Bourne

What Bourne does

Bourne Co. Music Publishers is a privately held, independent music publisher founded in 1919 and headquartered in New York. The company administers a catalog of copyrighted musical works spanning the full music spectrum, with recordings associated with artists ranging from Nat King Cole and the Rat Pack to Nas and Barbra Streisand, and with placements across film properties including Dick Tracy, Superman, and Disney's Silly Symphonies and Pinocchio. The business operates in two interconnected streams: (1) music licensing across 12 categories — arrangements, commercials, film, karaoke, live performance (concert and stage), lyric/music reprints, merchandise, ringtones, television, video, and video games — conducted via direct quote-based requests through its website, with U.S. mechanical licensing referred to the Harry Fox Agency; and (2) print music distribution through a dedicated subdomain (print.bournemusic.com), offered in both traditional print and digital formats.

The technology stack is intentionally minimal. The corporate website (built by Linear Design Group) provides a catalog search interface with keyword, artist, recording year, genre, mood, and topic filters, plus licensing questionnaires and informational pages. There is no app, no public API, no disclosed SDK, and no AI/ML capabilities in evidence. Customer-facing channels are limited to the two Bourne-owned websites and referral relationships with performing rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI), the Harry Fox Agency, and industry trade bodies (AIMP, MPA, NMPA, Songwriters Hall of Fame). The revenue model is licensing royalties for usage-based rights and one-time print music sales, with all licensing fees negotiated per usage and no public pricing.

Operationally, Bourne appears to be a small, founder- or family-controlled enterprise. There is no disclosed parent company, no institutional investors, no funding rounds, no acquisitions, no subsidiaries, no management team listings beyond a generic contact email, and no headcount figures. The company self-describes as a "leading independent international music publisher" and claims active worldwide representation of its catalogs, but the absence of any modern digital commerce infrastructure, mobile presence, or disclosed international offices suggests that the international footprint is operated through PRO and mechanical licensing relationships rather than direct subsidiaries.

Name

Bourne

Legal name

Bourne Co. Music Publishers

Website

https://bournemusic.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1919

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bourne Co. Music Publishers is a privately held, New York-based independent music publisher founded in 1919 that licenses its 100+ year catalog of copyrighted songs for film, TV, advertising, video games, and live performance, and distributes printed and digital sheet music through a dedicated online catalog.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music Publishing

NAICS

Music Publishers (512230)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Publishing Administration (Catalog Admin, Global Subpublishing) (MPAIABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sync Rights Representation (Pitching, Clearance, Negotiation) (MPAIABAF), Print Music Publishing (Sheet Music, Scores, Educational Repertoire) (MPAIABAG), Songwriting & Composition (Topliners, Co-writers, Camps) (MPAIABAA)

Keywords

• Music publishing
• Music licensing
• Print music catalog
• Royalty administration
• Music rights management

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Music Licensing: Licensing of musical works for commercials, motion pictures, television, video games, ringtones, merchandise, live performances, stage productions, and new media technologies. Fees are negotiated based on usage type and scope.
2. Print Music Sales: Distribution of sheet music in traditional print format and through digital printing technologies. Both physical and digital distribution channels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Bourne Co. Music Publishers is an independent music publishing company founded in 1919, headquartered in New York. It administers a catalog of copyrighted musical compositions and licenses them for synchronization use in film, television, and advertising, while also distributing print sheet music to musicians, educators, and individuals through its catalog and online music search database.

Product overview

Bourne Co. Music Publishers operates as a single unified music publishing platform with three interconnected offerings: its main corporate website providing catalog search and company information, a dedicated print music catalog site for physical and digital sheet music distribution, and comprehensive music licensing services covering 12 license categories (arrangements, commercials, film, karaoke, live performances, lyric/music reprints, merchandise, ringtones, television, video, and video games). The company, founded in 1919, manages music catalogs spanning various genres and has facilitated licensing through both direct requests and partnerships with the Harry Fox Agency for mechanical licensing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Music Licensing Services Synchronization and master-use licensing of copyrighted musical compositions to film, television, advertising, and other media producers seeking legally cleared music for their productions.
• Print Music Catalog Sale of printed sheet music and physical print editions of compositions from the Bourne catalog, distributed to individual musicians, music educators, students, and retail customers.
• Music Search Database Searchable online database of the Bourne music catalog, enabling licensing customers and the public to look up compositions, songwriters, and works available for licensing or purchase.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• AIMP (Association of Independent Music Publishers)minorOthersIndustry trade association focused on educating and informing music publishers about current industry trends and practices. Bourne Co. links to AIMP as a recommended resource.
• ASCAP (American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers)minorOthersAmerican performing rights organization (PRO). Listed as recommended resource for industry information and licensing standards.
• BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.)minorOthersAmerican performing rights organization (PRO). Listed as recommended resource alongside other major PROs.
• Harry Fox Agency (HFA)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorForemost mechanical licensing, collections, and distribution agency for U.S. music publishers. Bourne Co. refers licensing requests for U.S. mechanical licenses to Harry Fox Agency. Address provided: 40 Wall Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10005.
• MPA (Music Publishers Association)minorOthersTrade organization with emphasis on issues relevant to publishers of printed music. Listed as recommended industry link.
• NMPA (National Music Publishers Association)minorOthersTrade association representing all American music publishers and their songwriter partners. Listed as recommended industry resource.
• Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHoF)minorOthersOrganization that celebrates and honors the contributions of great popular music songwriters. Listed as recommended industry link on Bourne Co. website.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Peermusic: The largest independent music publisher globally, with similar catalog-administration and global sub-publishing activities, but operating at substantially greater scale and geographic reach than Bourne.
• Carlin America: Independent music publisher administering legacy and contemporary catalogs with sync, print, and mechanical licensing through similar U.S. PRO and HFA-style infrastructure.
• Spirit Music Group: Independent music publisher focused on catalog acquisitions and administration across pop, rock, and standards, with comparable sync and print licensing offerings.
• Hal Leonard: Largest print music publisher and distributor, with overlapping print-music and educational repertoire operations; complements Bourne's print subdomain offering rather than fully overlapping, but directly comparable on the print side.
• Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. Another long-running independent music publisher (founded earlier in the 20th century) administering a legacy catalog of standards with a similar sync, print, and licensing profile, making it the closest like-for-like comp to Bourne.
• Alfred Music: Major print music publisher with a substantial educational and standard repertoire catalog, including licensing and arrangement services that closely mirror Bourne's print and arrangement licensing lines.

Broad incumbents

• Sony Music Publishing: Major music publishing group affiliated with Sony, controlling a top-tier contemporary catalog alongside legacy works; a benchmark incumbent against which Bourne's independent catalog competes.
• Warner Chappell Music: One of the three major music publishers with much broader catalog and global infrastructure; competes with Bourne for sync placements and administration mandates.
• Universal Music Publishing Group: Major-label-affiliated music publishing division with the deepest catalog in the industry, positioning it as a broad incumbent competing for sync, print, and administration deals.

Emerging players

• Primary Wave Music Publishing: Independent publisher specializing in catalog acquisitions and active sync pitching, representing a more aggressively growing model of independent publishing that contrasts with Bourne's slower, organic approach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bourne-music-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Bourne