Early Music Company

What Early Music Company does

Early Music Company is a privately held, Osaka-based performing arts and education company specializing in historically informed performance of European Renaissance and Baroque music, founded in 1990 by soprano Mamiko Hirai and lutenist Kenji Sano. The business is centered on a voice-and-lute duo nucleus that expands into varied instrumental and vocal combinations for concerts, with the founders also serving as teachers at Osaka College of Music, Soai University, and NHK Culture Center Osaka. Its products and services span live concert productions (regularly at Crystal Chapel, Senri Hankyu Hotel since 1995, plus churches, universities, salons, and cultural halls across Japan), self-produced and label-distributed CDs (EMC Lute Records, plus Aeolian and ALM Records), bi-weekly educational seminars on lute, Renaissance guitar, viol consort, and continuo playing, downloadable tablature and tutorial materials, and handcrafted Renaissance guitars and vihuelas built in the founders' Toyonaka workshop.

The revenue model is a diversified micro-business mix of professional services (concert fees, seminar tuition) and hardware/inventory sales (CDs, instruments). Pricing is uniformly modest in JPY terms — concert tickets ¥3,000–¥5,000 (free for student recitals), CDs ¥1,500–¥3,000, seminars ¥5,000–¥9,000 per bi-weekly course, and lutes from ¥100,000. Go-to-market is event-driven: the concert schedule is the primary customer acquisition channel, supplemented by a website (emclute.com) functioning as content hub and e-commerce storefront, YouTube channels, Facebook, and an email newsletter. All 14 duo CDs have been selected by Record Geijutsu magazine, and the duo has received the Osaka Cultural Festival Main Prize, providing reputational capital within the Japanese early music niche. The company has no parent, no external funding, and no disclosed subsidiaries.

Name

Early Music Company

Legal name

Early Music Company (アーリーミュージックカンパニー)

Website

https://emclute.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Early Music Company is a privately held Osaka-based performing arts and education company founded by soprano Mamiko Hirai and lutenist Kenji Sano, specializing in historically informed Renaissance and Baroque voice-and-lute performances, CDs, seminars, and handcrafted period instruments for the Japanese early music market.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early Music Performance and Education

NAICS

Musical Groups and Artists (711130), Record Production and Distribution (51225), Musical Instrument and Supplies Retailers (459140), Music Publishers (512230)

SIC

Phonograph Records & Prerecorded Audio Tapes & Disks (3652), Musical Instruments (3931), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Music (Instruments, Voice, Music Theory) (EDAAAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Group Music Classes & Ensembles (Band, Orchestra, Choir) (EDAMANAC), Record Labels (Major & Independent) (MPAIAAAA)

Keywords

• Early music performance
• Voice and lute duo
• Renaissance repertoire
• Baroque repertoire
• Historical performance practice

Headquarters

HQ city

Osaka

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Concert Performance Fees: Revenue from ticketed live concerts performed at various venues across Japan, including their own Crystal Chapel concert series at Senri Hankyu Hotel, churches, cultural halls, and university venues. Ticket prices range from free to ¥5,000.
2. CD Sales (EMC Records): Sale of CDs under their own EMC Lute Records label (¥1,500 per CD) and through Aeolian Records and ALM Records (¥3,000 per CD). CDs include lute solo works, voice and lute duets, and ensemble recordings.
3. Music Seminars and Workshops: Bi-weekly seminars on Renaissance guitar, lute song, viol consort, Renaissance ensemble, and continuo playing. Each course costs ¥5,000 for two sessions per month, or ¥9,000 for two or more courses. Also includes NHK Culture Center courses.
4. Instrument Sales and Maintenance: Kenji Sano crafts Renaissance guitars and vihuelas in their workshop. Instruments are available for purchase, with lutes priced from ¥100,000.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Early Music Company is a founder-led early-music duo that performs Renaissance and Baroque voice-and-lute concerts, releases recordings on its own labels (Aeolian, ALM Records, EMC Lute Records), runs tuition seminars on lute song and continuo harpsichord, builds and sells historical string instruments and harpsichords, and maintains the Lute Library research resource. The venture bundles live performance, recorded music, instrument making, and education into a single specialist offering directed at the early-music community.

