music lessons business plan

How to Start a Music Lessons Business

Many people’s interest in music goes beyond just listening to it. A lot of people who enjoy listening to it are also interested in learning how to play an instrument. A music lessons business gives novice musicians a way to learn to play an instrument, and it provides more seasoned musicians with advanced training to help them improve their musical abilities. A business may offer private or group lessons in home or classroom settings.

You may also be interested in additional side hustle ideas .

Learn how to start your own Music Lessons Business and whether it is the right fit for you.

Ready to form your LLC? Check out the Top LLC Formation Services .

Start a music lessons business by following these 10 steps:

• Plan your Music Lessons Business
• Form your Music Lessons Business into a Legal Entity
• Register your Music Lessons Business for Taxes
• Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card
• Set up Accounting for your Music Lessons Business
• Get the Necessary Permits & Licenses for your Music Lessons Business
• Get Music Lessons Business Insurance
• Define your Music Lessons Business Brand
• Create your Music Lessons Business Website
• Set up your Business Phone System

We have put together this simple guide to starting your music lessons business. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.

Exploring your options? Check out other small business ideas .

STEP 1: Plan your business

A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:

What will you name your business?

• What are the startup and ongoing costs?
• Who is your target market?

How much can you charge customers?

Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.

Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit our How to Name a Business guide or get help brainstorming a name with our Music Lessons Business Name Generator

If you operate a sole proprietorship , you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit our DBA guide to learn more.

When registering a business name , we recommend researching your business name by checking:

• Your state's business records
• Federal and state trademark records
• Social media platforms
• Web domain availability .

It's very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.

Want some help naming your music lessons business?

Business name generator, what are the costs involved in opening a music lessons business.

The costs associated with starting a music lessons business are low. Business owners need to have their own instrument, which is often the most expensive startup cost. Typically instruments cost anywhere from less than $300 up to over $2000 (with some instruments falling lower or higher than this range). Instruments can often be found cheaper if used, as well as online. In addition to an instrument, business owners usually need a couple music stands (one for them and one for a student, unless teaching piano or organ; ~$30 each) and their own personal copies of the music they’ll be teaching (students are usually expected to buy their own copies; ~$3 to $25 each).

Instructors also need a place to teach, which can be a room in their own home, at each client’s home or in a public place, such as at a school, church or community center. Renting a space in a public building will increase operating costs a little, but it also provides space for teaching group lessons.

What are the ongoing expenses for a music lessons business?

The ongoing expenses for music lessons businesses are low. Business owners who drive to clients’ homes must pay for transportation to and from each client’s house, and those who use a public space have to pay for that space. Other expenses include instrument maintenance and repair costs, and occasionally purchasing new copies of music.

Who is the target market?

Ideal clients have a passion for music and are interested in learning to create music. Many are either students in school (anywhere from elementary school through college) or adults who have free time that they can spend practicing.

How does a music lessons business make money?

A music lessons business charges students for lessons, which usually last from 30 minutes to 1 hour. Lessons may be charged on a per-lesson or hourly basis. Group lessons usually cost a little less than private lessons, but they can generate more income because there is more than one student being taught.

Piano lessons usually cost between $30 and $60 per hour . Many music lessons businesses that teach other instruments charge similar rates. When lessons are only a half-hour long, these rates are usually cut in half for each lesson.

How much profit can a music lessons business make?

Even a part-time music lessons business can generate a significant revenue. An instructor who offers private lessons for 20 hours a week could earn between $600 and $1200 each week if they charged $30 to $60 per hour. Because the ongoing expenses are low, the vast majority of this is profit.

How can you make your business more profitable?

Offering group lessons is one of the main ways music lessons businesses generate additional revenue. Group lessons might cost students slightly less per hour, but they can increase the revenue a business brings in. Even if students pay just $10 per lesson, a half-hour group lesson with four students could generate $40 in 30 minutes, or an hourly rate of $80.

Other ways of increasing revenue including offering repair services for broken instruments (if the instructor knows how to repair instruments) and hosting recitals. Many instructors charge additional fees for putting on an annual or semiannual recital.

Want a more guided approach? Access TRUiC's free Small Business Startup Guide - a step-by-step course for turning your business idea into reality. Get started today!

STEP 2: Form a legal entity

The most common business structure types are the sole proprietorship , partnership , limited liability company (LLC) , and corporation .

Establishing a legal business entity such as an LLC or corporation protects you from being held personally liable if your music lessons business is sued.

Form Your LLC

Read our Guide to Form Your Own LLC

Have a Professional Service Form your LLC for You

Two such reliable services:

You can form an LLC yourself and pay only the minimal state LLC costs or hire one of the Best LLC Services for a small, additional fee.

Recommended: You will need to elect a registered agent for your LLC. LLC formation packages usually include a free year of registered agent services . You can choose to hire a registered agent or act as your own.

STEP 3: Register for taxes

You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.

In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It's really easy and free!

You can acquire your EIN through the IRS website . If you would like to learn more about EINs, read our article, What is an EIN?

There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.

STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card

Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.

When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as piercing your corporate veil .

Open a business bank account

Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:

• Separates your personal assets from your company's assets, which is necessary for personal asset protection.
• Makes accounting and tax filing easier.

Recommended: Read our Best Banks for Small Business review to find the best national bank or credit union.

Get a business credit card

Getting a business credit card helps you:

• Separate personal and business expenses by putting your business' expenses all in one place.
• Build your company's credit history , which can be useful to raise money later on.

Recommended: Apply for an easy approval business credit card from BILL and build your business credit quickly.

STEP 5: Set up business accounting

Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.

Make LLC accounting easy with our LLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.

STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses

Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.

State & Local Business Licensing Requirements

Certain state permits and licenses may be needed. Learn more about licensing requirements in your state by visiting SBA’s reference to state licenses and permits.

In addition, certain local licensing or regulatory requirements may apply. For more information:

• Check with your town, city or county clerk’s office
• Get assistance from one of the local associations listed in US Small Business Associations directory of local business resources.

Most businesses are required to collect sales tax on the goods or services they provide. To learn more about how sales tax will affect your business, read our article, Sales Tax for Small Businesses .

Service Agreement

Music lessons businesses should consider requiring clients to sign a service agreement before starting a new project. This agreement should clarify client expectations and minimize risk of legal disputes by setting out payment terms and conditions, service level expectations, and intellectual property ownership. Here is an example service agreement.

Recommended: Rocket Lawyer makes it easy to create a professional service agreement for your business when you sign up for their premium membership. For $39.95 per month, members receive access to hundreds of legal agreements and on call attorneys to get complimentary legal advice.

Certificate of Occupancy

Some business owners travel to clients’ homes to offer lessons. However, if you chose to open a studio to offer music lessons - your studio will need to have an appropriate Certificate of Occupancy (CO) . A CO confirms that all building codes, zoning laws and government regulations have been met.

If you plan to lease a studio:

• It is generally the landlord’s responsibility to obtain a CO.
• Before leasing, confirm that your landlord has or can obtain a valid CO that is applicable to a music lessons business. If your landlord does not have a CO suitable to a music lessons business, your studio could be shut down in the event of noise complaints from neighboring tenants.
• After a major renovation, a new CO often needs to be issued. If your place of business will be renovated before opening, it is recommended to include language in your lease agreement stating that lease payments will not commence until a valid CO is issued.

If you plan to purchase or build a location (e.g. lesson studio):

• You will be responsible for obtaining a valid CO from a local government authority.
• Review all building codes and zoning requirements for you business’ location to ensure your business will be in compliance and able to obtain a CO.

STEP 7: Get business insurance

Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.

There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance . This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.

Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance . If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers' Compensation Coverage.

FInd out what types of insurance your Music Lessons Business needs and how much it will cost you by reading our guide Business Insurance for Music Lessons Business.

STEP 8: Define your brand

Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors.

If you aren't feeling confident about designing your small business logo, then check out our Design Guides for Beginners , we'll give you helpful tips and advice for creating the best unique logo for your business.

Recommended : Get a logo using Truic's free logo Generator no email or sign up required, or use a Premium Logo Maker .

If you already have a logo, you can also add it to a QR code with our Free QR Code Generator . Choose from 13 QR code types to create a code for your business cards and publications, or to help spread awareness for your new website.

How to promote & market a music lessons business

Music lessons businesses often grow by word of mouth. Posting ads locally on Craigslist, bulletin boards and in newspapers can also help, though. Ads can also be posted where musicians frequent, such as schools, instrument shops, etc.

How to keep customers coming back

There are two main ways that music lessons businesses set themselves apart. Some offer inexpensive lessons, undercutting other businesses’ prices. Others specialize in just one or two instruments and gain a reputation as being the best music lessons business in the area for these select instruments. These businesses usually have an instructor who either has degrees in music or is a member of a successful group.

STEP 9: Create your business website

After defining your brand and creating your logo the next step is to create a website for your business .

While creating a website is an essential step, some may fear that it’s out of their reach because they don’t have any website-building experience. While this may have been a reasonable fear back in 2015, web technology has seen huge advancements in the past few years that makes the lives of small business owners much simpler.

Here are the main reasons why you shouldn’t delay building your website:

• All legitimate businesses have websites - full stop. The size or industry of your business does not matter when it comes to getting your business online.
• Social media accounts like Facebook pages or LinkedIn business profiles are not a replacement for a business website that you own.
• Website builder tools like the GoDaddy Website Builder have made creating a basic website extremely simple. You don’t need to hire a web developer or designer to create a website that you can be proud of.

Recommended : Get started today using our recommended website builder or check out our review of the Best Website Builders .

Other popular website builders are: WordPress , WIX , Weebly , Squarespace , and Shopify .

STEP 10: Set up your business phone system

Getting a phone set up for your business is one of the best ways to help keep your personal life and business life separate and private. That’s not the only benefit; it also helps you make your business more automated, gives your business legitimacy, and makes it easier for potential customers to find and contact you.

