Hal Leonard and Willis Music Celebrate 10th Anniversary of Publishing & Distribution Deal
Photo: Hal Leonard's David Jahnke (L) and Larry Morton (R) present Willis Music President Kevin Cranley with a commemorative plaque at Summer NAMM.
MILWAUKEE - Hal Leonard Corporation and Willis Music have spent a decade making beautiful music together. To commemorate the milestone, Hal Leonard President Larry Morton and VP of National Sales David Jahnke presented Willis Music President Kevin Cranley with a plaque at Summer NAMM.
Headquartered in Florence, Kentucky, Willis Music is world-renowned for its piano methods. The company publishes such time-tested series as John Thompson's Modern Course for the Piano, Easiest Piano Course and Teaching Little Fingers to Play, and Edna Mae Burnam's Dozen a Day. Willis is also the primary publisher for renowned composer William Gillock, nicknamed "the Schubert of children's composers."
The Willis roster also features highly regarded educational piano composers, including Eric Baumgartner, Glenda Austin, Naoko Ikeda, Carolyn Miller, Wendy Stevens, Randall Hartsell, and Carolyn Setliff.
Since July of 2005, Hal Leonard has had exclusive long-term publishing and distribution rights, responsible for the sales and marketing of the Willis Music catalog in the Americas and beyond.
During that time, Hal Leonard - the world's largest music print publisher - has used its unmatched catalog of popular songs and editorial talent to expand the Willis catalog, creating a large library of publications that correspond to the various levels of the iconic Willis piano methods. The territory covered in the agreement was also expanded to include a deal with Hal Leonard Australia.
Morton says, "Anyone who's taken piano lessons has likely used a Willis publication. The Thompson and Burnam books are a trusted institution with piano teachers around the world, and continue to be market-leading methods today."
He continues, "We're happy to celebrate ten years of offering these mainstays, and proud of all of the new supplementary songbooks we have jointly created. Willis has been an outstanding partner, and we look forward to many more years together."
Comments Cranley, "Hal Leonard has impressed us since the beginning, and the many successes of the past decade have proven that our catalog is in outstanding hands. Thanks to their excellent editorial and savvy sales and marketing, our publications reach more teachers, students and music retailers than ever before, through clinics, mailings, catalogs and social media. The Hal Leonard team continues to be the most passionate and forward-thinking group in the music business today."
About Willis Music Company
The Willis Music Company was founded in 1899 in Cincinnati by Charles H. Willis. Following a series of ownership changes, John J. Cranley became general manager in 1923, and later came to own the company.
Under Cranley's leadership, Willis Music became the premier publisher of teaching methods, adding John Thompson's Modern Course for the Piano to the catalog in 1936. This course remains today one of the most widely used piano methods in the world. Son Edward Cranley became president of the company in 1965, and in 1990, Kevin Cranley succeeded his father Edward as president of the Willis Music Company.
Today, the Willis Music Company publishing catalog is going strong, and there are five state-of-the-art Willis Music retail locations throughout Ohio and Kentucky. The company is still owned entirely by members of the Cranley family.