Warner Chappell Music

Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalog consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 150,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries.

The company, founded in 1811 as Chappell & Co., was a British music publishing company and instrument shop in Bond Street, London, that specialised in piano manufacturing. In 1929, Warner Bros. acquired M. Witmark & Sons, Remick Music Corporation and Harms, Inc. Tamerlane Music (affiliated with Valiant Records) was acquired in 1969.

Warner Chappell Music was formed in San Antonio, Texas, in 1987, when Warner Music Group Chairman Chuck Kaye led the company to purchase Chappell & Co. from PolyGram (now Universal Music Group) (UMG).

In 1988, Warner-Chappell acquired Birch Tree Group (formerly Summy-Birchard), publisher of Happy Birthday to You, the Frances Clark piano method books, and former publisher of the Musical Courier.

In 1990, Warner Chappell acquired Mighty Three Music, the publishing company of Thom Bell and Gamble and Huff. The same year, Warner Chappell acquired the Canadian music publisher Gordon V. Thompson Music.

In 1994, Warner Bros. Publications expanded its print music operations by acquiring CPP/Belwin. CPP/Belwin had been the former print music arm of Columbia Pictures.

In 2005, Warner Chappell Music sold most of its printed music division, Warner Bros. Publications, to Alfred Publishing, and in 2006 launched the Pan European Digital Licensing (P.E.D.L.) initiative. In 2007, when Radiohead released In Rainbows through its website on a pay-what-you-wish model, Warner Chappell Music created a streamlined, one-of-a-kind licensing process for the songs on the album that allowed rights users around the world to secure use of the music from a single location.

In 2006, David H. Johnson was elevated to interim CEO and then in 2007 to Chairman & CEO of the company.