Daniel Wright

Daniel Wright was a music publisher established in London around 1709, active until approximately 1735. Although he is described as a publisher, he also claimed to be a maker of musical instruments, a detail that is not documented further. His son, also named Daniel Wright, ran a business from other premises between roughly 1730 and 1735, using for a time a sign that his father had briefly employed earlier.

The Wrights' activity rested largely on reproducing the work of others. The father frequently copied publications by John Walsh, which would today be considered piracy, although such copying was not illegal at the time. Their editions were in turn copied by others, and they published works with titles identical or very similar to Walsh's, such as A British Musical Miscellany, The Merry Musician and The Monthly Mask of New Songs. In 1733 the father issued, without permission, a set of harpsichord lessons by Maurice Greene, which prompted an immediate protest from the composer. Their catalogue included instrumental music by Handel, Vivaldi and Corelli, as well as single songs, flute tutors and collections of dances and airs for flute or violin.

Around 1740 the son probably abandoned commercial activity. John Johnson, at about the same time, may have founded his business on the Wrights' foundations, as he published some works using their plates. Meanwhile, a music seller named Thomas Wright, possibly related to them, published songs and other works between 1732 and 1734 in collaboration with the two Daniel Wrights.

The Wrights' legacy is ambivalent. A contemporary reportedly summed up the father as a man who never printed anything he had not stolen, and although they were perhaps the most notorious music pirates of their day, their importance lies above all in showing how the London music publishing market functioned before the full regulation of copyright.