Hal Leonard Corporation has formed a joint venture with Beijing-based People's Music Publishing House, one of the largest music publishers in China. The deal was reached by Hal Leonard chairman Keith Mardak and People's Music president Wu Bin.
The newly formed company will translate Hal Leonard flagship publications into Mandarin, and also create new publications specifically geared to Chinese music makers. Sales, marketing, and distribution will be managed by People's Music, working closely with Rick Fuhry, vice president of international sales for Hal Leonard.
Founded in October of 1954, People's Music is a national publishing house under the China Publishing Group umbrella. People's Music boasts a back catalog of more than 8,500 books and over 800 audiovisual and electronic products. Its annual sales exceed 100 million copies of music textbooks. The publishing house also produces three periodicals which are very influential in China: China Music Education, Music Research, an
d The Piano Artistry.
"This new venture represents a great step forward for People's Music," says Wu. "Hal Leonard is recognized around the world, and we are excited to make them available to the people of China. We are also excited to bring the music of China to an international audience."
Mr. Mardak comments, "We are eager to expand Hal Leonard's global reach, and we are confident that People's Music is the ideal partner with whom to do so. The company has an outstanding track record in music publishing, and is also forward-thinking, with many fresh ideas about how to best meet the needs of Chinese music makers."
According to a September 25th post on the China View website (www.chinaview.cn), the Chinese Ministry of Education has decreed that performance in arts courses will become a factor in evaluating primary and middle school students. Under this new plan, class hours for the performing arts should take up 9 to 11 percent of school time in the nation's nine-year course of compulsory education.