There are many services available to entrepreneurs who want to set up a business phone system. We’ve reviewed the top companies and rated them based on price, features, and ease of use. Check out our review of the Best Business Phone Systems 2023 to find the best phone service for your small business.

Recommended Business Phone Service: Phone.com

Phone.com is our top choice for small business phone numbers because of all the features it offers for small businesses and it's fair pricing.

Is this Business Right For You?

People who are passionate about music and can play at least one instrument well may be interested in starting a music lessons business. Music teachers in schools and band members are especially qualified, as they both have credentials and connections to people who love music. People don’t have to be a music teacher or in a band to start a music lessons business, though.

Business owners should have a significant amount of time available for teaching lessons, but this time doesn’t need to be during typical business hours.

Want to know if you are cut out to be an entrepreneur?

Take our Entrepreneurship Quiz to find out!

Entrepreneurship Quiz

What happens during a typical day at a music lessons business?

Music lessons business owners spend many hours teaching lessons, either one-on-one or in group settings. Depending on their particular business model, instructors may also drive to and from students’ homes, and they might have to repair or maintain instruments. Additionally, music lessons business owners will need to spend time constructing/finding lessons that are suited to their students’ skill level.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful music lessons business?

A music lessons business owner should know how to play at least one instrument very well, and knowing multiple instruments is helpful. While some instructors are self-taught, completing a formal training program ensures an instructor is highly skilled and provides credibility. Many colleges, universities and other education programs offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in music and music education, and certificate programs are also available throughout the country.

It’s also helpful if instructors know how to maintain and repair their own instruments. This isn’t a vital skill, as an instructor can have someone else perform repairs when necessary. Instructors who do their own repairs can keep their costs lower, though. People who want to learn to repair their instruments may learn how to from fellow musicians who are more knowledgeable or through a certification program.

What is the growth potential for a music lessons business?

Most music lessons businesses have one teacher, who is also the business owner. Businesses with a single instructor are limited by how much time the instructor can spend teaching students. An instructor who taught half-hour private lessons full time (40 hours per week) would be able to teach up to 80 students per week. Many instructors have other jobs and, therefore, can only teach part time.

A few music lessons businesses, however, have multiple instructors. If a business elects to hire instructors, there isn’t a limit to how large the business could become. In theory, a business could have lots of instructors offering lessons on many different instruments, and it could open up locations in other cities to reach even more students.

Not sure if a music lessons business is right for you? Try our free Business Idea Generator and find your perfect idea.

TRUiC's YouTube Channel

For fun informative videos about starting a business visit the TRUiC YouTube Channel or subscribe to view later.

Take the Next Step

Find a business mentor.

One of the greatest resources an entrepreneur can have is quality mentorship. As you start planning your business, connect with a free business resource near you to get the help you need.

Having a support network in place to turn to during tough times is a major factor of success for new business owners.

Learn from other business owners

Want to learn more about starting a business from entrepreneurs themselves? Visit Startup Savant’s startup founder series to gain entrepreneurial insights, lessons, and advice from founders themselves.

Resources to Help Women in Business

There are many resources out there specifically for women entrepreneurs. We’ve gathered necessary and useful information to help you succeed both professionally and personally:

If you’re a woman looking for some guidance in entrepreneurship, check out this great new series Women in Business created by the women of our partner Startup Savant.

How and when to build a team

A music lessons business doesn’t necessarily require multiple employees. If a business owner wants to hire additional instructors, they usually do so when the number of students requesting lessons exceeds the number of lessons they have available. Most instructors, however, either raise their rates at this point in time or increase how many group lessons they offer. These strategies let them increase their revenue without taking on an employee.

Useful Links

Industry opportunities.

• Back to Rock music school franchise opportunity
• School of Rock music school franchise opportunity
• Music Teachers National Association
• National Association for Musical Education

Real World Examples

• Music and Art’s The Lesson Studio: a large collection of stores offering music lessons
• Ann Arbor-based music school
• Guide discussing business plan for music lesson business

Further Reading

• Blog: about starting and running a music lessons business
• Book: starting a guitar lessons business
• Video series: Q&A for starting and managing a music lessons business
• Blog: about starting a music teaching studio

Entrepreneur Interviews

Read Interview

Have a Question? Leave a Comment!

How To Start A Music Teaching Business Built For Success

• By The Studio Director Team
• January 5, 2022

Discover how our software can help your studio.

Some people are born with music in their soul! Whether you sing, play piano, or write music, it’s a special passion. If you’re ready to turn your love of music into a full-time career, you may be thinking of opening your own studio. Fortunately, there’s never been a better time. Parents are constantly searching for new ways to keep their kids learning, and music is a constructive activity with endless benefits. If you’re wondering how to start a music teaching business, this is the place to start.

Begin With A Music Teacher Business Plan

A detailed business plan serves as a roadmap for your new business. As the Small Business Administration points out, there is no right or wrong way to write this document. Some are dozens of pages, while others provide a brief run-down that can serve as the foundation of a business.

Once your business plan is complete, keep it on record in both digital and paper format. This will be important to refer back to if you plan to bring on a business partner or if you ever need additional funding.

If you’re feeling nervous about how to start a music teaching business, completing a business plan can help you clarify your goals, do some research, and explore ideas. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and you can revise it as needed.

H3: What to include in your music teacher business plan

If you prefer to go the traditional route, here are important sections to include in your music teacher business plan:

• Executive summary: A brief description of your goals and values, such as a mission statement. This section should also establish the type of legal business you intend to form.
• Company description: Provide details about your music school, such as class offerings and any other services and products you will provide. Expand on the ages you plan to teach and whether you’ll provide in-person or online classes.
• Market analysis: Discuss the industry and what the competition is like in the area. What do successful competitors do? How do you plan to set yourself apart?
• Financial projections: How much revenue do you need in order to cover your bills? Estimate how many students you’ll need to enroll in order to be successful. This is also a good place to detail whether you will have a bank loan in place to start your business.
• Marketing plan: From social media pages to newspaper ads, develop a plan for marketing. Break down the cost of different strategies in order to plan accordingly.

Get Your Studio Up and Running

First and foremost, you need the perfect space to be the home of your music business. Determine how much space you need, whether you want multiple private rooms, and how much it would cost to rent vs. buy. Consider additional needs such as a front desk, waiting room, bathrooms, storage areas, and office space. You should also think about parking availability and visibility for passive marketing.

Once you’re in your space, it’s time to purchase all of the necessary equipment. You’ll need instruments, music stands, and sheet music. Consider buying used items to save money in these early days of opening your studio!

When determining how to start a music teaching business, remember that you don’t have to go it alone. Think about hiring the staff you need. An office or front desk manager and another music teacher can provide you with valuable support as you’re getting your business off the ground. Likewise, invest in music studio software to streamline everything from registration to billing.

How to Start an Online Music Teaching Business

There is no denying that in-person classes are beneficial for learning music, but there is also increasing demand for remote opportunities . The good news is, you don’t have to choose one or the other.

Here’s how to start an online music teaching business (or add this to your class offerings):

• Choose a platform: While Zoom is the most popular option, Facetime and Google Meet are other forms of video conferencing. Hot tip: Studio Director customers receive a Zoom discount!
• Get the right equipment: Most laptops come with a web camera and built-in microphone, but make sure you and your students have any other necessary equipment. Consider sheet music, headphones, and related accessories.
• Explore creative teaching options: From guest speakers to sight reading apps, there are so many ways to make online instruction creative. Check out our post about the best music apps for teachers .

No matter how you approach online teaching, it’s worth the time and investment. Set a practice plan for your students and watch them improve each time you log on for a session!

How to Promote Your Music Teaching Business

First and foremost, start with a professional website that clearly provides important information about your studio. Students and parents will want to know where you’re located, what classes you offer (online and off), and how to get in touch with questions.

Having your website up and running will come in handy as you prepare other marketing materials. These may include:

• Social media pages (Facebook, Instagram, etc.)
• Mailers to send out to your network of contacts
• Flyers to post on local community boards
• Ads in local newspapers or magazines

After you have everything up and running, consider hosting an open house or a series of workshops. This gets people in the door to see exactly what you have to offer! Don’t shy away from any opportunity to spread the word about your new business.

Make Time to Enjoy the Music

When you think about how to start a music teaching business, your mind probably goes to lesson plans and recitals. While this is probably your priority, there are administrative tasks that are necessary to your success. Studio Director offers music studio management software that can help the office side of your business run smoothly.

Here are a few perks of using software to help run your business:

• Online class registration with automated waiting lists
• Integrated payment options with recurring functionality
• Inventory tracking for merchandise
• Organized staff schedules and time sheets
• Automatic email newsletters
• A cloud-based system for 24/7 access to important information
• Recital ticket sales

With Studio Director on your side, you don’t have to worry about your office to-do list. Spend more time focusing on music!  

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you run a successful studio.

Discover How Our Software

Can help your studio, more from the blog.

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grow-your-music-studio

Take My Profitable Music Lesson Business Plan

01 Sep | 2021

Take my profitable studio business plan.

Over the years, I have created blog posts and videos around MANY topics that are important to studio owners.

I’ve created really detailed posts about:

• How to successfully use ads in your business
• How to create a really persuasive website
• How to use group lessons to maximize profit (while still producing high quality students)
• How to use surveys to create your marketing
• How to diagnose why you aren’t getting more students

But – I’ve never given the high level overview in any one place.

In other words, I’ve been a little guilty of missing the forest because I’ve spent so much time talking about the trees…

Until now!!!!

I recently was invited to be a guest on the Female Musician Academy podcast.

On that podcast,  I gave a complete studio business plan in about 45 minutes.

Never before have I painted the big picture as clearly as I did here…

So, if you are a novice at studio growth… this is going to be  really helpful for you.

And – if you are more experienced – this will be a great refresher (and there are some new ideas and concepts that I talk about in here that I’ve never publicly shared before).

