| Founded | 1922 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Alfred Piantodosi |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California |
| Official website | www.alfred.com |
Alfred Music Publishing is a family-owned and operated music publishing company, founded in 1922. Headquartered in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, it is the largest educational music publisher in the world.
Contents |
Alfred Music Publishing is the largest educational music publisher in the world with over 45,000 active print, DVD, audio CD, enhanced CD, software, and Blu-Ray titles in international circulation. Titles represent a variety of musical styles, including works by George and Ira Gershwin, Henry Mancini, Duke Ellington, Tony Bennett, Dethklok, Led Zeppelin, Jim Brickman, the Eagles, the Rolling Stones, Nickelback, Madonna, Carlos Santana, Neil Young, Van Halen, Green Day, Evanescence, Disturbed, and hundreds more.
The company is made of composers and authors as well as staff members in seven offices worldwide. Alfred publishes a variety of music genres for all levels of difficulty, from novice to expert. The styles include educational, reference, pop, and performance pieces for teachers, students, hobbyists, and performers.
Alfred is headquartered in Van Nuys, CA. Additional branches are currently open domestically in Miami, New York, and internationally in Cologne, London, Singapore, and Sydney.
In addition, Alfred is a partner of Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, a girl guitar company founded by Tish Ciravolo.
In 1922, Alfred was founded by Alfred Piantodosi, composer and musician, in New York. His modest Tin Pan Alley pop song catalog included hits like "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" and "Waiting for Robert E. Lee," which are songs still in the company catalog to this day.
In 1928, Sam Manus bought the company. Sam had provided background violin music for silent movies for years. It was in 1950 that Sam's son Morty, a clarinetist and pianist, and his wife Iris, began working for the company. The two discovered a need in the industry for quality education products and began to develop an instructional series for accordion, followed by piano and guitar.
In 1975, Alfred outgrew its New York headquarters and moved its offices to Los Angeles and its warehouse to upstate New York. John O'Reilly came on board as an editor and oversaw the addition of a plethora of band and orchestra titles.
In the 1980s, overall sales doubled to $12 million and sons Steven and Ron Manus joined the company. Then in the 1990s, Alfred expanded into the international market with offices in Australia, Asia, the U.K. and Germany. Sales doubled again to over $25 million.
On June 1, 2005, Alfred Music Publishing took a step toward further growth in acquiring Warner Bros. Publications from the Warner Music Group. Overall sales increased to $60 million.
Today, Alfred continues to be led by Morty and Ron Manus, the same family who purchased the company in 1928.
*Piano:
Alfred's Basic Piano Library
Alfred's Premier Piano Course
Music for Little Mozarts
Piano for Busy Teens
*Guitar:
Alfred's Basic Guitar Library
The 21st Century Guitar Method
*Drums/Percussion:
Alfred's Drum Method, Book 1 & 2
Alfred's Beginning Drumset Method
Ultimate Realistic Rock
Stick Control
Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer
*Band Methods:
Sound Innovations
Accent on Achievement
Band Expressions
Belwin Elementary Band Method
Belwin Intermediate Band Method
First Division Band Method
*String/Orchestra:
Sound Innovations
String Explorer
Orchestra Expressions
Treasury of Scales for Band and Orchestra
Suzuki
*Theory:
Essentials of Music Theory