Meredith Music Publications was founded by Garwood Whaley in 1979 as a publisher of percussion performance music and method books. As a graduate of Juilliard where he studied percussion, and as an active percussion instructor while a member of The United States Army Band, Whaley realized the lack of musically demanding and comprehensive teaching materials and set out to fill this void. From its inception, the imprint was distributed by Plymouth Music, Inc. under the direction of Bernard Fisher.

Doctoral studies in music education and full-time teaching at the high school level brought Whaley the realization that serious teaching texts dealing with often-neglected topics including score study, comprehensive musicianship and ensemble rhythm training were missing from the literature. With several new titles in this category including Guide to Score Study by Frank Battisti and Robert Garofalo, Note Grouping by James Thurmond, The Art of Elementary Band Directing< by Eileen Fraedrich, and Ed Lisk's Creative Director series the company began receiving national attention as a serious contender in the music education book trade. The company now had two major focus areas: percussion pedagogical materials and music education/performance reference books.

In 2000, the Hal Leonard Corporation became the company's exclusive distributor of world-wide sales as part of its strategy to expand their growing area of book-trade publishing. Since that time, the company has grown in both size and stature bringing with it international acclaim. The imprint found new praise with its series A Composer's Insight: Thoughts, Analysis and Commentary on Contemporary Masterpieces for Wind Band in five volumes and Peter Boonshaft's three-volume set beginning with Teaching Music with Passion.

Today, Meredith Music Publications is a leader in its two focus areas and represents more than four-hundred authors. From inception, the imprint was created on the premise that performance and music education are inextricably linked. On this basis, publications are written to be both instructive and musically rewarding. The publication of all materials is guided by three important principles—that music and music texts must be: artistic and educationally creative, intelligently and attractively presented, and reasonably priced. These principles govern the selection and presentation of all music and texts chosen for publication by Meredith Music. The highest degree of artistic excellence and quality remain fundamental to Meredith Music Publications as we continue to expand to meet the needs of our students, educators and performers

Meredith Music Publications is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), The Percussive Arts Society (PAS), the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), the Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA,) The American Bandmasters Association (ABA), and the Retail Print Music Dealers Association (RPMDA).