T. B. Harms & Francis, Day, & Hunter, Inc., based in the Tin Pan Alley area of New York City, was one of the seven largest publishers of popular music in the world in 1920. T. B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc. was one of seven defendants named in a 1920 Sherman antitrust suit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice for controlling 80% of the music publishing business. The seven defendants were: Founded in 1881 as the Thomas B. Harms Music Publishing Company, T. B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc., was eventually incorporated in New York and changed its name to Harms, Inc. in 1921.

Owners and executives

History timeline

Sale to Warner Bros.

As silent pictures evolved to talkies, Warner Bros. had aimed to build its inventory of published music. Before the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Warner Bros. acquired Harms, Inc., using 140,364 shares of its own stock, then valued at $8,421,840. Warner then reincorporated its acquisition under the laws of Delaware and named it Music Publishers Holding Company, Inc. Also in 1929, Warner Bros. acquired the music publishing company of M. Witmark & Sons.