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Welcome to the Boosey & Hawkes US Rental area. Please see below for a full explanation of our policies, offerings, and services.

Shipping address for rental score materials:
Boosey & Hawkes
1210 Innovation Drive
Dock Doors 6, 7, and 8
Winona, MN 55987
Phone: (212) 358-5300, opt. 2

General contact information:
Boosey & Hawkes
250 West 57th St, Fl 6
New York, NY 10107-0102

Phone: (212) 358-5300, opt. 2
Email: [email protected]

Hours of operation:
Monday – Friday, 9:00 am-5:00 pm, ET
We are closed weekends, all major federal holidays, and the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. We are not able to process orders or respond to inquiries outside of normal business hours. If you have placed an order outside of normal business hours, we will respond on the next business day. Holiday closures should be taken into account when calculating delivery times, including priority handling and level of shipping service.

GETTING STARTED

What is Zinfonia?

Zinfonia makes it easier than ever to search our rental catalogue and those we represent in your territory. You can check scorings and durations, request rental quotes, place orders, and make payments. 

Added benefits include automatic updates on the status of your orders and a convenient overview of all your music rental requests together in one place. 

Registration is required to access many of these services.  Click here to register. (Registration is free.)

How can I find out which titles are available to rent from Boosey & Hawkes in my country? (Or, more commonly, “Do you rent X title?”)

The best place to start is our Search & Order module where you can search by composer name, work title, or even duration.

In addition to the Boosey & Hawkes catalogue of works, the Boosey & Hawkes New York rental library is also the North American rental agent for many other publishers, including Ricordi, Durand-Salabert-Eschig and others. These publishers’ catalogues are also included on Zinfonia and can be found using the Search & Order module on the Rental & Licensing homepage.

However, please note that some of the catalogues we represent do not yet participate in Zinfonia and therefore may not be found in a search on that site. For a complete list of the publishers we represent by territory, please see here. If you are not sure a work is handled by Boosey & Hawkes, it is best to contact the publisher of the work directly for information about obtaining their materials in your territory.

I am not located in North or South America. Can I still rent from Boosey & Hawkes?

Of course you can! You just need to find the Boosey & Hawkes rental agent in your territory. Zinfonia is an excellent tool for this purpose (see above for more information, or go to www.zinfonia.com). For a complete list of our agents in other countries and their contact details, please see here.

I would like to know the price of the rental before I place a confirmed order. Can I get a quote first?

Yes, there are two ways to receive price quote information. One is to fill out our online quote form here. This form is primarily of use in cases where you are still determining your programming or need to put together a budget well in advance of a concert or planned season.

If your concert details and programming are firm, you can place an order via Zinfonia or our online order form. Upon receipt of your order, we will first issue a rental contract which will include the rental price and all terms and conditions. If upon receipt of the rental contract you decide you do not wish to proceed with the rental, you are under no obligation: Simply let us know via email that you are cancelling your order, or disregard the contract altogether. Orders for which the contracts have not been returned within 30 days of issuance are considered void and will be cancelled automatically.

I have completed the order form and received a confirmation email. Do I need to do anything further?

The confirmation email you receive after filling out the order form – either via Zinfonia or our online order forms on Boosey.com – is to confirm only our receipt of your order. The next step is that we will process the order and email you a rental contract for you to sign and return to us (via email is preferred). The rental contract will include all of the terms & conditions of renting music with us and also the price of the rental. Please note that your rental order is not fully confirmed until we are in receipt of your signed contract. We will not release rental materials without a signed rental contract.

If you do not receive an email with a contract for you to sign within three business days of placing your order, please email us to check on the status of your order.

POLICIES & PROCEDURES

When will I receive the music?

You tell us! When filling out the rental order form, you will be prompted to enter a requested receipt date. This is the date on which you can expect to receive the music. This date can also be found on your rental contract opposite the title and composer.