Click below to watch!

Would you rather read this?

Click here to download the transcript. 

Video Content

(0:00) Introduction to the Podcast (0:47) Bree Noble Introduces Daniel / Daniel Shares His Background (3:56) “I thought online marketing was a secret!” Why local studio owners still use traditional methods (5:12) Case Study: How an L.A. Studio Owner 3x’d Her Income in 9 Months (10:30) Case Study Analysis: The Studio Owner’s Language and Offer (14:30) How making a specific offer defeats the “villain” for every parent (16:10) Is it wrong to “persuade” your audience? Who + how to you persuade? (19:36) Using social media to promote your studio – and avoiding the “endless treadmill” (22:06) Do you have to post on social media constantly for attention? (26:50) Your website’s biggest goal (27:40) The “perfectly wrapped” intro lesson that locks in students (30:48) What if people aren’t signing up for lessons? (32:24) Why do I need a website? Can’t I just use Instagram? (35:03) Can my website cover more than just my studio? (38:42) How can I scale my studio after I’m maxed out with 1-on-1 lessons? (41:08) Case Study: Studio Owner Minimized Work Hours with Group Lessons (43:00) How do you set a price for group lessons? (43:40) Why the learning environment is SO important – and how group lessons fit in (45:53) Are group lessons as valuable as private lessons? (46:54) How an online program can scale your studio (48:39) The “dream” of online music courses (51:10) The BEST business model for a music studio (52:36) Wrap-up and some extra “secret sauce”

One thing I’ve discovered over the years is that repeated exposure to concepts has helped me really internalize them.

You might want to bookmark this page… and come back to this one.

If you follow this model, and you use the tactics given… it wouldn’t surprise me if you achieve big results in your studio.

Hundreds of studios that have worked with  Grow have used this plan to grow local private studios, international online studios, or create a large regional school (with this plan as the core).

You can use it, too!

What do you think? What questions do you have? Let me know in the comments!

• Latest Posts

Daniel Patterson

Latest posts by daniel patterson ( see all ).

• How to Build a Premium Lesson Program (w. David C.) [7FMS Ep. #120] - May 15, 2024
• Outsourcing Social, Parenting, and Long-Term Retention of Students (Q&A Episode) [7FMS Ep. #119] - May 8, 2024
• Advice We’d Give to Our Younger Selves (w. Alyssa O’Toole) [7FMS Ep. #118] - May 1, 2024

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Start a Music Lessons Business

Conduct the Symphony of Success: How to hit the High Notes of Entrepreneurship with a Music Lessons Business

MUSIC LESSONS BUSINESS

Related business ideas, discover your perfect domain, music lessons mini business plan, expected percent margin:, earnings expectations:, actions to hit those numbers:, recruitment of talented teachers:, marketing and customer acquisition:, sales and customer experience:, cost control:, business operations:, not what you had in mind here are more ideas, grab your business website name, step 1: determining if a music lessons business is the right endeavor, assessing startup expenses, assessing ongoing expenses, examples of ways to make money, step 2: naming the business, step 3: developing a business plan, outlining goals and objectives, establishing a budget, identifying target market, step 4: obtaining necessary licenses and permits, researching local requirements, obtaining necessary licenses and permits, step 5: finding a location, identifying location requirements, researching potential locations, step 6: acquiring equipment, identifying necessary equipment, researching potential vendors, step 7: hiring employees, identifying staff requirements, developing job descriptions, recruiting and hiring employees, step 8: promoting the business, step 9: evaluating progress, establishing performance metrics, analyzing results, explore more categories, take the next steps.

Get Going → Events & Entertainment

A step-by-step guide to developing a music business plan

June 17, 2021

Why you need a music business plan

Where to start, the main components of a music business plan, the importance of multiple income streams, subscribe to greenlight by thimble..

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Related Articles

Making a living in the music business is the ultimate dream of every serious musician. But out of the countless individuals with a passion for music, only a select few will make a profitable business out of it. That doesn’t mean reaching your goals is impossible. If you want to earn reliable income from your music career, you need to treat it like any other business. That means making a detailed blueprint that will take you from passionate hobbyist to successful professional. This step-by-step guide to developing a music business plan will set you on the right path.

Whether your goal is to have a career as a professional musician, recording artist, producer, or music teacher, documenting the path you’ll take with a music business plan will be helpful to your cause. Your business plan outlines your goals, identifies the practical methods you’ll take to achieve them, and lists the resources you have and will need.

Not only will a concrete business plan keep you on course, it will also demonstrate your credibility in the eyes of others. Potential clients and business partners will see you as a professional and not another starving artist. If you ever need to take out a business loan or raise money for investors, a business plan is a must-have.

Crafting your music business plan isn’t something you can do in one sitting. You’ll need more than an afternoon to get this right. Take your time, bite off piece-by-piece, and chew your thoughts over thoroughly.

Our first piece of advice is as old as time:  know thyself.

You need some clarity of purpose before you can craft a useful music business plan. Ask yourself:

• Who is my audience?
• What is my ultimate goal?
• Why do I want to do this?

Having this understanding will make it easier for you to explain your vision to others and convey your enthusiasm. It will also establish the framework for your music business. This step is crucial if you’ll need people to buy in to help you reach your goals.

The content of your music business plan will vary depending upon whether you’re aiming to start a music school, be a producer, or work as an artist. But the fundamental components are the same either way. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Mission Statement
• Executive Summary
• Audience Analysis
• SWOT Analysis
• Marketing Plan
• Financial Considerations

Let’s look at each of these in turn.

Mission Statement:

This can be as short as a few sentences, as long as it adequately describes who you are as an artist or a musical entrepreneur and what you’re trying to accomplish. While this might sound simple, think things through a bit before you try to draft your statement. Everything that follows here will hinge upon it.

Executive Summary:

The executive summary is a one-page synopsis of your plan. It should include an introduction as well as a description of your endeavors. Details about the funding you already have and what you’ll need in addition to a brief accounting of your plans for putting all of it into play are important too.

Most experts recommend saving the drafting of this part for last. It’s essentially a digest of all the other parts of your plan. Doing it last allows you to draw upon the information you’ve drafted for all of the other steps.

Audience Analysis: 

Here’s where you’ll demonstrate your understanding of your target audience. If you’re already performing, teaching, or producing on the side, think about what traits the people who follow you have in common.

If you’re just getting started, find someone doing what you want to do whose style and circumstances are similar to yours, and analyze their target market. Create a demographic sketch of your target audience based on gender, age, location, musical tastes and favorite venues.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats:

Think about the qualities that make you unique. List everything that comes to mind, from technical mastery and creative spark to teaching older demographics and networking. Your skills might not seem extraordinary on an individual level, but combine all your best qualities and you’ll find there isn’t anyone quite like you on the market.

Don’t forget about your weaknesses. Identity these not as qualities to promote, but as areas to work on in the future. Being aware of your shortcomings will also help guide your decision on potential business partners in the future. Let your inner critic loose, but realize that this is an exercise in personal growth, not tearing yourself down.

Had enough reflecting? Let’s take a look at the marketplace. Think about potential gaps in the industry you can exploit. Perhaps your competitors are overlooking a key value and you see a way to provide it both efficiently and effectively. These are your opportunities.

Threats could include technological shifts, cultural changes, the emergence of new artists, competition, and new trends. The music world moves fast, and today’s hot act can end up as yesterday’s news before your can say “more cowbell!” Brainstorm any roadblocks you picture yourself facing over the next few years and strategies you can use to overcome them.

Marketing plan:

Your marketing plan will detail how you’ll spread the word about yourself. Consider how much money you can reasonably invest into marketing and work out how you’ll spend it to reach as many of the right people as possible. Think about how you’ll grow your online presence—including social media, a press kit, and publicity materials such as a logo and photography.

Get a full account of your current cash flow situation. List how much capital you currently have and estimate how much it’ll take to get your operation up and running. When in doubt, overestimate. Studio time, engineering talent, transportation, legal fee, copyrights and trademarks are all important considerations when projecting your budget.

Measuring your progress:

At what intervals will you go over the financials to see how you’re advancing? What are the milestones by which you’ll mark your achievements?

You’ll also need a method for measuring your impact on the market in terms of the reputation you build. Social media outlets provide analytical tools to help you track these metrics. They can also help you pinpoint the demographics of your audience.

Establishing your key performance indicators (KPIs) can help you set the standards by which you will gauge your success. Sharing this information with others makes you accountable because they can look at your projections and see how much progress you’ve made toward achieving them.

Summarizing your music business plan

As we mentioned above, once you have all of these areas covered, you can then condense the information each section contains to create your executive summary. After all, how will you know what to put in it until you’ve examined all of these other areas first?

Success in the music industry takes a lot of work and a little luck, but you can stack the deck in your favor by building multiple income streams. That way, if one area slows down, you’ll have another one in play to keep you rolling until the next opportunity presents itself. Revisit your strengths and opportunities and start brainstorming ideas. If you get stuck, here’s a quick list to get you started:

Give music lessons. Chances are if you’ve got the chops to play paid gigs, you’ve got enough skills to pass on to some novice students. Giving music lessons can be a great way to add some extra recurring income.

Start a YouTube channel. With over 2 billion active users, YouTube might just be your biggest source of untapped attention and potential. 1 The platform offers users a chance to learn or be entertained, and as a musician you’re well-positioned to offer both. You could upload instructional videos or footage of yourself performing. You’ll get to keep a portion of any ad revenue your videos make. And if the right person sees your content, it could open the doors to even greater opportunities.

Explore the marketing world. If composition is your thing, you might be overlooking a potentially huge money-maker—marketing and advertising. Brands are in constant need of good video content to market their products, and those videos need music to truly capture attention. If you’ve got a knack for putting together atmospheric instrumentals, creating music for ads could seriously help stabilize your income.

Open your own studio. If you have the capital to invest and live in an area underserved by recording studios, you might want to consider opening your own. While you’re not using it for your own projects, you can rent it out to other local musicians and producers. If there’s enough demand, you could cover the costs of equipment and rent and even have a little profit left over.

Explore session work. Sure, your band is your baby, but if you’ve got time on your hands and musical versatility to boot, why not offer your services as a session musician? Session work is an effective way to boost your income, make new connections and get your name out there as a legit professional. If an artist is truly enamoured with your work, they could invite you to join them on tour.

Another important consideration in your music business plan is protecting your livelihood from the consequences of unintentional accidents. General liability insurance is key to helping you stay focused on your business. Carrying a policy also demonstrates to potential clients that you are a serious professional — whether you’re a musician, DJ , or another kind of entrepreneur in the entertainment industry.

• Hootsuite. 25 YouTube Statistics that May Surprise You: 2021 Edition .

Written on April 19, 2021 | Last updated: June 17, 2021

Our editorial content is intended for informational purposes only and is not written by a licensed insurance agent. Terms and conditions for rate and coverage may vary by class of business and state.

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Music Teaching - How To Create A Business Plan

In order to set up and run a successful music teaching business you should definitely have a business plan. It’s a great way to organise all your thoughts and make sure you have everything in place before you start your business

When I graduated from university, I remember having several thoughts echoing inside my head about music teaching.

What was the next step? How will I support myself? Where will I find a job?

My goal was to do become a successful piano teacher, with time to play gigs at weekends and evenings during the week.

But I wanted to do things the right way…

I knew I had to take into account all the important issues about setting up a business. And I thought a business plan would help to collate all my ideas, ensure I wouldn’t overlook anything important. ..

…and avoid making any poor business decisions!

Here is the process I used to come up with my business plan…

Executive Summary

1) What’s the name of your business?

You can use your name, or something unique and catchy

2) What is the nature of the business?

Guitar teaching, piano teaching etc..

3) Describe your target market

Who do you want to teach? This is really important.

School pupils? Business professionals? The retired? Think about this in GREAT detail.

Try and find out more information about your target market. For school pupils, your local authority should have information on the number of them in your area. You can also use various websites to find specific demographics for your town; age, education level, employment industry, household income etc

4) Business Objectives for next 3 years

Write down your aims for each year over the next 3 years. Be realistic, but give yourself something to aim for.

5) Financial information

If you need a loan to get started, forecast your projections and profit margin.

It is really important to keep track of your income and expenditure. Buy yourself a receipt book and provide your clients with a receipt for each payment. You might want to consider using some online tutoring software to make the task easier.

Your Business Idea

1) Background to your business

Outline the type of business you intend to operate

2) Your experience

What experience do you have as a tutor? Include your education and work experience (Doing this will be useful if you decide to have a website and want to have an ‘About’ page to help establish your credentials)

3) Information on your tutoring business

What makes you different from the competition? What is your Unique Selling Point (USP) or Emotional Selling Point (ESP)?

For example, if you provide guitar tuition, how can you stand out from your competitors?

What can you offer differently? e.g. Do you specialise in helping students pass certain exams ? Or helping younger pupils just play for fun? Can you offer flexibility with your lesson payments – 1,2 or 4 lessons a month. Do you offer group lessons? Can students pay weekly, monthly and/or termly?

Marketing And Competition

1) What market research have you undertaken?

How large is the market? – How many people in your town/city do you think will want lessons?

What can you charge per lesson? – Although you might want to offer cheaper lessons than your competitors, you should charge what you are worth.

It’s easy to undercut the competition, but it’s often NOT the right strategy.

Try to focus on value and have a good USP. People will pay if they see you’re a good tutor. If you start off offering cheap lessons, it can be tricky to raise prices, especially if you gain some referrals from students who know each other.

You can always contact local tutoring agencies or teachers and find how much they charge.

I know plenty of piano teachers who charge £10 less per hour than me, but they are mainly classical pianists, and my USP is offering jazz/popular music on the piano in my area.

2) What are the future trends? How will this impact on your business?

Although this can be tricky to figure out, if you’re a piano teacher, contact other music teachers offering lessons on other instruments. Do they have more students than 2-3 years ago? Do they teach more school pupils now than before?

You can also use Google Trends to see whether your search terms online have been increasing or decreasing in recent years. This is really useful if you plan to tutor students online, but in my experience, it often mirrors local trends as well.

3) What are the needs/aspirations of your customers?

If you’re a music teacher, will students want to play for fun? Become future musicians? Perform at local concerts every so often?

Understanding this can be extremely useful when it comes to advertising

4) Who are your competitors?

Competition can be viewed in different ways.

Many people in business think of it in a negative way, but I’ve always had a positive approach to competition. If you have competitors, it means there is likely a market for your teaching business. You just need to market yourself the right way.

And for most types of music teaching, you can always teach online if you are really struggling to find local clients.

5) How do your competitors market their products/services?

How are they positioned in the market place? Do they place any ads in the local paper, Yellow Pages or use Google Adwords? Or do you think it is mainly word of mouth…

Carry Out A SWOT Analysis Of Your Business Idea

I remember doing one of these when I was studying Business Studies at school :)

1) Strengths

What can you do better than the competition?

2) Weaknesses

Where do think you might face problems with your business?

3) Opportunities

What opportunities are there for growth and finding more students?

How likely is it you will face more competition in the future? Or face a declining number of students?

What is your pricing structure? Have you allowed sufficient margin to cover overheads, materials, your time, and still obtain a sustainable profit margin?

Where will you promote and sell your services? e.g. Public venues, schools, libraries, sports centres, local stores? Will you use flyers, posters and/or the internet to find students?

Where will the business operate from? Why is this choice the most suitable?

If possible, I would advise you to teach from a fixed location and NOT in the homes of your clients as you will waste time and money on travel costs. However, parents with young children may prefer the tuition to take place at their place, particularly if they don’t know you, so that the child can feel safe and comfortable in a familiar environment.

What equipment or facilities do you need to operate your business? Will you design some tutoring business cards to reach out to your target audience?

Financial Forecasts

Expand on your business objectives for the next 3 years – what is your predicted turnover, costs and profit for Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3.

If you have a bank loan, what will be your payment to financiers – bank charges etc

So there you have it!

I firmly believe if you have a good plan, the right setup, offer quality teaching and market your business the right way, you can have a flourishing tutoring business and earn a good income as a result.

I know a couple of tutors who live in nice 3-4 bedroom homes in the leafy suburbs around London.

One singing teacher I know teaches 50 students a week and charges about £50 per hour. He lives in a tiny village about 1 hour from London by car and has a waiting list. If you try and work out what his income could be annually, it’s certainly impressive!

Furthermore, he doesn’t teach online and all his students come to him.

He simply created a detailed plan and came up with an effective way to market his business.

Martyn Croston helps music teachers who want to build a successful tutoring business . He shares more advice on his website  => http://www.mytutorbusiness.com

Music Teaching - How To Create A Business Plan

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Music Business Plan Template

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their music businesses. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a music business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What Is a Music Business Plan?

A music business plan provides a snapshot of your music business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Music Business Plan

If you’re looking to start a music business or grow your existing business you need a music business plan. A business plan will help you attract investors and raise money, if needed, and plan out the growth of your music business in order to improve your chances of success. Your music business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Source of Funding for Music Businesses

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a music business are bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your music business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable, but they will want to see a professional music business plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a music business.

The second most common form of funding for a music business is angel investors. Angel investors are wealthy individuals who will write you a check. They will either take equity in return for their funding or, like a bank, they will give you a loan. Venture capitalists will not fund a music business.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a music business plan.

Your music business plan should include 10 sections as follows:

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your music business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your executive summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of music business you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a music business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of music businesses?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the industry. Discuss the type of music business you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target audience. Provide a snapshot of your marketing plan. Identify the key members of your team, and offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of music business you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types:

• Recorded Music – This type of music business sells music that has been recorded in a studio.
• Music Licensing – This type of music business licenses music for films, TV shows, video games, advertisements, online videos, etc.
• Live Music – This type of music business sells tickets to live concerts and tours. They might also operate a school that teaches people how to become successful musicians, or they might sell memorabilia such as T-shirts and posters.
• Music Publishing – This type of music business is in the rights business; they represent songwriters. If someone wants to use a song by a songwriter that is represented by the music publishing company, they need to get permission and then pay a royalty.
• Music Production – This type of music business provides a service for musicians and recording artists. They might produce and record an album and then provide marketing services such as radio promotion and public relations.
• Music Business Consulting – This type of business is in the business of providing advice to musicians on how to become successful. For example, they may offer consulting on how to promote your music and how to book gigs.
• Music Artist – This type of business operates as an individual musician or music group. For example, they might be solo artists, bands looking for a record deal, or groups of musicians hoping to become successful together.
• Music Education – This type of music business offers music lessons, either in-person or online.
• Retail Music Store – This type of music business sells instruments, sheet music, and other music-related items.

In addition to explaining the type of music business you operate, the Company Analysis section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include sales goals you’ve reached, new store openings, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the music business.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy particularly if your research identifies market trends. For example, if there was a trend towards more people purchasing music online, you may want to focus your marketing efforts on digital platforms.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your music business plan:

• How big is the music business (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your music business. You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your music business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments for a retail music store:

• Adult beginning guitar players
• Teenage/college-aged students who want to learn how to play the electric guitar and will commit time and money to do so
• Middle-aged adults who want to learn how to play acoustic guitars for their own enjoyment
• Vintage guitar enthusiasts who are looking for specific instruments that are considered rare or valuable.

The following are examples of customer segments for a music education business:

• Parents who want their children to have a well-rounded education and believe that music is an important part of that
• Children who want to learn to play an instrument because they enjoy music
• Adults who want to improve their skills at playing an instrument they already know how to play

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will greatly depend on the type of music business you are operating. Clearly, baby boomers would want a different atmosphere, pricing, and product options, and would respond to different marketing promotions than millennials.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, including a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. 

