MusicFirst Acquired by Achieve Partners

I am absolutely thrilled to share that the company that I started back in 2012 has been acquired by an incredible group of investors who focus solely on the ed tech market - Achieve Partners. This is great news for us as well as our four sister companies that are coming along with us - Charanga, Rising Software, Focus On Sound, and OGenPlus. A HUGE thank you goes out to all of my team members - both past and present - who have helped me build this company from an idea to one of the most important brands in the music education technology market today. This acquisition means that our future growth is in very good hands, and we will be making investments to ensure that students and teachers will have access to the very best tools and content for many years to come. In addition to my team, I would like to send a huge thank you to Mr. Bob Wise, the heart and soul behind Wise Music and the person who believed in me and invested in my idea to build this company. I will always be thankful and grateful for his confidence in me and his commitment to making music education more meaningful and accessible through technology. Here is the press release that has just gone out today:

Achieve Partners Acquires Digital Education Division of Wise Music Group
Pioneering private equity firm’s latest acquisition advances goal of building first-of-its-kind arts education platform

NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 9, 2025 – Achieve Partners, the New York-based private equity firm investing in the future of learning and work, today announced its acquisition of global music publisher Wise Music Group’s Digital Education division. The acquisition, which includes popular education platforms MusicFirst, Charanga, Rising Software, Focus on Sound, and O-Generator, furthers Achieve’s effort to build a comprehensive education software platform for performing and visual arts.

“This is an exciting new chapter for MusicFirst and our sister companies. Achieve Partners’ commitment to education and technology aligns perfectly with our mission to empower music educators and students alike,” said Dr. Jim Frankel, Founder and Managing Director of MusicFirst, who will continue to serve as the company’s president following the acquisition. “I am proud of what we’ve accomplished and look forward to collaborating with Achieve to drive even greater innovation and impact in music education."

In addition to MusicFirst, which acts as a central hub for K-12 music education software and hardware, the acquisition also includes Rising Software, known for its world-leading music theory and ear training tools Auralia and Musition; Charanga, the UK’s largest music education platform serving elementary schools; and the software platforms Focus on Sound and O-Generator. Achieve Partners aims to bring its unique expertise in education technology to bear on accelerating the development of all five brands, expanding their reach in ways that advance the role of technology in education while also prioritizing the unique needs of the music education community.

"We are thrilled to welcome Wise Music Group’s entire suite of groundbreaking education tools to the Achieve family,” said Troy Williams, Managing Director of Achieve Partners. “These companies have a remarkable track record of delivering innovative music education solutions to schools, teachers, and students worldwide. This is about not just supporting their continued growth, but also ensuring that they continue to set the standard in digital music education."

The move also marks a pivotal moment for Wise Music Group as it completes its transition into a company solely focused on music publishing. According to Tomas Wise, Chief Executive of Wise Music Group, "This milestone represents the culmination of years of strategic transformation for Wise Music Group. By entrusting our education businesses to Achieve Partners, we are confident that these brands will flourish under their stewardship. At the same time, we can now fully dedicate ourselves to our core mission of music publishing, reinforcing our position as a leading independent in the industry."

About Wise Music Group

Wise Music Group, established in 1930, by the Wise Family, contains a host of acclaimed and historic publishing catalogs including Chester Music, G. Schirmer, and Le Chant du Monde. With a repertoire of over half a million songs, spanning all genres and eras, Wise, the largest publisher of classical music in the world, represents over 100 of today’s most successful living composers. Wise has nine offices across the globe in every major music market including London, Berlin, and Paris.

About MusicFirst

MusicFirst is the premier online music education platform. It has revolutionized music learning through its innovative technology and software bundles. MusicFirst’s sister companies include... To learn more about MusicFirst, please visit musicfirst.com.

About Charanga

Charanga is a music education and technology company based in Brighton in the UK. We’ve developed an online platform that provides teachers and students with the help and resources they need to achieve their musical ambitions.

About Rising Software

Rising Software is a team based in Melbourne, Australia and is part of the Wise Music Group. Its Auralia and Musition platforms are considered class leading with amazing depth of content, flexible curriculum and excellent tools for classroom management. Instructors and teachers can easily create questions using audio recordings and notation excerpts and then utilise these questions for assessment, worksheets and curriculum mapping.

About Focus on Sound

Focus on Sound is a MusicFirst company - part of the multinational Wise Music Group (formerly Music Sales). Focus on Sound was created by Dr Simon Foxall, formerly a senior examiner and secondary school music teacher. His PhD research was on the use of technology in testing music and linguistic ability. As a company, Focus on Sound is committed to providing students with the best possible learning experience through high quality, interactive resources. We also aim to give teachers what they need to make their lessons and homework as engaging as possible.

About OGenPlus

OGenPlus is simple, engaging music software that enables students to compose and learn using popular and world music styles. OGenPlus makes music accessible to all students, of all abilities. It engages students by using music that engages them.

About Achieve Partners

Achieve Partners is engineering the future of learning and earning by investing in cutting-edge technologies and novel business models to bolster skill development and secure the future of work for millions of Americans. By harnessing digital transformation, Achieve helps teachers, administrators, and schools improve student learning and outcomes. To learn more about Achieve Partners, please visit achievepartners.com.