Music Studio Startup: Helping music teachers thrive as entrepreneurs

It’s time for another quarterly check-in! Today I’m joined by Amy Chaplin, a fellow piano teacher and productivity nerd. Since it’s January, this review takes more of an annual review perspective as we look back on 2023 and look forward to 2024.

I was looking forward to this conversation with Amy because I wanted an excuse to talk about apps and tools for organizing all the things life throws at us and I knew Amy would have things to say about this. The conversation did not disappoint. We gush over all our tools for project management, task management, lesson notes, and writing. And we talk about some of the tools we discarded in 2023.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode136.

In case you didn't catch our other quarterly check-ins from earlier in the year, you can listen to them here:

2023.Q1 Winter: MSS Episode 112 – Amy Elmore on 3 Mindset Questions to Ask Before Setting Your New Year’s Resolutions

2023.Q2 Spring New Harmony Podcast Episode 001B – Goal Setting Tips for Music Teachers: Part B

2023.Q3 Summer: MSS Episode 129 – Podcast – Andrea Miller – 2023 Q3 Recap

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Today I’m sharing part two of a two-part episode with my guest, Tony Parlapiano.

Teaching piano has taken many forms over the years for Tony. From being a travel piano teacher and teaching students homes, to teaching online during the pandemic and then sticking with it afterward, to the studio we’re going to hear about today, that more closely resembles a college program than your standard 1:1 or group lessons.

Over the summer, Tony was featured in our studio snapshot series. In that episode he alluded to his new online instruction model and I was very curious, but I knew it needed more time than we had then to really understand it, so that’s what we’re talking about in these episodes.

In Part 1, we talked more about the pedagogical and practical structure of Tony’s program and today we’re getting into the marketing and business side of things.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode135.

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Today I’m sharing part one of a two-part episode with a guest you’ve heard from before.

Teaching piano has taken many forms over the years for today’s guest, Tony Parlapiano. From being a travel piano teacher and teaching students homes, to teaching online during the pandemic and then sticking with it afterward, to the studio we’re going to hear about today, that more closely resembles a college program than your standard 1:1 or group lessons.

Over the summer, Tony was featured in our studio snapshot series. In that episode he alluded to his new online instruction model and I was very curious, but I knew it needed more time than we had then to really understand it, so that’s what we’re talking about today.

The first part of our interview, which you’ll hear today, is more about the pedagogical and practical structure of the program and then we’ll get into the marketing and business side of things in the second half, next week.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found atMusicStudioStartup.com/episode134.

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Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

The first quarter of the MSS Hub Mastermind program starts in just a few weeks. So if you’ve been curious about joining, now is a great time to get plugged in and start your year off strong!

Today I’m talking with my guest about her journey from book idea to selling the first 1000 copies. We talk about how she tried to publish through a traditional book publisher and ended up self-publishing, how she bootstrapped the first print runs, why she doesn’t expect to make a profit by selling on Amazon, and even how she made people angry with her marketing.

And if you're the kind of person who likes to hear the numbers, you're going to love this discussion because Crystal lays it all out there.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode133.

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Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

Happy new year! Today I've got a quick announcement about a live event we're holding TOMORROW morning (Thursday, January 4) as a kickoff to 2024. A bunch of you have already responded to the email about this event and registered, so I know it’s going to be a fantastic group.

In tomorrow's kickoff we'll talk through some of the questions I use to review the last year and guide my own annual planning.

Whether you’ve been doing annual reflections forever or you’re trying to figure out how to get started, I think this will be a good time of encouragement and motivation as we get in gear for the new year.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/000-january-2024-announcement.

>> Register for the 2024 Kickoff Event <<

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Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

Most teachers agree that one of the greatest indicators of whether or not a student will progress in music is not their innate talent. It all comes down to practicing.

Today's musician entrepreneur, Christopher Maloney, realized that there was a gap in where his adults were and where they wanted to be in their musical skills and that gap could only be traversed by practicing and, ideally, practicing more effectively. So he decided to tackle this challenge. Not in the form of a practice app, but by creating an online program, specifically for adult students, to teach them how to practice. Today we'll hear the startup story of that program, Practice Warriors.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode132.

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Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

Today I have a return guest on the podcast! I did a two-part interview with Thomas Grayston, the developer behind the NoteRush note-reading app in episodes 021 and 022. In those episodes, we talked about how he turned NoteRush from a side project to a full-time gig and then we talked about the first steps a teacher might take if they have an app idea of their own that they want to bring to market.

In today’s conversation we get to hear all about the v. 2 release of NoteRush and we get to revisit some of the same topics we talked about 4+ years ago and hear how Thomas’s perspective has changed - or not - on these topics.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode131.

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Previous episodes with Thomas Grayston

Episode 021 – Thomas Grayston of Note Rush on Developing and Launching an App (Part 1)

Episode 022 – Thomas Grayston of Note Rush on Developing and Launching an App (Part 2)

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Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

Today, I’m deviating from our usual interview format to discuss a challenge that I’m sure all of us have experienced at one point or another and is especially common this time of year—managing life when it becomes overwhelmingly full.

In this episode I break down the process and strategies I follow in my own life to get through these times and calm the chaos.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode130.

A quick episode to wish you a happy thanksgiving and share a resource to aid your year-end tax planning.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/2023novemberannouncement

Today I'm continuing the pattern of quarterly check-ins that I've been doing all this year kind of on accident. Previously, I did these with Amy Elmore as we were launching the new Harmony podcast together. But today I'm solo, and I'm going to be recapping my quarter three: what I've been up to, what was challenging this quarter, and what I'm looking forward to in quarter four.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode129.

MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers