T. B. Harms & Francis, Day, & Hunter, Inc., based in the

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

area of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, was one of the seven largest publishers of popular music in the world in 1920. T. B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc. was one of seven defendants named in a 1920

Sherman Sherman most commonly refers to: *Sherman (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname ** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General *M4 Sherman, a World War II American tank S ...

antitrust suit brought by the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

for controlling 80% of the music publishing business. The seven defendants were: * Consolidated Music Corporation – 144 W. 37th St., New York, New York *

Irving Berlin, Inc. Bourne Co. Music Publishers is an American publisher of sheet music, and one of the largest privately held international music publishers in the world,''Billboard'', 12 Nov 2005page 61 with over three thousand titles in their catalogue. Subsidiari ...

– 1567 Broadway, New York, New York *

Leo Feist, Inc. Leopold Feist (January 3, 1869, New York City or Mount Verson, New York – June 21, 1930, Mount Vernon, New York) was a pioneer in the popular music publishing business. In 1897, Feist founded and ran a music publishing firm bearing his name. In ...

– 231 W 40th St, New York, New York * T. B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc. – 62 W. 45th St., New York, New York * Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc. – 218 W. 47th St., New York, New York * Watterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc. – 1571 Broadway, New York, New York (sold in bankruptcy to Mills Music in 1929) * M. Witmark & Sons, Inc. – 144 W. 37th St, New York, New York Founded in 1881 as the Thomas B. Harms Music Publishing Company, T. B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc., was eventually incorporated in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and changed its name to Harms, Inc. in 1921.

Owners and executives

* Thomas B. Harms (1860–1906) *

Max Dreyfus Max Dreyfus (April 1, 1874 – May 12, 1964) was a German-born American music publisher, arranger and songwriter. Between the 1910s and 1950s he encouraged and published the work of many of the writers of the so-called Great American Songbook ...

(1874–1964) (owned 25% in 1901) — The Harms empire owned or backed by Dreyfus, included Harms, Inc., Chappell-Harms (its "repository for non-production music"), De Sylva, Brown, and Henderson, Remick Music,

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

and Stept, Famous Music, T. B. Harms, and George Gershwin's New World Music, publisher of all Gershwin's music" (109). *

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

(1885–1945) — Kern plugged sheet music at a local department store then took a job with T. B. Harms, Inc., and eventually became vice president. * Alexander T. Harms (1855–1901) * Frederick Day (1878–1975)

History timeline

Sale to Warner Bros.

As silent pictures evolved to talkies,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

had aimed to build its inventory of published music. Before the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Warner Bros. acquired Harms, Inc., using 140,364 shares of its own stock, then valued at $8,421,840. Warner then reincorporated its acquisition under the laws of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

and named it Music Publishers Holding Company, Inc. Also in 1929, Warner Bros. acquired the music publishing companies of M. Witmark & Sons and Jerome H. Remick & Co."Warner Brothers Get Music Concern", ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Aug. 15, 1929

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:T.B. Harms and Francis, Day and Hunter, Inc. Music publishing companies of the United States Companies based in New York City Publishing companies established in 1881 1881 establishments in New York (state)

Owners and executives

History timeline

Sale to Warner Bros.

See also

References