How soon can I receive the music? What is the soonest date by which I can receive the music without incurring a rush fee and/or expedited shipping?

As noted above, you indicate on your order when you need to receive the music. We do our best to accommodate all delivery date requests, but cannot guarantee that we have every title in stock at all times, and may need to either reprint or import materials from an overseas location. For this reason, we require ten business days from our receipt of your signed contract in order to prepare materials for dispatch. This means that materials will ship out on the eleventh business day after you return your signed contract to us. (Priority rush service is available for an additional surcharge of $275; see below for additional details.) The delivery time will vary based on the level of shipping you have requested.

Therefore, the best way to avoid paying any fees for expedited service or shipping is to select a delivery date that is at least 16 business days from the day you are placing your order. This will allow for us to process the order without rush handling, and to ship materials via ground shipping.

If you need materials to arrive to you sooner than 16 business days, you have two options:

  1. Request expedited shipping. In this case, your order will be processed to ship on the eleventh business day (i.e. outside the rush handling period), but will be sent via a more expedient shipping method. You can request 1 day, 2 day or 3 day shipping. Please note that higher shipping rates will apply. (For info on shipping rates, please see here.)
  2. Request rush handling. Priority rush service is available for an additional surcharge of $275. This fee allows us to offer expedited service to those customers who are unable to wait twelve business days to receive materials. However, please note that we still may need to source materials from a location other than our library and cannot always guarantee delivery on the exact date requested when given fewer than 10 days to process an order. Expedited shipping can also be added on top of rush handling; expedited shipping fees will apply in addition to the rush fee.
What is your standard rental period? Can I keep the music longer than the standard rental period?

Our standard rental period is 10 weeks prior to the first performance. If you need to receive the music earlier than 10 weeks prior to your first performance, you may request an extension to the standard rental period. The rental fee for extensions is 10% of the first performance fee for each additional week.

What is your cancellation policy?

We must be notified of all cancellations in writing, via email to [email protected], as soon as possible.

There is no fee for cancellations that occur before materials have been shipped from the library.

Concerts cancelled AFTER materials have been shipped but BEFORE the performance date will incur a $75 re-shelving fee in addition to shipping charges, and rush and service fees where applicable. Rental fees will be credited.

Concerts cancelled AFTER the performance date listed on your order form will not be credited. All fees will stand as originally billed.

How do I rent an opera, ballet, or other theatrical work?

If you plan to program any opera or theatrical work in its entirety—even in concert—or any performance including choreography, you will need a Grand Rights License. To request a license, please use the GR licensing request form, available here.

Also, please see our grand rights licensing specific FAQ here; or contact Rachel Peters at [email protected] with additional questions.

If you are planning to perform selections from the work, however, you may not need a Grand Rights License, and you can email us at [email protected] for further assistance.

I am a student planning a recital. How can I obtain rental music?

If you are planning a recital through your academic music program, please have a music department administrator or instructor place the rental order via the school's rental account with us. Due to the volume of requests we receive from academic institutions, we are unable to rent directly to individual students. Please indicate if your recital is an adjudicated performance required as part of your degree, as special rental rates may apply in such cases.

I am playing in a concerto competition. How can I obtain rental material?

Please have the administrator of your competition contact us directly and as far in advance as possible. As above, we cannot rent directly to individual soloists or students, but are happy to work directly with the organization or ensemble sponsoring the competition.

I am interested in viewing the score of a particular work. May I request a score for perusal or personal study purposes?

We are happy to be able to offer study scores of all works which we handle on a perusal basis for the purpose of programming and production needs, as well as for personal or academic study. Perusal materials are not intended for performance use, and should not be used to supplement or replace rental materials.

To request a score on perusal, please send an email to [email protected], indicating the composer and work of the score you wish to study, as well as your name, billing and shipping information, and your university or performing organization affiliation if applicable. The perusal loan period is two months. Please note that we do charge a nominal service fee plus shipping and handling for this service. The flat fee covers up to six scores and recordings per request.

