The Francis brothers began printing booklets setting out the words of their songs, to encourage audiences to join in with the choruses.

[6] Originally based in Oxford Street, the company moved to 138-140 Charing Cross Road in 1897, becoming one of the founding businesses of London's "Tin Pan Alley".

[6] His son Frederick Day (1878–1975) was acknowledged as one of the driving forces behind the 1911 Copyright Act, which protected the rights of authors and composers.

[8] Under the leadership of David Day and later Fred Day, the company expanded rapidly through the first half of the 20th century, becoming one of the leading British music publishers and one of the largest in the world, responsible for publishing the works of many Broadway composers including Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter.

During that period it supplied themes for (among others) The Adventures of PC 49 (Ronald Hanmer, 'Changing Moods'), Blue Peter (Ashworth Hope, 'Barnacle Bill'), and Independent Television News (John Malcolm, 'Non Stop').