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers or clients.

Finish Your Music Industry Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other music businesses within the same niche.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t direct competitors. This includes physical stores, online stores, and even locally owned retail shops that sell instruments.

Here are some examples of indirect competitors within the music education niche: 

• Local music store selling instruments
• Online retailer selling musical instruments
• The public school system offering a music program to students in grades K-12 or college offering a music ed program as a minor.

You need to mention such competition to show you understand that not everyone in the market is your direct competitor. Furthermore, including a SWOT analysis of your business in this section will demonstrate how you plan to compete against them.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What products/services do they offer?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to reach out to customers of your competitors and ask them what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide superior services?
• Will you provide amenities that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you make it easier or faster for customers to book your own studio?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a music business plan, your marketing strategy and plan should include the following:

Product : in the product section, you should reiterate the type of music that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to selling instruments, you may also offer music lessons, CD recordings of the lessons, and other merchandise related to your business.

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections, you are presenting the options you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your music business. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, is your music business located in a commercial district with a lot of foot traffic? If not, will you offer delivery or online sales?

Promotions : the final part of your marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local bloggers and websites
• Partnerships with local organizations (e.g., partner with vendors to provide recording packages at a discount over a la carte services)
• Local radio stations advertising
• Banner ads at local music venues
• Social media advertising

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your music business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your music business such as serving customers, cleaning, ordering supplies, and so on. This section should list the specific tasks that will need to be completed each day and who will be responsible for them.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to serve your 25th customer, or when you hope to reach $X in sales. It could also be when you expect to hire your Xth employee or launch a new location.

Management Team

To demonstrate your music company’s ability to succeed as a business, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a music business.

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in the music business. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act as mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in music and/or successfully running small businesses.

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.

Income Statement : an income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, how many customers will you serve? How much does it cost to provide your service/product? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets : While balance sheets include much information, to simplify them to the key items you need to know about, balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. For instance, if you spend $100,000 on building out your recording studio, that will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $100.000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement : Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your music business, and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a music business:

• Location build-out including design fees, construction, etc.
• Cost of equipment like studio gear, instruments, amps, inventory, etc.
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your studio design blueprint or location lease.

Music Business Plan Summary

Putting together a business plan for your music business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will really understand the music business, your competition, and your potential customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful music business.

Music Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my music industry business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your Music Industry Business Plan.

What is the Goal of a Business Plan's Executive Summary?

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of music business you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a music business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of music businesses?

How Can I Generate Multiple Income Streams In My Music Business?

Whether you are a band, artist manager, recording producer, record label, or music store, if you can learn how to take the best advantage of both live and recorded revenue streams, you may be able to beat competitors at the music game. Your music business plan should describe your strategy of utilizing these two sides of the music industry.

Live concert tickets can be sold for hundreds of dollars for popular groups, while up-and-comers may need to play for just tips at bars and small venues. However, there is a place for every type of musician on this spectrum, and almost all musicians maintain a live performance schedule even as they become successful recording artists. Live concerts offer an opportunity for the group or artist’s music to be exposed to new audiences in a visceral way, sometimes driving direct sales of CDs at the concert itself, and leading to word-of-mouth inspired sales down the road.

Live concerts can be a significant revenue stream for a successful music artist, but they must play at venues large enough to cover the fixed costs of production (marketing, ticket sales, equipment rental, and set-up, travel, wages, and venue rental) leaving a net profit. If venues are too small and cost too high, concerts may have to be considered just a promotion method for other revenue streams, like recording sales.

Recorded Music

The sales of CDs or mp3s of the group or artist’s music, on the other hand, leave much more potential for huge returns. The profitability of selling recorded music increases significantly as the number of CDs or mp3s increases, as the cost of producing and selling each additional CD (and especially mp3s) approaches zero. Recordings can also help promote concert sales to a certain extent, through the release of singles and promo CDs. This can be through giveaways and through radio promotion of those songs.

If each revenue stream is significant on its own and also reinforces the other, you can build an extremely profitable business over time.

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Music School Business Plan

The rising culture of learning music has opened innumerable opportunities for music businesses. Music schools offer mind-boggling profit margins making it a lucrative business venture.

Anyone with a passion for music can start a music school. However, having a comprehensive business plan in action will help you secure the initial funds to get started.

Need help writing a business plan for your music school? You’re at the right place. Our music school business plan template will help you get started.

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Download our free business plan template now and pave the way to success. Let’s turn your vision into an actionable strategy!

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How to Write A Music School Business Plan?

Writing a music school business plan is a crucial step toward the success of your business. Here are the key steps to consider when writing a business plan:

1. Executive Summary

An executive summary is the first section planned to offer an overview of the entire business plan. However, it is written after the entire business plan is ready and summarizes each section of your plan.

Here are a few key components to include in your executive summary:

Introduce your Business:

• This section may include the name of your music school, its location, when it was founded, the type of music school (E.g., vocal training school, instrument learning school, early childhood music school, online music schools), etc.

Market Opportunity:

Products and services:.

• For instance, you may include music lessons, recitals, performances, and workshops as music services and mention individual instruction, personal attention, and niche expertise as some of your USPs.

Marketing & Sales Strategies:

Financial highlights:, call to action:.

Ensure your executive summary is clear, concise, easy to understand, and jargon-free.

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2. Business Overview

The business overview section of your business plan offers detailed information about your company. The details you add will depend on how important they are to your business. Yet, business name, location, business history, and future goals are some of the foundational elements you must consider adding to this section:

Business Description:

• Vocal training school
• Instrument learning school
• Early childhood music school
• Online music schools
• Describe the legal structure of your music school, whether it is a sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, or others.
• Explain where your business is located and why you selected the place.

Mission Statement:

Business history:.

• Additionally, If you have received any awards or recognition for excellent work, describe them.

Future Goals

This section should provide a thorough understanding of your business, its history, and its future plans. Keep this section engaging, precise, and to the point.

3. Market Analysis

The market analysis section of your business plan should offer a thorough understanding of the industry with the target market, competitors, and growth opportunities. You should include the following components in this section.

Target market:

• For instance, children, teenagers, and adolescents would be an ideal target audience for online kids’ music school.

Market size and growth potential:

• For instance, the global kids’ music learning app is expected to reach 584.90 million dollars by 2030. It’s important to determine your share of the target market from this and its potential growth.

Competitive Analysis:

Market trends:.

• For instance, web-based music learning has a booming market; explain how you plan on dealing with this potential growth opportunity.

Regulatory Environment:

Here are a few tips for writing the market analysis section of your music school business plan:

• Conduct market research, industry reports, and surveys to gather data.
• Provide specific and detailed information whenever possible.
• Illustrate your points with charts and graphs.
• Write your business plan keeping your target audience in mind.

4. Music Services and instrument

The product and services section should describe the specific services and products that will be offered to customers. To write this section should include the following:

Music lessons:

Performance opportunities:.

Highlight any type of performance opportunity that your school will offer. This includes recitals, concerts, competitions, and opportunities for music collaborations.

Musical products:

Quality measures:.

• This may include having qualified and experienced instructors, well-maintained facilities and equipment, and individual attention.

Additional Services

In short, this section of your music school plan must be informative, precise, and client-focused. By providing a clear and compelling description of your offerings, you can help potential investors and readers understand the value of your business.

5. Sales And Marketing Strategies

Writing the sales and marketing strategies section means a list of strategies you will use to attract and retain your clients. Here are some key elements to include in your sales & marketing plan:

Unique Selling Proposition (USP):

• For example, specialization in a certain niche(i.e. Guitar), experienced instructors, and music technology could be some of the great USPs for an instrument music learning school.

Pricing Strategy:

Marketing strategies:, sales strategies:, customer retention:.

Overall, this section of your music school business plan should focus on customer acquisition and retention.

Have a specific, realistic, and data-driven approach while planning sales and marketing strategies for your music school, and be prepared to adapt or make strategic changes in your strategies based on feedback and results.

6. Operations Plan

The operations plan section of your business plan should outline the processes and procedures involved in your business operations, such as staffing requirements and operational processes. Here are a few components to add to your operations plan:

Staffing & Training:

Operational process:, equipment & machinery:.

• Explain how these technologies help you maintain quality standards and improve the efficiency of your business operations.

Adding these components to your operations plan will help you lay out your business operations, which will eventually help you manage your business effectively.

7. Management Team

The management team section provides an overview of your music school management team. This section should provide a detailed description of each manager’s experience and qualifications, as well as their responsibilities and roles.

Founders/CEO:

Key managers:.

• It should include, key executives(e.g. director) senior management, and other department managers (e.g. head coach, instrument manager.) involved in the music school operations, including their education, professional background, and any relevant experience in the music industry.

Organizational structure:

Compensation plan:, advisors/consultants:.

• So, if you have any advisors or consultants, include them with their names and brief information consisting of roles and years of experience.

This section should describe the key personnel for your music services, highlighting how you have the perfect team to succeed.

8. Financial Plan

Your financial plan section should provide a summary of your business’s financial projections for the first few years. Here are some key elements to include in your financial plan:

Profit & loss statement:

Cash flow statement:, balance sheet:, break-even point:.

• This exercise will help you understand how much revenue you need to generate to sustain or be profitable.

Financing Needs:

Be realistic with your financial projections, and make sure you offer relevant information and evidence to support your estimates.

9. Appendix

The appendix section of your plan should include any additional information supporting your business plan’s main content, such as market research, legal documentation, financial statements, and other relevant information.

• Add a table of contents for the appendix section to help readers easily find specific information or sections.
• In addition to your financial statements, provide additional financial documents like tax returns, a list of assets within the business, credit history, and more. These statements must be the latest and offer financial projections for at least the first three or five years of business operations.
• Provide data derived from market research, including stats about the music school industry, user demographics, and industry trends.
• Include any legal documents such as permits, licenses, and contracts.
• Include any additional documentation related to your business plan, such as product brochures, marketing materials, operational procedures, etc.

