The contributors are leading scholars from the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Italy. The essays examine the history of music publishing from its inception to the early twentieth century. The Dissemination of Music provides new insight into the social history of music, illustrating how certain types of music were made popular because publishers made them more available, and how the reputations of composers were made or broken by the whims of publishers. This important reference work will interest scholars and students in all areas of music This collection brings the history of music publishing into the realm of social history, looking beyond the printing process to examine why and for whom music publishers produced their work. The book shows how technological limitations and printers' and publishers' preferences significantly influenced musical tastes in Europe from medieval times to the modern age.