Product overview

The Early Music Company operates as a performance and education-focused organization centered on Renaissance and Baroque lute music. The core offering consists of live concert productions featuring the duo of Mamiko Hirai (soprano) and Kenji Sano (lute). Supporting products include self-produced CD recordings under EMC Lute Records, a lute music library with sheet music and tablatures, digital downloads including tutorials and lute duets, and educational seminars covering continuo playing, lute songs, Renaissance guitar, viol consort, and mixed consort music. The company also maintains an instrument workshop for crafting lutes and vihuelas. All activities revolve around historical performance practice of European music from the 14th to 19th centuries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EMC Lute Records: Private record label established by Kenji Sano in 2007 for lute music recordings

Products and services

• Voice and lute duo concerts

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Aeolian RecordscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAeolian Records is a Japanese record label that has released several of the duo's CDs including English Lute Songs, Purcell songs, English Folk Songs, Christmas Carols, Caccini works, and 17th-century Italian duets. Aeolian distributes these alongside their own catalog.
• ALM Records (Kojima Recording)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKojima Recording's ALM Records label released Kenji Sano's solo lute album 'Elizabethan Lute Ballads'. The CD received a 'Recommended Disc' rating in Record Geijutsu magazine's September issue and was selected as an excellent recording.
• NHK Culture Center OsakacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNHK Culture Center Umeda classroom hosts 'Singing English Popular Songs with Lute' course taught by Mamiko Hirai and Kenji Sano, held on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month. This provides a recurring educational channel for the company.
• Kansai Gaidai (Kansai Gakuin)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerThe Ramboth Memorial Chapel at Kansai Gaidai hosts their concert series, including the 232nd Ramboth Memorial Concert. This religious/cultural institution provides a concert venue for their performances.
• Senri Hankyu HotelcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerThe Crystal Chapel at Senri Hankyu Hotel in Osaka has hosted their concert series since 1995, making it their primary regular venue. The hotel is listed as an EMC performance space.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Anonymous 4: Acclaimed American vocal quartet specializing in medieval and early Renaissance music. Directly comparable to EMC as a small-format early-music vocal ensemble with a niche repertoire focus and a sustained recording career.
• The Rose Consort of Viols: UK-based Renaissance viol consort that EMC founder Kenji Sano teaches and performs with. Directly comparable as a small early-music ensemble specializing in Renaissance consort repertoire and educational outreach.
• Hespèrion XXI (Jordi Savall): Internationally renowned early-music ensemble co-founded by lutenist Jordi Savall, specializing in Renaissance and Baroque repertoire centered on plucked strings and voice. Closest functional analogue to EMC's voice-and-lute duo format at global scale.
• Theatre of Voices: Paul Hillier's early-music vocal ensemble with a comparable focus on Renaissance and Baroque repertoire and historically informed performance. Comparable concert-and-recording operating model to EMC's.
• Musica Antiqua Köln: Reinhard Goebel's period-instrument Baroque ensemble. Comparable to EMC as a historically informed performance organization with a substantial recording catalog and international touring activity.
• Collegium Vocale Gent: Philippe Herreweghe's Belgian early-music ensemble. Comparable to EMC as a period-instrument vocal/instrumental ensemble with strong international recording and touring activity.
• Bach Collegium Japan: Japan's leading period-instrument Baroque ensemble led by Masaaki Suzuki. Directly comparable to EMC as a Japan-based early-music organization performing historically informed repertoire with international recording and touring reach.

Broad incumbents

• Yamaha Corporation: Japan's largest musical instrument manufacturer. Comparable in that EMC both crafts and sells Renaissance instruments, but Yamaha operates across all instrument categories at massive scale rather than specializing in period plucked strings.
• King's Singers: Premier vocal ensemble with a broader repertoire that includes Renaissance and contemporary works. Comparable as a touring vocal ensemble operating in overlapping early-music territory, but at much larger scale and broader stylistic range.

Others

• Aeolian Records: Japanese independent early-music record label that distributes EMC's CDs. Comparable ecosystem player — a domestic Japanese niche label specializing in early-music recordings — rather than a competing performer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TheEarlyMusicCompany
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheEarlyMusicCompany

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Early Music Company