achieve Partners in 2025. These transactions indicate a strategic concentration on copyright ownership, publishing administration, specialist imprints and higher-value performance and licensing activities rather than direct retailing of printed music or ownership of a digital education platform. In February 2020, The Music Sales Group adopted the name Wise Music Group. The renamed group continues to operate internationally, with family involvement extending beyond its founder: Tomas Wise is identified as chief executive of Wise Music USA, and Marcus Wise as group head of media. Its present identity is therefore that of a global rights and music-publishing group organized around specialist editorial brands, heritage catalogues and licensing opportunities across classical, contemporary, theatrical and popular music.
History
Wise Music Group developed from The Music Sales Group, a London-based company founded by Robert “Bob” Wise in the early 1970s. Wise established the business as a specialist in printed sheet music and the acquisition of music copyrights. That starting point shaped the group’s later character: rather than operating primarily as a consumer-facing record company, it built value through music editions, publishing rights, catalogue management and the specialist knowledge required to serve composers, performers, ensembles, educators and licensees. The group’s expansion brought together publishing houses with distinct editorial identities. Boosey & Hawkes became one of its most prominent classical publishing names. Chester Music, whose origins date to the nineteenth century, contributed an important catalogue of twentieth- and twenty-first-century classical and educational music. Novello & Co, founded in London in 1811 by Vincent Novello, added a particularly strong position in choral and classical repertoire. Wise acquired Novello in 1993 for a reported £2.5 million. The wider catalogue also includes works from major composers and popular-song writers, allowing the company to operate across concert music, opera, choral performance, contemporary composition and commercial licensing. International expansion continued with the acquisition of Éditions Alphonse Leduc in 2014. The French publisher’s catalogue includes works by composers such as Jacques Ibert, Henri Dutilleux, Olivier Messiaen, Francis Poulenc and Joseph Canteloube, alongside operatic and earlier European repertoire. In 2017, the group acquired the disco publisher Bleu Blanc Rouge from Jean Kluger, reinforcing its involvement in popular and dance-oriented music rights. A significant strategic change occurred in 2018, when Music Sales sold its physical and online print divisions, including Musicroom, to Milwaukee-based Hal Leonard. The reported transaction value was $50 million. The sale separated the retail and direct-distribution side of the former Music Sales operation from the publishing business, while Hal Leonard remained responsible for distributing the Wise Music catalogue worldwide. This helped clarify Wise Music’s focus on publishing, copyright exploitation and specialist catalogue ownership. In February 2020, the company adopted the Wise Music Group name. The rebrand placed the Wise family name at the center of an organization that had become broader than its original Music Sales identity. The business continued to operate through specialist publishing and production units, including Schirmer Theatrical, which develops film-with-live-orchestra presentations and high-end non-classical symphonic concerts. Its catalogue also includes well-known popular songs such as “Tainted Love,” “My Sharona” and “The Twist.” The group expanded its classical publishing position again in 2023 by acquiring a controlling interest in Edition Peters Group, a publishing house founded in Leipzig in 1800. Soon afterward, Faber Music announced an arrangement covering worldwide representation of the Edition Peters printed-music sales catalogue. The arrangement combined Wise Music’s ownership interest with an external sales and distribution relationship for the printed editions. Wise Music has also adjusted its education portfolio. MusicFirst, described as the group’s digital education division and provider of educational music software, was sold to Achieve Partners in 2025. This divestment followed the earlier sale of the physical and online print divisions and illustrates the group’s continuing reshaping around music publishing and rights-based specialist businesses. Family participation remains visible in management, with Tomas Wise identified as chief executive of Wise Music USA and Marcus Wise as group head of media.
- 2025
MusicFirst divested
[1]Wise Music Group sold its digital education division, MusicFirst, to Achieve Partners.
- 2023
Controlling interest acquired in Edition Peters Group
[1]Wise Music Group acquired a controlling interest in the historic Edition Peters publishing house.
- 2020
Corporate rebrand
[1]The Music Sales Group changed its name to Wise Music Group.
