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Chicago Musical Instruments

Chicago Musical Instruments Company (CMI)
FormerlyMartin Band Instrument of Chicago
IndustryMusical instruments
FoundedApril 1920 (1920-04) in Chicago, Illinois, United States
FounderMaurice H. Berlin
Defunct1988 (1988)
SuccessorNorlin Corporation
Subsidiaries

Chicago Musical Instruments Co. (CMI), later known as Norlin Music, was a manufacturer and distributor of musical instruments, accessories, and equipment, which at times had controlling interests in Gibson Guitars (1944 to 1969), Standel, Lowrey, F. E. Olds & Son (brass instruments), William Lewis & Son Co. (stringed instruments), Krauth & Beninghoften, L.D. Heater Music Company,[1] Epiphone Guitars, Selmer UK, Moog, and other musical instrument brands. In the mid-1970s, the company was the largest manufacturer of musical instruments in the United States.[2]

  1. ^ White, Forrest (1994). Fender: The Inside Story. Backbeat Books. p. 182. (White's book quotes a January 1990 issue of Music Trade magazine, which lists "Lowrey, Gibson, Olds, William Lewis, Krauth & Beninghofen, L.D. Heater, and several other smaller divisions" as being operated by CMI.)
  2. ^ Luxenberg, Stan (23 April 1978). "Norlin Seeks to Scale Up Profits". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 July 2023.