We also offer an extensive collection of scores in our Online Scores library, available for perusal for free, here.

If you need extra and/or advance scores to supplement a rental request, please indicate this on your rental order form instead, and we will provide those as part of your order. See “Is it possible to have select materials sent in advance?” below for more information.

OBTAINING MATERIALS

What is included in my rental? (i.e. how many scores, parts, vocal scores, etc.?) How can I get extra scores, string or assistant principal parts?

A rental set includes one or two full scores, one set of wind, brass and percussion parts, and a string set (usually 9/8/7/6/5) as dictated by the orchestration of the work. Additional scores are available upon request at no additional charge; please request additional scores under the “materials required” section of the order form.

If you need additional string parts, or assistant principal wind parts, you may request photocopy permission in writing by emailing us at [email protected].

I require a full score and/or bowing masters earlier than 10 weeks prior to our first performance. Is it possible to have select materials sent in advance?

Yes! We are happy to provide full scores, string bowing masters, and select solo or wind parts up to six months in advance of the standard rental period. Simply indicate this request in the “materials” or “details” section of the order form. This service is available for an additional administrative fee of $15 per part and $25 per score plus shipping. For orders requiring a Grand Rights license, advance material fees may vary. Please note that the 10-business day requirement for processing prior to shipment applies to requests for advance materials; please plan accordingly.

The work I am performing includes vocal soloists and/or chorus. Are vocal and choral scores included with the rental materials?

If you are performing a work which includes vocalists or chorus, please check first to see if the vocal and/or choral parts are available for sale. If available for sale, these items should be purchased separately and are not available on rental. If these items are not available for sale, we can rent them to you. Please indicate the number of each you require on your order. Please note that additional fees (charge per copy) will apply to vocal and choral rentals.

Our rental set is missing a part and/or we received materials in unsatisfactory condition. What do we do?

It is imperative that you check your rental set carefully upon receipt and report to us immediately should your materials be found to be incomplete or defective in any way. We are happy to send replacement materials (where available) at no additional cost, provided we are notified within five business days of your receipt of the materials.

If materials are found to be marked up, but still usable, you may also report this information to us to ensure you are not charged or held responsible for damage or markings in the parts.

Please notify us of any of the above issues in writing by sending an email to [email protected]. Please be sure to include the name of your organization and the rental transaction ID number.

May I purchase the full score included with my rental set?

All materials included with the rental set are intended for rental only and may not be purchased separately. Full scores and piano-vocal scores for many of our works are available for sale through most music retailers. Please check with your preferred music retailer to see if a score for the work you are interested in is currently available for purchase.

For works not currently available for sale in the above manner, we are happy to be able to make full scores available for sale on a Print on Demand basis. Please note that not all works can be made available for sale in this manner, and we are only able to offer this service for works published by Boosey & Hawkes, not those of the publishers for which we are the territorial rental agent. Please check our online catalogue listing for availability first. If you still cannot find what you are looking for, please feel free to email us directly at [email protected].

What if I lose a part?

If you lose a part prior to your performance and are in need of a replacement, please send an email to [email protected] to notify us immediately. A replacement part will be sent to you as soon as possible. Additional shipping fees will apply.

If a set is returned incomplete, missing parts fees will apply. Please consult the Returns Policy Notice included in your shipment for our complete missing parts and replacement fee schedule.

When are my materials due back?

Please review our returns and missing parts policy here.

Can you send me the music in a digital format, such as PDF?

While we do believe that digital delivery of materials will be available in the future, we are not currently able to send any performance materials electronically for any reason. All materials are sent as printed hard copy performance sets, and may not be scanned, photocopied, or reproduced for any purpose without the express written permission of Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.

FEES & PRICING

How does Boosey & Hawkes determine rental prices?

Rental fees are determined on a sliding scale based on three criteria:
1. Annual budget of the performing organization
2. Duration of the work as determined by Boosey & Hawkes
3. Instrumentation of the work

Rental fees are not inclusive of shipping and handling charges or additional service charges as applicable. Rental fees are not calculated in proportion to venue size or ticket price.

Does Boosey & Hawkes offer any discounts for rental fees?

We are pleased to offer our Rental Rewards Discount to customers who rent four or more works by the same composer, OR four or more works written within the last twenty five years in a single season. Please see complete details on our website, here.

We also offer an educational concert discount. This discount is reserved for ensembles performing works in free concerts specifically for school children, as part of an orchestra's direct partnership with area schools. Please check with us directly to find out if your concert qualifies for this discount.

How much does shipping cost?

Shipping costs are based on the individual weight of the set, the distance to destination from our warehouse in New York City, and the method of shipping used. All materials are shipped via UPS; we offer Ground (5 business days), 3-day, 2-day, and Next Day shipping. Please refer to the chart below for approximate UPS shipping ranges.

Avg. 15 Pound Pkg New York California
UPS Ground $30.00 $45.00
UPS 3 Day Select $40.00 $85.00
UPS 2 Day Select $50.00 $115.00
UPS Next Day Air $90.00 $195.00

These prices may be used as a guide for United States shipments and are based on the average shipping cost of a 15 pound set of music. Exact price quotes for shipping on confirmed or pending rental orders can be given upon request.

How do I pay for my rental? When do I pay for my rental?

An invoice will be mailed to you at the time your materials ship. Payment is due within 30 days of the date of the invoice. Remittance instructions may be found on the last page of the invoice. We accept payment via check, credit card, or wire transfer. If you prefer to prepay for your order, you may do so in conjunction with the return of your signed rental contract. Please contact us directly to make arrangements to prepay.

ADDITIONAL USES & LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

My ensemble is making a recording of the concert. Are there additional fees for this?

Non-archival recordings are considered a separate use of the rental materials and are subject to additional fees. Please contact the rental department directly for the recording rental fee. Mechanical license fees will also apply and must be acquired separately; please inquire for further assistance.

Please note that recordings made available as digital downloads are subject to the same licensing and fee requirements as hardcopy commercial releases.

There is no fee for archival recording.

There will be a radio broadcast/internet audio-only simulcast of our concert. Are there additional fees for this?

With the growing number of formats and platforms through which recordings, both audio and video, can be made available, we have had to subsequently update our policies to cover these additional uses and ensure that all parties involved receive proper compensation for the use of any copyright protected work beyond the concert stage. Therefore, please always assume that if you intend to disseminate a recording of any copyright-protected work, additional fees for such uses may apply, and additional licenses may be required. Please contact us directly if you plan to make a recording of your concert available in any format. Such formats/categories include (but are not limited to):

  • Audio-only radio broadcast/internet stream (live, delayed, or on-demand)
  • Video-inclusive internet streaming/internet simulcast/television broadcast
  • Audio or video recording made available for download (constitutes a commercial recording)

Fees for broadcast and streaming are determined on a sliding scale based on how long after the live concert the broadcast occurs or is made available for streaming, as follows:

Up to two weeks after final performance No charge
Between 2 weeks and 6 months 25% of a first performance fee
Up to one year 50% of a first performance fee
Broadcasts beyond one year 1 first performance fee

For all of the above, additional rental fees apply. Additionally, you will need to ensure you have the appropriate New Media License from the appropriate performing rights organization. Please contact the PRO in your territory for further information.

Anything involving video may also require a synchronization license. Anything to be made available for download constitutes a commercial recording, and in addition to supplemental rental fees, also requires a mechanical license.

My performance is going to include visual art (photography, video, film). Is there an additional fee for this?

Yes. Please include specific details in your quote request and your order. Contact the library staff for specific fees pertaining to your concert. Additionally, please note that in some cases the approval of the composer or the composer's estate may be required.

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