Hal Leonard, a Milwaukee-based music publishing company, launched a new tech platform that allows musicians to self-publish sheet music.
Called ArrangeMe, the platform allows musicians to easily upload sheet music of their arrangements of popular songs, as well as their own original compositions. The platform is ideal for composers, indie bands and educators to publish their music and monetize it, said Hal Leonard CEO Larry Morton.
Originally founded in 1947, Hal Leonard is a music publishing company that sells sheet music and performance arrangements for a variety of instruments and styles. Common customers include Broadway show producers and music educators. Leonard publishes music for Disney, Sony and Universal Pictures.
“We’ve grown to become the world’s largest publisher of sheet music and music publications for every type of instrument,” Leonard said.
Through ArrangeMe, composers can upload their work for free and set their own prices for pieces. During ArrangeMe’s beta launch, 30,000 composers signed up for the platform and published more than 270,000 compositions, according to a press release.
“We’re making it easier for creators and arrangers out there to compete with us,” Morton said. “We’re giving them the tools to create their own arrangements instead of only buying our arrangements.”
The idea to launch ArrangeMe stemmed from the increasing number of composers publishing their music on YouTube, Morton said. Through ArrangeMe, musicians now have a dedicated platform for their craft that also allows them to monetize it.
ArrangeMe also simplifies the publishing process because it gives users the ability to easily give credit to all the song’s writers so that every author is able to get paid appropriately.
"Arrangers no longer need to worry about hunting down copyright permission and they don't have to struggle with the challenges of making their music available to the consumer," Morton said.
