Francis, Day & Hunter Ltd.

Publishing company, d with PRS (IPI #10705240). Legally incorporated 11th February 1925.

Also appears as :

- F.D. & H. Ltd
- F.Day & Hunter Ltd.
- Francis Day & Hunter Ltd.
- Francis Day & Hunter Ltd
- Francis, Day & Hunter Limited

Full legal entity name: Francis, Day & Hunter Limited
UK Company Number: 00203742
Status: Dormant
Immediate parent: EMI Music Publishing Limited
Ultimate parent: Sony Corporation

The roots of the company were founded in 1877 by William & James Francis and David Day (as W & J Francis and Day, then Francis Brothers & Day); Day had experience in music publishing and the Francis brothers needed a publisher for their songs. Harry Hunter ed in 1880, and the present name was coined. Starting out in Oxford St., they moved to Charing Cross Rd. in 1897, becoming the first of the popular music publishers in what became London's 'Tin Pan Alley'. In 1900 David Day formed the Musical Copyright Association and was at the forefront of the battle against the sheet music piracy rampant at the time. Offices were opened in New York (1905), Paris (1920) and Berlin (1928). After World War I Francis, Day & Hunter became one of the most important publishers of educational, classical and popular music in Great Britain, a fact attested to by the abundance of their stamps. In 1945, the firm acquired B. Feldman & Co. Ltd. being incorporated a year later.

In 1957 Francis, Day & Hunter Ltd. alongside the US partnership of publishing companies "The Big 3", Robbins, Feist & Miller, tly establish the UK holding company d Music Publishers Ltd. (AMP), specifically formed for the purpose of worldwide exploitation and exchange of copyrights. Principal companies (not including local subsidiaries) held by this company included - Francis, Day & Hunter Ltd. (Francis Day & Hunter Group), Leo Feist Ltd.

In early 1972 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc (MGM) acquired a controlling interest (from David Day) in d Music Publishers Ltd., in the same year MGM subsequently sells d Music Publishers Ltd. to EMI Ltd. (EMI).

In 1974 d Music Publishers Ltd. is renamed 'EMI Music Publishing Limited'.