Use clear headings and labels for each section of the appendix so that readers can easily find the necessary information.

Remember, the appendix section of your music school business plan should only include relevant and important information supporting your plan’s main content.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

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This sample music school business plan will provide an idea for writing a successful music school plan, including all the essential components of your business.

After this, if you still need clarification about writing an investment-ready business plan to impress your audience, download our music school business plan pdf .

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Frequently asked questions, why do you need a music school business plan.

A business plan is an essential tool for anyone looking to start or run a successful music school. It helps to get clarity in your business, secures funding, and identifies potential challenges while starting and growing your business.

Overall, a well-written plan can help you make informed decisions, which can contribute to the long-term success of your music school.

How to get funding for your music school?

There are several ways to get funding for your music school, but self-funding is one of the most efficient and speedy funding options. Other options for funding are:

• Bank loan – You may apply for a loan in government or private banks.
• Small Business Administration (SBA) loan – SBA loans and schemes are available at affordable interest rates, so check the eligibility criteria before applying for it.
• Crowdfunding – The process of supporting a project or business by getting a lot of people to invest in your business, usually online.
• Angel investors – Getting funds from angel investors is one of the most sought startup options.

Apart from all these options, there are small business grants available, check for the same in your location and you can apply for it.

What is the easiest way to write your music school business plan?

A lot of research is necessary for writing a business plan, but you can write your plan most efficiently with the help of any music school business plan example and edit it as per your need. You can also quickly finish your plan in just a few hours or less with the help of our business plan software .

How detailed should the financial projections be in my music school business plan?

The level of detail of the financial projections of your music school may vary considering various business aspects like direct and indirect competition, pricing, and operational efficiency. However, your financial projections must be comprehensive enough to demonstrate a complete view of your financial performance.

Generally, the statements included in a business plan offer financial projections for at least the first three or five years of business operations.

Can a good music school business plan help me secure funding?

Indeed. A well-crafted music school business plan will help your investors better understand your business domain, market trends, strategies, business financials, and growth potential—helping them make better financial decisions.

So, if you have a profitable and investable business, a comprehensive business plan can certainly help you secure your business funding.

What's the importance of a marketing strategy in a music school business plan?

Marketing strategy is a key component of your music school business plan. Whether it is about achieving certain business goals or helping your investors understand your plan to maximize their return on investment—an impactful marketing strategy is the way to do it!

Here are a few pointers to help you understand the importance of having an impactful marketing strategy:

• It provides your business an edge over your competitors.
• It helps investors better understand your business and growth potential.
• It helps you develop products with the best profit potential.
• It helps you set accurate pricing for your products or services.

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Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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Music Business Plan: A Guide for Music Industry Professionals

Augur CPA helps entrepreneurial creatives gain clarity around their business finances.

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A music business plan is crucial for any music industry professional looking to launch or grow their business. It provides a snapshot of the current state of the business and lays out a clear growth plan for the next five years. This is essential for understanding where the business is at and setting achievable goals for the future.

Check out our article below to learn more about creating an awesome music business plan and get a template.

What is a Music Business Plan?

A music business plan is a comprehensive and detailed document that outlines the goals, strategies, and financial projections for a music-related business. Whether it's a record label, music production company, artist management firm, or any other music-related venture, a business plan provides a roadmap for success. It helps to attract investors, secure loans, and guide overall operations.

From market analysis and competitive research to marketing and distribution strategies, a music business plan covers every aspect of the business to ensure clarity, direction, and long-term viability. It is an essential tool for anyone looking to establish or grow a music-related business in the highly competitive and dynamic music industry.

Why is it important to have a music business plan?

A music business plan is crucial for an artist's success in the industry for several key reasons.

It serves as a blueprint for the artist's career, outlining their goals, strategies, and financial projections. This document helps attract investors by showcasing the artist's vision, potential for return on investment, and realistic plans for reaching their target audience.

A well-crafted business plan guides decision-making by providing a clear direction and framework for the artist's activities and investments. Furthermore, it defines the artist's brand, including its image, style, and target market, which is essential for standing out in the competitive music industry.

In summary, a music business plan is instrumental in attracting investors, guiding decision-making, and defining an artist's brand, making it essential for achieving success in the music industry. Therefore, having a solid and comprehensive business plan is crucial for any aspiring musician or band looking to establish a successful and sustainable career.

How to Fill Out Your Lean Music Business Plan

In this guide, we will walk you through the steps of filling out your lean music business plan, from identifying your target audience to mapping out your marketing and sales strategies. 

We'll be referencing sections of the US Small Business Administration's ( SBA ) lean business plan template . Despite its generality, it works as a music business plan template. 

Aspects of this guide relate to the traditional business plan, which we will discuss later in the article. 

Business identity

A business identity helps your business specify exactly what you offer. Both the single-page lean plan and the traditional plan place importance on your identity. Let's say, for example, you're a business-owning musician who provides audio for creatives in the media industry. Here's how your identity might look:

Our business identity revolves around providing high-quality music and sound effects for TV programs, film industries, commercials production companies, video game developers, corporations, and event organizers. 

Through the lean template, try to identify your business in under one paragraph. Then, using the traditional template (see below), expand on that identity. Things like your mission statement, which we visit later, are an aspect of this.

The problem you're trying to solve

All businesses are problem solvers. Record labels help musicians with distribution, while music teachers help provide the next generation of musicians with a strong foundation. 

Naturally, you might wonder how this applies to musicians. Just saying "entertainment" feels a bit weak. There are bands, like Rage Against the Machine, who make music to push a movement. But if you're not part of that crowd, what do you put?

So, think about why you got into music-making in the first place. Any professional musician should think about who their music appeals to and what they want people to feel when hearing their music. You can then say your music solves that problem in a cheesy reminder that you think about more than what shows up on your financial statements. 

If you don't want to get too corny, think about who your music will most appeal to. Then, you can say what your target audience is. Think of something like this:

Creating music for young men and women that will entertain them and inspire them to explore challenging topics.

This problem-solving might feel generic, but you'll know your fans and why you make music. So, stay focused on that.

Solution your business presents

Once you consider the problem your business solves, you need to state how you solve that problem. Again, this is much easier for music industry professionals who work in support roles. Music distributors solve the problem by having direct connections with other distributors, while music marketers help bands reach out to fans via multiple social media platforms. 

As someone who makes music, your solution is the creation of music. So, ask yourself how the creation of your music solves this problem. Here's an example based on our situation above:

Our band writes music that delves into mental health struggles based on personal experiences and how we overcame them.

You might think that doing this as a musician feels silly, but think of it as a reminder. One of the reasons famous musicians like David Bowie and Tom Morello were so successful is focusing on how their music helps people. 

Competition 

Competitive market data varies depending on the territory you plan to target. For musicians and bands, this might involve bands in the local area and those in future touring locations. For musicians, the competition can also be a list of potential collaborators.

For everyone else not making music, other record labels and music production companies are just competition. Whether you can collaborate with them or not, you'll want to differentiate yourself from all the other options out there. Being another "me too" music business will make it easier to forget you. 

Using the lean small business plan, you'll want to stick this to two or three sentences. Be very general, knowing you can also expand using the traditional business plan. Here's an example of a made-up Tennesse company: My Music Production & Management: 

The competitive landscape for music production companies in Tennessee includes My Music Production & Management, Genre Music, and Retro Recording & Productions. My Music Production & Management offers a wide range of services, including music production, artist management, and music distribution. 

Revenue streams

Revenue streams come from various sources. A business plan reminds you of those sources so you can stay focused. As a musician, your income can come from many sources. Below is an example you can use under the lean business plan:

As a musician, my income comes from paid gigs, teaching music lessons, instrument repair services, and recording sessions. To ensure financial stability and growth, I plan to diversify my income by capitalizing on these different opportunities.

Your revenue streams will differ as a record label or other kind of music business. Like musicians, your revenue streams can vary. However, as a young business, you may specialize in specific areas. You might work on creating merch or distributing digital releases. 

Marketing activities

Marketing activities focus on how you plan on reaching out to different sources. For many new music businesses, this involves outreach through social media platforms. Here's an example of what you might include in your business plans:

Our marketing activities will primarily focus on building a strong online presence through social media and regional publications. We plan to utilize platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok to engage with our audience and share regular updates about our music and upcoming events. Additionally, we will work on developing a press kit to distribute to regional publications and media outlets to garner publicity and reach a wider audience.

Bands can create electronic press kits (EPKs) that are prebuilt for members of the media. This makes it easy for journalists and members of the media to share content about you, such as a new album release. You can also consider how much you might pay for advertising. Digital marketing activities like those above are the first choice, as this activity uses advanced targeting tools based on what people search for and their demographics.

Marketing traditionally focuses on the four Ps: product, price, place, and promotions. The first two Ps delve into your product line, which you'll learn about later. Promotions indicate the type of marketing you choose, and Place usually refers to the platforms your target audience uses. 

The lean business plan gives you a simple overview of your likely expenses, which can be detailed in your longer business plan. Part of these expenses include music taxes. Read our guide on music taxes for more details.

Expenses vary depending on the type of music business you run. You could pay to rent a studio for recording sessions, purchase recording equipment, access manufacturers, or pay for other expenses. These expenses can result in tax deductions .

Here's an example of what your expenses section might look like:

To get my music business up and running, I need to budget for several key expenses. Studio time would be required for recording and producing music, averaging around $50-$100 per hour. I'd also need to allocate funds for engineering talent, which could cost between $50-$200 per hour, depending on experience. Transportation costs for getting to and from recording studios or performance venues should be factored in, estimating around $200-$500 per month.

Legal fees for business formation are also deductible. When listing your expenses and considering deductions, ask yourself what your type of company would normally deduct. Reach out to Augur CPA if you'd like a comprehensive review.

