Sibelius and Music Sales launch Internet Publishing

Quester VC invests $2.2 million in Sibelius

Sibelius Software, the music notation technology group, has signed a major Internet deal with Music Sales Limited, Europe's largest print music publisher. The deal is set to revolutionise the $1 billion printed music industry. Through the licensing of Sibelius' new Internet technology to Music Sales, customers visiting the Music Sales website will soon be able to buy customised sheet music instantly over the Internet. Sibelius' unique technology lets anyone view and play sheet music online, and have it delivered immediately to their own printer. Customers can also specify the instrument and the key in which they want the music written - for instance, a flute version of ABBA's 'Money, Money, Money' can be instantly arranged by the computer for saxophone, cello or any other instrument in any key.

The technology behind the deal is a specially developed version of Sibelius' award winning music software. Sibelius anticipates that the vastly increased availability provided by the Internet could expand the world sheet music market from $1 billion to $2-3 billion per annum over the next 10 years. In anticipation of the impact that Sibelius' technology will have on the print music industry, venture capital firm Quester has invested $2.2 million in the company.

Music Sales publishes printed music for many of the leading popular music artists, including The Beatles, ABBA, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, Phil Collins, Sting, Oasis, Stereophonics, The Spice Girls, Westlife and Travis. The company also publishes leading classical composers such as Michael Nyman and Sir John Tavener.

Ben and Jonathan Finn, twin brothers and founder-inventors of Sibelius, said, "Online playback and instant delivery makes the Internet the ideal way to sell sheet music - significantly ahead of books, which can rarely be browsed online and have to be delivered by post."

Chris Butler, director, Music Sales, said, "Our new relationship with Sibelius demonstrates Music Sales' commitment to couple the very best in print music repertoire with the leading technology. This venture is great news for the industry."

 

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Notes to editors

Sibelius

Since 1993, Sibelius has been developing and selling software used by composers, publishers and educational institutions to write and print music. With customers in 70 countries, Sibelius' award-winning software (also called Sibelius) is the world's best-seller and is recognised as the quickest and most advanced method of writing music. In 1995 Sibelius foresaw that the Internet, then in its infancy, could revolutionise the print music industry, so the company set out to integrate Internet publishing into its music notation software. Signed with Sibelius' US subsidiary Sibelius.com Inc, the deal with Music Sales forms the latest component of Sibelius' business strategy. Sibelius will announce further major deals over the next few months.

Music Sales

Headquartered in London, the Music Sales Group is one of the world's largest independent music publishers with interests in copyright ownership, printed music, book publishing, retailing and e-commerce. The Group is the largest publisher of printed music in Europe and has over thirty years experience in this specialised market. The company already has a solid track record in synchronising musical content with leading edge technology, having previously launched pioneering services such as Music By Fax and SheetMusicDirect. Music Sales publishes sheet music and song books for many of the major names and top selling acts of late 20th century popular music. The group designs, publishes and distributes printed music for leading entertainment companies including Universal, Chrysalis, Sony, BMG, MPL, and The Really Useful Group. In the field of classical music the group publishes the works of the greatest 20th century composers, including Elgar, Stravinsky, Poulenc, Sibelius, Barber, Nyman, Nielsen, Lutoslawski and Tavener.

Music Sales' website can be found at www.musicsales.co.uk