Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” Wins Musicnotes.com Song of the Year Award

Madison, WI – February 24, 2009 – Musicnotes, Inc., the market leader in downloadable sheet music, announced today that songwriter Leonard Cohen, and music publisher Sony/ATV Music Publishing, are the recipients of the seventh annual Musicnotes Song of the Year Award for the song, “Hallelujah.”

The Musicnotes Song of the Year Award is presented each year to the songwriter and publisher of the best-selling sheet music for a song made popular in the previous calendar year.  In 2008, that song was “Hallelujah.”

“Hallelujah” has an interesting song history, as the song was originally released in 1984 by Leonard Cohen. In 2008, the song had a dramatic resurgence in popularity for several reasons, primarily due to its use on the popular television shows “X-Factor” in the UK and “American Idol” in the U.S.  This year, Musicnotes.com expects “Hallelujah” to continue its popularity since it will be featured as a song in the upcoming film, “Watchmen.”

The award will be shared by songwriter Leonard Cohen and Sony/ATV Music Publishing, who owns and administers the publishing rights for the song.

Throughout the years, several artists have lent their voice and interpretation of “Hallelujah” including U2, Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley, Imogen Heap and kd lang, among others.

Commenting on the award, Martin Bandier, Chairman & CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing said, “‘Hallelujah’ is one of those incredible songs that never ceases to catch the attention of everyone when it is played or performed. It is a truly emotional song that cuts across all genders, genres and religions — it feels very spiritual.  All of us at Sony/ATV are grateful to Musicnotes for this wonderful recognition.  We are fortunate to publish this terrific song as well as to continue our long-lasting partnership with the talented and iconic Leonard Cohen.”

Musicnotes, the leading online digital sheet music publisher and reseller, has previously presented awards to Vanessa Carlton (“A Thousand Miles”), Linda Perry (Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful”), Evanescence (“My Immortal”), Marcus Hummon, Bobby Boyd and Jeff Hanna (“Bless the Broken Road”), Daniel Powter (“Bad Day”) and Tom Higgenson (“Hey There Delilah”).

About Musicnotes: Musicnotes, Inc. offers an online catalog of almost 100,000 digital sheet music titles, built on the strength of content agreements with Alfred Publishing, EMI Music Publishing, Faber Music Ltd, Sony/ATV Publishing, BMG/Universal, Disney Music Publishing, peermusic, Word Music, EMI Christian, Bug Music and many others. Musicnotes is included in Internet Retailer’ list of the Top 500 Online Retailers and was recently selected by Internet Retailer as a “Hot 100” site for 2009.