Music hug

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Musik Hug is a Zurich- based group of companies in the field of music and musical instruments, consisting of the retail company Musik Hug AG and the wholesale company Musica Nova AG . The company was founded in 1807 and was owned by the founding Hug family for over 200 years. The Musik Hug group has been owned by Musikpunkt AG , based in Lucerne , since mid-October 2017 .

Musik Hug specializes in the trade of musical instruments, sheet music and books as well as the maintenance and repair of keyboard, wind, percussion and string instruments. Today, the group employs around 150 people across Switzerland in the areas of retail, wholesale, administration, instrument construction / repair and piano service.

management

Adrian Lohri is the managing director and Kurt Sidler is the chairman of the board of directors. Until the takeover by Musikpunkt AG in October 2017, Erika Hug (* 1945) - a direct descendant of the founder - was managing director, chairwoman of the board of directors and owner of the Musik Hug group.

Locations

The company's headquarters are on Limmatquai in Zurich - right next to the Grossmünster . Musik Hug is represented at various other locations in Switzerland. The sales locations are in Allschwil (BS) and Ebikon (LU). Musik Hug also operates the exclusive Steinway Piano Galleries in Zurich, Bern, Lausanne and Geneva. Musik Hug also has its own piano workshops with sales exhibitions in Zurich, Bülach (ZH), Allschwil (BS), Bern, Ebikon (LU), Ecublens (VD), Neuchâtel (NE) and Geneva.

history

The company was founded in 1807 when the pastor Jakob Christian Hug took over the music business and the music publishing house from Hans Georg Nägeli . In the course of its history, the company has constantly adapted itself to the musical needs of society: in the first few decades, the publishing house for vocal sheet music played a particularly important role for middle-class circles. In the middle of the 19th century numerous singers 'associations were founded in Switzerland and it was Hug who published the popular songbooks of the Swiss Federal Singers' Association founded in 1842. In 1865, Hug became the sole agency in Switzerland for Steinway & Sons . In 1885 a branch was founded in Leipzig, through which Hug became the most important choir publisher in the German-speaking area at the time. In the second half of the century, house music became popular, making the instrument trade the most important branch of the company, whereby the company also offered what was probably the largest range of instrumental sheet music at the time: the catalog for harp music comprised 31 pages, the catalog for mandolin 160 pages. When the turntable appeared at the beginning of the 20th century , it was part of the Hug range and Hug also set up a hall for record concerts in the shop at the time . When radio spread in the 1920s , it was Musik Hug who not only supplied the radio studios in Zurich and Basel with the range of records, but also the technical equipment. When CDs became popular, Hug set up several branches for this purpose.

Since the drop in CD sales, Musik Hug has been concentrating on its core business again. This includes the trade, repair and construction of musical instruments and sheet music - with a special focus on pianos and grand pianos, wind and percussion instruments, as well as string and plucked instruments.

In 2003 Musik Hug took over the company Jecklin & Co. AG, the second largest Swiss instrument seller at the time.

In October 2017, the Musik Hug group was taken over by Musikpunkt AG, based in Lucerne.

Music Hug and Steinway & Sons

Musik Hug and Steinway & Sons can look back on a longstanding collaboration. You have maintained a close partnership since the Steinway & Sons success story began over 150 years ago. Emil Hug established a relationship with Steinway & Sons New York in 1865 and acquired sole agency. The partnership continues uninterrupted to this day - this makes Musik Hug the oldest active trading partner of Steinway & Sons worldwide.

Today, Steinway & Sons pianos and grand pianos are sold by Musik Hug in the Steinway Piano Galleries in Zurich, Bern, Lausanne and Geneva. Specially trained experts who deal intensively with the technical and sonic properties of these instruments provide advice in these competence centers.

Foundation «Child and Music»

On the company's anniversary in 1982, the company established the “Kind und Musik” foundation with the aim of “developing or supporting activities that lead children to music in a lively and vivid way and contribute to the development of musical expression”. It supports extraordinary musical activities with and for children in Switzerland.

Web links