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Al Piantadosi (1882–1955), and his brother, George, founded Al. Piantadosi & Company, Inc in 1918, but in 1920 Al left the firm to work for McCarthy & Fisher, Inc. After Al. Piantadosi & Company had run up large debts, it was sold to Frank Goodman, an employee. Piantadosi's second short-lived venture followed immediately. He founded Alfred Music in 1922, but sold it to Samuel Manus (1883–1958) in 1928. Alfred's web site claims that the name Alfred came frrom Alfred Haase. The firm has been in the Manus family ever since.
Under Morty Manus (1926–2016) in the 1950s, the company entered the education market. In 2005 it acquired Warner Bros. Publications from the Warner Music Group. Morty’s sons, Ron and Steve joined the company: Ron in 1988 and Steve in 1992. They expanded Alfred Music internationally, establishing offices in Australia, Germany, Singapore, and the UK.
The company has continued to be active in the 21st century. In 2005, Alfred Music purchased Warner Bros. Publications, acquiring the rights to the EMI Catalogue Partnership and beginning a long-term relationship with Warner/Chappell Music. Through this deal, Alfred Music gained the print publishing rights of publishers such as M. Witmark & Sons, Remick Music Corp., and T.B. Harms, Inc. Among the vast EMI holdings are the Robbins and Leo Feist catalogs, and film music from United Artists, MGM, and 20th Century Fox including The Wizard of Oz, Singin’ in the Rain, and Doctor Zhivago.
Alfred Music currently has over 150,000 active titles and represents a wide range of well-known publications—from methods like Alfred’s Basic Guitar, Alfred’s Basic Piano Library, Premier Piano Course, Sound Innovations, and Suzuki, to artists like Bruce Springsteen, Bruno Mars, Cole Porter, Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks, Jimmy Buffett, George and Ira Gershwin, John Lennon, Katy Perry, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and The Who, to brands like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, Rolling Stone magazine, and Billboard.