The key roles section provides a list of high-ranking authorities in the business and explains the responsibilities and functions those roles bring to the business. Here's an example of what that might look like in your business plan:

1. Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Responsible for overall strategic direction and leadership of the organization, making key decisions and representing the company to the public and stakeholders.

2. Human Resources Department: This department is responsible for recruiting, training, and managing employees, as well as ensuring legal compliance and promoting a positive work environment.

3. Marketing Department: Responsible for promoting the organization's products or services, conducting market research, and developing marketing strategies to attract and retain customers.

4. Finance Department: This department is responsible for managing the organization's financial resources, including budgeting, accounting, and financial reporting.

5. Operations Department: This department is responsible for overseeing the organization's day-to-day activities, optimizing processes, and ensuring efficient production and service delivery.

As a new business, you might not need all of this detail in your roles. A new business owner wears many hats, handling all of this themselves.

As your business grows and you fill roles like those above, you'll want to create an operating agreement . Operating agreements dictate the roles, holding groups responsible for their actions. This can dictate things like voting rules, which are vital when making high-risk business decisions that require more input.

Your milestones tell readers, yourself, and business partners of the important milestones you've already taken or plan to take. Your lean business plan is a single sentence telling people what you generally plan to do. Larger business plans might look something like this:

Milestone 1: Lease Finalization

- Task: Negotiate and finalize the lease agreement for the studio space

- Deadline: by May 15th

Milestone 2: Personnel Contracts

- Task: Draft, review, and finalize contracts for hired personnel

- Deadline: by May 20th

Milestone 3: Studio Build-out and Equipment Purchase

- Task: Begin construction and build-out of the studio space, purchase necessary equipment

- Deadline: Construction to be completed by June 30th

Milestone 4: Networking and Marketing Plan Implementation

- Task: Develop and implement a networking and marketing plan to attract clients

- Deadline: Marketing plan to be in place by June 1st

Each milestone outlines specific tasks and deadlines to ensure a smooth and successful opening of a recording studio. A musician or distribution company should take a similar approach, focusing on initiatives that help them grow their business.

Filling Out Longer, Traditional Business Plans

The SBA's traditional business plan, which you can find here , is a multi-page document. It's an expanded version of the lean business plan, which you can provide upon request. When applying for business loans or bringing on business partners, this plan can help communicate your vision.

Traditional business plans might use a bit more jargon, like executive summaries and mission statements. Below, you'll learn a bit more about some of the more complex aspects of writing your detailed business plan.

Executive summary

Executive summaries summarize the main points of a business plan. The summary points include the purpose of the business, the business name, the target market, your business location, and how your business solves its target audience's problem. Here's an example you can use for inspiration:

The Executive Summary of my music business plan showcases my artist bio, mission statement, and unique selling proposition. As a musician, I bring a unique blend of classical training and modern influences, with a strong foundation in jazz, pop, and R&B. My mission is to create music that transcends genres and connects with audiences on a deeper level, aspiring to inspire and uplift through my art.

My unique selling proposition lies in my ability to blend diverse musical styles and deliver powerful, emotionally resonant performances. I have achieved recognition in local music scenes, including winning the Best New Artist award at a prominent music festival. My aspirations include reaching a global audience and collaborating with industry-leading producers to create music that leaves a lasting impact. What sets me apart from others in the industry is my unwavering dedication to authenticity and artistry, always prioritizing substance over trends.

For bands and musicians, the executive summary is a great way to showcase your passion for music. Notice the "unique selling proposition," which indicates how you plan on differentiating yourself compared to other companies.

Other companies, like music publishing companies, might focus a little less on the creative aspects of their business. An executive summary can differ slightly between companies. However, if you're new, start with the template until you get comfortable writing these plans.

Company description and mission statement

Your company description, based on the traditional plan, includes the mission statement, members, legal structure, and location of the company. It might also include the executive summary.

Here's an example of the description for a made-up company: SoundWave Entertainment:

Our company, SoundWave Entertainment, is structured as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) and has been in business for ten years. We specialize in providing top-quality live music entertainment, event production, and artist management services. Our diverse range of offerings includes wedding bands, corporate event entertainment, and music festivals. Our customer demographics range from engaged couples looking for the perfect wedding band to event planners seeking unique and memorable entertainment experiences. In the past decade, we have experienced significant growth, expanding our roster of talented artists and achieving a strong presence in the events industry. Our primary business goal is to continue providing exceptional musical experiences and to further expand our reach in the entertainment industry.

The description is simple enough, but the mission statement is arguably the most important aspect of your business plan. It's a few sentences long but shares the overall mission of your company, dictating where it goes and how it makes decisions. Mission statements are emotionally driven and connected to the morals and heart of the company's stakeholders. Here's how it might look:

At SoundWave Entertainment, we are committed to delivering unforgettable musical experiences and fostering the growth of talented artists. We strive to exceed our client's expectations by curating exceptional live entertainment and providing a platform for artists to showcase their skills. Our goal is to leave a lasting impression through the power of music, creating moments that inspire and connect people.

Market conditions and research

The traditional business plan offers a bit more room for reviewing your market conditions and researching your competition. Doing your own research helps you understand the market. Sharing your research on a business plan provides proof of your knowledge of market conditions. Here's a short example of market conditions:

The current market conditions in the music industry are characterized by several industry trends, including the shift towards streaming services, the resurgence of vinyl records, and the increasing importance of live performances for artists' revenue. Consumer behavior has also changed significantly, with more music fans opting for subscription-based streaming services over traditional album or single purchases. Key competitors in the industry include major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, as well as record labels and live event promoters.

Additional sections of your business plan include a detailed description of your customers, how your company outperforms the competition, and regulations that might impact your company.

Regarding regulations in the music industry, it helps to have a general understanding of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ( DMCA ), fair use , and current communication laws. Knowledge of these laws or working with a music attorney can help you with this aspect of your business plan.

Service line and pricing structure

Your service line includes a complete list of your services and their costs. For musicians, this might include gigs, music lessons, and anything else you do to advance your career in music. It then breaks down the pricing of your services, including some potential for how that pricing can flex.

Services can vary heavily depending on your company and the services you offer. When you first start your business, you might specialize in a few areas. One milestone could be expanding to include additional features, like a record company offering email marketing services.

The service line section also includes your product lifecycle. For example, albums tend to make more money during their first year of release, and your lifecycle dictates how long you might make albums. If you go on a tour during the album, you might stop creating new albums or merchandise sales during this time. 

Service line information can also include information on intellectual property rights and how your band and albums will be copyrighted. You can also work to trademark your company (or band) logo.

Marketing, sales, and growth strategy

While your marketing research section details information about the market and industry, your marketing, sales, and growth section dictates how you plan on reaching target customers. The lean plan mentioned above briefly addresses this area.

The three areas you'll want to consider are your growth strategy, how you want to communicate with customers, and how you plan on selling your products.

Let's say you plan on creating your own Shopify e-commerce store for your business, which is a huge investment. This means your growth strategy, product sales, and customer communications will wrap around this tool. If you want to start simpler, mention how you plan on talking with fans and setting up merch tables at local shows.

Here, you'll see some examples of how you could write this section:

Our music business aims to market, sell, and grow by implementing a combination of online and offline strategies. Our marketing efforts will include targeted social media campaigns, SEO optimization for our website, and collaborations with music influencers and bloggers. We will also explore opportunities for live performances, partnerships with local venues, and utilizing traditional advertisement methods.

To drive sales, we will offer unique packages for our music services, including special promotions for first-time customers and loyalty rewards for returning clients. Our pricing strategy will be competitive while still maintaining the quality of our services.

In terms of customer retention, we will focus on delivering exceptional customer service and providing personalized experiences for our clients. Our unique selling proposition lies in our ability to offer customized music solutions tailored to different occasions and preferences.

Moving forward, our plans for growth and expansion include branching out to new markets and offering additional services such as music production and event management. We will also invest in building brand loyalty and expanding our customer base through strategic partnerships and collaborations within the music industry.

Why Should I Care About A Business Plan?

A business plan is a crucial tool for any musician or music industry professional looking to advance their career in the music industry. It serves as a roadmap for your career, helping you set goals, make strategic decisions, and stay on track for success.

One of the most significant benefits of having a business plan in the music industry is its ability to attract investors. A well-thought-out plan demonstrates to potential investors that you are serious about your music career and have a clear direction for success. It outlines your financial projections, marketing strategies, and potential for growth, making it more likely for investors to see the value in supporting your music endeavors.

Additionally, a business plan guides decision-making by providing a framework for evaluating opportunities and making informed choices. It forces you to consider all aspects of your music career, from marketing and promotion to touring and merchandising, ensuring that you have a comprehensive strategy in place.

Furthermore, a business plan helps define your brand identity and outline your unique selling points, target audience, and marketing message. This is crucial in the music industry, where standing out and connecting with fans is essential for success.

To learn more about how taxes can apply to a financial plan for your business, contact Augur CPA today .

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, business, or tax advice. You should consult your own attorney, business advisor, or tax advisor regarding matters mentioned in this post. We take no responsibility for actions taken based on the information provided.

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Music Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Music Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your music business plan.

We have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their music businesses.

Below is a template to help you create each section of your Music business plan.

Executive Summary

Business overview.

Musicians First Studio is a startup music company located in Nashville, Tennessee. The company is founded by Michael Smith, an experienced musician who has gained valuable knowledge on how to manage a music business during the past ten years while working at My Music Production & Management, another local music company. Now that Michael has experienced managing a music company, he is ready to start his own business, Musicians First Studio. Michael is confident that his skills as a musician, combined with his understanding of business management, will enable him to run a profitable music company of his own. Michael is recruiting a team of highly qualified professionals to help manage the day-to-day complexities of running a music studio – sales and marketing, production, artist management, music instruction, financial reporting, studio equipment maintenance, and client relations.

