M. Witmark & Sons

M. Witmark & Sons was established in 1886 by Marcus Witmark, but run by his sons Isidore, Julius, and Jay who were all under age to run a company. They started by publishing their own work but soon were publishing music for big names of the time including Victor Herbert, George M. Cohan, Ben Harney and John Walter Bratton. Witmark originated the practice of giving away free copies of their music to famous singers and bands to perform. This way of advertising allowed for their music to access a larger market than ever before. This proved to be so successful that all other music publishers copied it. Witmark pioneered publishing versions of British music in the US and arranging for American popular pieces to be published in the United Kingdom. Warner Brothers bought the Witmark Company in 1929.

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Kohn, Al, and Bob Kohn. Kohn on music licensing. Aspen Publishers, 2010.