- 2018
Print businesses sold to Hal Leonard
[1]Music Sales sold its physical and online print divisions, including Musicroom, to Hal Leonard, which continued worldwide distribution of the publishing catalogue.
- 2017
Acquisition of Bleu Blanc Rouge
[1]The group acquired the disco publisher Bleu Blanc Rouge from Jean Kluger.
- 2014
Acquisition of Éditions Alphonse Leduc
[1]The Music Sales Group acquired the French classical publisher Éditions Alphonse Leduc.
- 1993
Acquisition of Novello & Co
[1]Robert Wise acquired Novello & Co, the historic London publisher known especially for choral and classical music, for a reported £2.5 million.
The Music Sales Group is founded
[1]Robert “Bob” Wise establishes The Music Sales Group in Britain as a printed-sheet-music specialist and copyright acquisition business in the early 1970s.
Products and positioning
A specialist international music-rights and publishing group combining prestigious classical catalogues with contemporary, popular, theatrical and educational music businesses.
Classical music publishing
Boosey & Hawkes
A principal classical publishing imprint within the Wise Music portfolio. It represents and publishes concert music and related repertoire, forming a major part of the group’s position in contemporary and twentieth-century classical music.
Classical and educational music publishing
Chester Music
A British printed-music publisher specializing in classical composition and educational music from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Founded as J. & W. Chester in the nineteenth century, it became associated with the promotion and publication of modernist and contemporary composers, including Manuel de Falla.
French classical music publishing
Éditions Alphonse Leduc
A French classical publisher acquired by the group in 2014. Its catalogue includes music by French composers such as Jacques Ibert, Henri Dutilleux, Olivier Messiaen, Francis Poulenc and Joseph Canteloube, together with opera and earlier European repertoire.
Choral and classical music publishing · 1811
Novello & Co
A London-based publisher founded by Vincent Novello in 1811. Novello is particularly associated with choral and classical repertoire and forms one of the historic publishing imprints within Wise Music Group.
Classical music publishing · 1800
Edition Peters Group
A historic music-publishing house founded in Leipzig in 1800. Wise Music Group acquired a controlling interest in the group in 2023, adding an important European classical catalogue to its publishing portfolio.
Theatrical and orchestral production
Schirmer Theatrical
Wise Music’s concert and theatrical production company. It specializes in film presentations with live orchestral accompaniment and high-end non-classical symphonic concerts, extending the group’s activities from rights management into performance-based production.
Digital music education
MusicFirst
The group’s former digital education division, specializing in educational music software. Wise Music Group sold MusicFirst to Achieve Partners in 2025.
Brand decisions
2025
Sale of MusicFirstM&ABackground
MusicFirst operated as Wise Music Group’s digital education division and specialized in educational music software.
Action taken
Wise Music Group sold MusicFirst to Achieve Partners.
Aftermath
The transaction removed the digital education division from Wise Music Group’s portfolio.
2023
Acquisition of a controlling interest in Edition Peters GroupM&ABackground
Edition Peters Group is a historic Leipzig-founded music publisher dating from 1800.
Action taken
Wise Music Group acquired a controlling interest in Edition Peters Group.
Aftermath
Faber Music subsequently announced an agreement to represent the entire Edition Peters printed-music sales catalogue worldwide.
- Faber Music — Faber Music announced an agreement to represent Edition Peters’ printed-music sales catalogue worldwide.
2020
Rebrand from The Music Sales Group to Wise Music GroupStrategyBackground
The business had expanded beyond its original sheet-music and Music Sales identity into a multi-imprint international publishing group.
Action taken
The company changed its name to Wise Music Group in February 2020.
Aftermath
The new name unified the group’s specialist publishing and production businesses under the Wise identity.
2018
Divestment of physical and online print operationsM&ABackground
The former Music Sales Group operated both music publishing activities and physical and online print businesses, including Musicroom.
Action taken
The company sold those print divisions to Hal Leonard. Hal Leonard continued distributing the Wise Music publishing catalogue worldwide.
Aftermath
The transaction narrowed the group’s direct retail and print-distribution footprint and emphasized its publishing and copyright activities.
Reported transaction value. $50 million (2018)
Sources1 sources
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