Muse Group

What Muse Group does

Muse Group is a privately held music technology and content company headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus, operating a portfolio of software, content, and community platforms that collectively reach more than 400 million users worldwide. Its products span the full music lifecycle — from learning and practice (Ultimate Guitar, MuseScore, MuseScore Studio, Hal Leonard method books), through creation and editing (Audacity, StaffPad, MuseSounds, MuseSounds Pro, MuseHub), to distribution and sharing (Audio.com, Sheet Music Direct, Sheet Music Plus, ArrangeMe). The company's core technology stack combines open-source foundations (Audacity, MuseScore Studio) with proprietary assets, most notably the AI-powered score converter that ingests sheet music images and produces digital scores, and the MuseSounds playback engine built specifically for notation. Content is the central asset: the combined catalog exceeds 5.5 million scores and tabs, including Hal Leonard's 200,000 original titles and 6,000 digital books, making it the world's largest music content library.

The company operates a hybrid freemium-and-subscription business model: Audacity, MuseScore Studio, Ultimate Guitar's basic tabs, and Audio.com are free, with premium tiers (Ultimate Guitar PRO+, MuseScore PRO+, MuseSounds Pro at $199/year) and one-time digital content sales (Hal Leonard digital books, sheet music) driving monetization. Additional revenue comes from Hal Leonard's physical and digital wholesale distribution, marketplace commissions on MuseHub, and the ArrangeMe self-publishing platform. The business is run remote-first across 40+ countries, with major operating hubs in the US, UK, Netherlands, and Italy, and serves four primary horizontal customer segments: Music Learners, Music Creators, Music Educators, and Music Publishers. Founder and CEO Eugeny Naidenov retains full ownership following Francisco Partners' June 2026 exit, which was funded by company cash and J.P. Morgan-arranged senior facilities.

Name

Muse Group

Legal name

MuseCY Holdings Ltd.

Website

https://mu.se

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Muse Group operates the world's largest digital music content ecosystem — combining open-source creation tools (Audacity, MuseScore), the Hal Leonard publishing catalog, and community platforms (Ultimate Guitar, Audio.com) serving over 400 million music learners, creators, educators, and publishers worldwide through a freemium and subscription model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music Creation Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Music Publishers (512230)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Music Production Workflow & Project Management Tools (Session management, asset/versioning) (MPAIAIAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Creator Tools & Monetization Platforms (Podcasts/Audio) (MPAIADAG), Music Programming & MIDI Production (MPAIAHAH)

Keywords

• Music creation software
• Sheet music publishing
• Audio editing tools
• Music learning platform
• Digital music distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Limassol

HQ country

Cyprus

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Subscription Services: PRO+ subscriptions for MuseScore and Ultimate Guitar offering official licensed content, premium features, and enhanced functionality. Also MuseSounds Pro subscription at $199/year or $19.99/month for professional sound libraries.
2. Freemium Model: Core products (Audacity, MuseScore Studio, basic Ultimate Guitar tabs) available free with premium upgrades for enhanced features and content
3. Digital Content Sales: Hal Leonard digital books, sheet music sales through SheetMusicDirect and ArrangeMe platform for independent composers
4. Marketplace Commission: MuseHub marketplace for audio apps, plugins, and sound libraries with transaction fees on third-party products
5. Educational Publishing: Hal Leonard method books, Essential Elements educational materials, and instructional content for music education

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Muse Group develops and operates a portfolio of music technology products spanning audio editing (Audacity), music notation (MuseScore Studio), guitar tablature (Ultimate Guitar), online sheet music (MuseScore), sheet music publishing (Hal Leonard), audio sharing (Audio.com), and a marketplace for music apps and plugins (MuseHub). The company combines free, open-source software with premium subscriptions and content libraries to serve a global community of 400+ million musicians and creators.

Product overview

Muse Group is a music technology company operating a multi-platform ecosystem of music creation, learning, and publishing products. The portfolio includes: Ultimate Guitar (guitar tabs/chords platform with 2.1M+ tabs and 30M monthly users), MuseScore (sheet music platform with 3.6M scores), Audacity (open-source audio editor with 100M+ downloads), Hal Leonard (world's largest sheet music publisher with 5M+ songs), Audio.com (audio sharing platform with 5.1M+ tracks), MuseHub (app marketplace with 8.1M installs), MuseScore Studio (free notation software with 12M downloads), StaffPad (handwriting notation), and Tonebridge (guitar effects). The company serves over 400 million users worldwide and is headquartered in Cyprus with global operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ultimate Guitar: Best platform for musicians to learn and play songs they love with the world's largest music community
• MuseScore
• Audacity
• Hal Leonard
• Audio.com
• MuseHub
• MuseScore Studio
• Tonebridge
• StaffPad

Products and services

• Ultimate Guitar Platform for musicians to learn and play songs, offering millions of fully-licensed tabs, chords, and lyrics for guitar, bass, ukulele, and piano, plus tools including tuners, metronome, and transpositions.
• MuseScore The world's largest online sheet music collection with over 3.6 million scores, 1.2 million scores from publishers, and 100 million yearly visitors offering free interactive scores across every genre.
• Audacity Free, open-source audio recording and editing software with over 100 million downloads since 2000. Features multi-track editing, effects including noise reduction and vocal isolation, and VST plugin support.
• Hal Leonard The world's largest source for music publications with over 5 million songs in collection, 200,000 original titles, and 6,000 digital books. Includes method books (Hal Leonard Guitar Method, Essential Elements for Band) and distribution of brands like Berklee Press and Boosey & Hawkes.
• Audio.com Free platform for sharing audio with a library spanning music, podcasts and more. Features over 5.1 million audio tracks, 11 million registered users, and 12,000 daily uploads with cloud-saving and project management.
• MuseHub Curated marketplace for audio apps, plugins, and software. Features over 8.1 million installs, 2 million monthly active users, and 25,000 daily product downloads including MuseScore Studio, AI-powered apps, sound libraries, and loops.
• MuseScore Studio Free, open-source composition and notation software with over 12 million desktop app downloads and 1.5 million monthly active users. Features premium engraving tools and advanced audio playback with MuseSounds.
• StaffPad Handwriting-based music notation app for tablets that lets musicians sketch ideas by hand, capture compositions by playing piano, and edit scores with intuitive touch gestures using realistic sounds.
• MuseSounds Pro All-in-one subscription combining professional instrument playback libraries for MuseScore Studio at $199 USD/year or $19.99/month, including sounds from Spitfire Audio, Vienna Symphonic Library, Audio Imperia, and Cantai vocal synthesis.

Quantifiable outcome

• 400M+ users worldwide use Muse Group products
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and strategic.

• Spitfire AudiocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 January 2026Spitfire Audio collaborated with Muse Group on developing professional orchestral and keyboard sound libraries for MuseSounds Pro, available as part of the subscription service launched January 2026.
• Vienna Symphonic LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 January 2026Vienna Symphonic Library partnered with Muse Group on developing professional orchestral sound libraries for MuseSounds Pro subscription, bringing high-quality instrument playback to MuseScore Studio.
• Audio ImperiacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 January 2026Audio Imperia collaborated with Muse Group on developing professional sound libraries for MuseSounds Pro, contributing to the comprehensive notation-specific sound library.
• Solid State LogiccoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 September 2025Solid State Logic joined Hal Leonard's data-driven MI Growth Model as a new partner, combining music equipment distribution with educational initiatives.
• Latin PercussionminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 26 September 2025Latin Percussion joined Hal Leonard's distribution program as part of the MI Growth Model initiative.
• Saudi Music CommissionstrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 February 2025The Saudi Music Commission partnered with Hal Leonard to expand music education in the Middle East through Arabic-language editions of Hal Leonard's world-renowned music education books.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Splice: Subscription marketplace for music samples, loops, and plugins used by producers. Closely comparable to MuseHub's marketplace and MuseSounds Pro's premium sound library offering.
• Native Instruments: Producer of Komplete (instruments/sound libraries) and Maschine (groove production). Direct peer to MuseSounds Pro in the premium sound library and music plugin category.
• Ableton: Maker of Ableton Live, a leading DAW, and Push hardware. Comparable to MuseScore Studio and Audacity as a music production software vendor, though positioned upmarket with paid licenses and a different creative workflow focus.
• Smule: Social music-making app (Sing!, Magic Piano) with millions of user-generated performances. Comparable to Audio.com's user-generated audio hostin
• BandLab Technologies: Free, collaborative music creation DAW and social platform serving tens of millions of amateur musicians. Directly comparable to MuseScore Studio and Audacity as a freemium music-making app with social/community features.
• Yousician: Subscription music learning app for guitar, bass, ukulele, and piano with interactive lessons. Direct peer to Ultimate Guitar's learning-oriented user base, with similar freemium-to-premium GTM.

Emerging players

• Kobalt Music Group: Tech-forward music publisher and rights administrator. Comparable to Hal Leonard's publishing business, though Kobalt focuses on indie/creator-friendly publishing and royalty tech rather than print/educational distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Avid Technology (Pro Tools): Long-established pro audio and music production software vendor (Pro Tools, Sibelius). Overlaps with Audacity and MuseScore Studio but serves professional studios and post-production rather than Muse's learner/creator base.
• Apple (Logic Pro, GarageBand, Final Cut): Owner of Logic Pro (DAW) and GarageBand (free DAW), the dominant free consumer-grade music creation software on Mac/iOS. Broad incumbent competing with Audacity and MuseScore Studio for amateur creators, but bundled with Apple hardware.
• Spotify (Soundtrap, SoundCloud): Spotify's Soundtrap is a browser-based DAW targeting music creators and students. Comparable to MuseScore Studio and Audio.com as a free/subscription music creation tool embedded in a larger audio platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Museteamofficial
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/muse
• Instagraminstagram.com/wearemusegroup
• Xx.com/musegroupbrands

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A5 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Muse Group