Musicians First Studio will provide a full suite of music production, management, and instruction services for both novice and professional musicians in the Nashville area. Musicians First will be the go-to music studio in Nashville for its client-focused services and dedicated professionals who are experienced in all aspects of the music industry. The company will be the ultimate choice for the needs of aspiring and professional musicians.

Product Offering

The following are the services that Musicians First Studio will provide:

• Artist Management
• Music Recording, Production, & Post-Production
• Private Music Lessons & Group Classes
• Venue Booking & Live Event Management
• PR & Marketing for New Artists

Customer Focus

Musicians First Studio will target new and experienced musicians in Nashville who are looking for professional production, management, or marketing services. The company will also target aspiring musicians and children looking for music lessons taught by industry veterans. No matter the customer, Musicians First Studio will deliver the best communication, service, and professionalism.

Management Team

Musicians First Studio will be owned and operated by Michael Smith. Michael is a graduate of Tennessee University with a degree in music. He has over ten years of experience working as a manager for another local music studio. Michael will be the company’s chief executive officer. He will oversee the recording/production process, music equipment, and studio staff’s activities.

Michael has recruited his former administrative assistant, Jessica Garcia, to be the company’s chief operating officer and help oversee the studio’s operations. Jessica will handle the day-to-day operations, including budgeting, scheduling, client relations, and logistics.

Michael and Jessica have recruited an experienced marketing director, John Brown, to become a member of the Musicians First Studio management team. John is a graduate of the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in sales and marketing. Michael and Jessica rely on John’s expertise to execute the company’s marketing plan and advertising strategies.

Success Factors

Musicians First Studio will be able to achieve success by offering the following competitive advantages:

• Skilled team of music production technicians and veteran musicians who will work one-on-one with clients to reach their individual music goals whether they’re looking to record a new album or learn a new instrument.
• Musicians First Studio is one of the only studio’s in the area that offers a wide range of services for musicians of all skill levels and goals.
• The company offers competitive pricing and discounts for referrals.

Financial Highlights

Musicians First Studio is seeking $800,000 in debt financing to launch its music business. The funding will be dedicated towards securing the studio and purchasing equipment and supplies. Funding will also be dedicated towards three months of overhead costs to include payroll of the staff and marketing expenses. The breakout of the funding is below:

• Studio build-out: $340,000
• Music equipment, supplies, and materials: $280,000
• Three months of overhead expenses (payroll, utilities): $160,000
• Marketing costs: $10,000
• Working capital: $10,000

The following graph below outlines the pro forma financial projections for Musicians First Studio.

Company Overview

Who is musicians first studio.

Musicians First Studio is a newly established music company in Nashville, Tennessee. Musicians First will be the first choice for aspiring, novice, and experienced musicians in Nashville and the surrounding communities for its full-suite of professional services provided by industry veterans. The company will provide a wide range of services including recording/production, music lessons, artist management, and marketing for new musicians.

Musicians First Studio will be able to guarantee high quality production thanks to the latest and most innovative music technology operated by expert music production technicians. The company’s team of highly qualified professionals experienced in music, production, and marketing will manage the suite of services offered at the studio. In addition to customized services for musicians, customers will be able to book studio time that comes with use of equipment by the hour.

Musicians First Studio History

Musicians First Studio is owned and operated by Michael Smith, an experienced musician who has gained valuable knowledge on how to manage a music business during the past ten years while working at My Music Production & Management, another local music company. Now that Michael has experienced managing a music company, he is ready to start his own business, Musicians First Studio. Michael is confident that his skills as a musician, combined with his understanding of business management, will enable him to run a profitable music company of his own. Michael is recruiting a team of highly qualified professionals to help manage the day-to-day complexities of running a music studio – sales and marketing, production, artist management, music instruction, financial reporting, studio equipment maintenance, and vendor relations.

Since incorporation, Musicians First Studio has achieved the following milestones:

• Registered Musicians First Studio, LLC to transact business in the state of Tennessee
• Has identified an ideal location for the studio that is available for lease
• Reached out to numerous contacts to include local musicians, production technicians, and venue managers to help spread the word about the new studio
• Began recruiting a staff of musicians, music instructors, production technicians, marketing experts, and office personnel to work at Musicians First Studio.

Musicians First Studio Services

Industry analysis.

The global music industry is an estimated $60B market and is expected to grow by 8% by 2026. The broad music industry can be categorized into three primary segments; recording, live music, and music publishing. In the United States, the recording segment generated approximately $8B in revenues last year, while the live music segment brought in an estimated $9.5B, and the publishing segment totaled $1.8B. A majority of revenues generated in the recording segment come from streaming (28% of total industry revenue), with digital downloads and physical media coming in much lower (6.7% and 7.5% respectively). Revenue for the live music segment is generated primarily through ticket sales (37.1%) and sponsorships (10.3%). Publishing accounts for approximately 8.9% of total industry revenue.

Music streaming is one of the most significant trends in the industry, with the number of Americans who pay for streaming subscriptions at approximately 82.1M, up from 7.9M in 2014. Another trend is the emergence of independent artists and small record labels. These groups are earning more revenue than in years past and their percentage of revenue increase year over year is growing faster than that of larger record labels. With more options open to them when it comes to where and how to get their music out to consumers, artists, managers, and record labels have more opportunities for success than ever before.

Customer Analysis

Demographic profile of target market.

The precise demographics for Nashville, Tennessee are:

Customer Segmentation

Musicians First will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• Novice-to-experienced musicians looking for recording/production services
• Aspiring musicians of all ages looking for music lessons
• Musicians looking for artist management, booking, and representation services

Competitive Analysis

Direct and indirect competitors.

Musicians First Studio will face competition from other companies with similar business profiles. A description of each competitor company is below.

My Music Production & Management

My Music Production & Management is one of the largest commercial music studios in Tennessee. The company was established in 1997 and offers professional music recording and production services for local musicians. My Music Production & Management also handles the business management activities for musicians including marketing, booking, and legal representation services. The company is well known for providing high quality production for some of the top artists in the region and has been recognized in various publications and music industry associations for its outstanding work in the local music community.

Genre Music

Founded in 2018, Genre Music is a small music company catering to local musicians in Nashville, Tennessee and surrounding areas. Genre Music is owned and operated by a veteran musician who has over 40 years of experience in the music industry. The company specializes in artist branding, marketing, and representation in addition to its top notch recording services. Genre Music has worked with a variety of up and coming artists in multiple genres and has a loyal customer base of regular musicians who use the company’s services.

Retro Recording & Productions

Retro Recording & Productions is a trusted Nashville, Tennessee-based music company that provides superior production and recording services for Nashville and the surrounding areas. The company is able to provide a wide variety of recording, production, and post-production services using its state-of-the-art music recording equipment. Retro Recording & Productions serves local musicians and national musicians. The company prides itself on being the number one choice for classic sound produced through modern technology. Retro Recording & Productions also manufactures its own collectible vinyl records in limited quantities.

Competitive Advantage

Musicians First Studio will be able to offer the following advantages over their competition:

• The company offers competitive pricing on studio rentals and discounts for referrals.

Marketing Plan

Brand & value proposition.

Musicians First Studio will offer the unique value proposition to its clientele:

• Musicians First Studio provides a full suite of services tailored to the individual musician’s needs. Professionals are equipped to provide services for all skill levels from the aspiring and novice musician, the the industry veteran.
• The company’s studio is expertly designed for the clearest sound quality. The equipment is carefully selected to ensure the best sound possible.

Promotions Strategy

The promotions strategy for Musicians First Studio is as follows:

Social Media Marketing

The company’s marketing director will create accounts on social media platforms such as Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. He will ensure Musicians First maintains an active social media presence with regular updates and fun content to get customers excited about using the studio’s services.

Professional Associations and Networking

Musicians First Studio will become a member of professional associations such as the Nashville Music Association, American Music Educators Society, and the Tennessee Music Production Association. The leadership team will focus their networking efforts on expanding the company’s artist and vendor network.

Print Advertising

Musicians First Studio will invest in professionally designed print ads to display in programs or flyers at industry networking events. The company will also send direct mailers to local residents advertising the services it provides.

Website/SEO Marketing

Musicians First Studio will utilize the in-house marketing director that designed the print ads to also design the company website. The website will be well organized, informative, and list all the services that Musicians First is able to provide. The website will also list information on the company’s events and featured artists.

The marketing director will also manage Musicians First’s website presence with SEO marketing tactics so that when someone types in a search engine “music company” or “music studio near me”, Musicians First Studio will be listed at the top of the search results.

The pricing of Musicians First Studio will be on par with competitors so customers feel they receive value when purchasing the company’s services.

Operations Plan

The following will be the operations plan for Musicians First Studio.

Operation Functions:

• Michael Smith will be the CEO of the company. He will oversee the music production technicians, production process, and the music equipment maintenance. Michael has spent the past year recruiting the following staff:
• Jessica Garcia – Chief Operating Officer who will manage the day-to-day operations, client relationships, scheduling, and logistics.
• Nancy Johnson – Chief Financial Officer who will provide all accounting, budgeting, tax payments, and monthly financial reporting.
• John Brown – Marketing Director who will oversee all marketing strategies for the company and manage the website, social media, and outreach.

Milestones:

Musicians First Studio will have the following milestones complete in the next six months.

12/1/2022 – Finalize lease to rent the studio facility

12/15/2022 – Finalize personnel and staff employment contracts for the Musicians First Studio management team

1/1/2023 – Begin build-out of the studio, purchase equipment, and test the acoustics

1/15/2023 – Begin networking at industry events and implement the marketing plan

2/15/2023 – Finalize contracts for musicians, instructors, production technicians, and marketing professionals

3/15/2023 – Musicians First Studio officially opens for business

Financial Plan

Key revenue & costs.

The revenue drivers for Musicians First Studio are the fees charged to customers in exchange for the company’s services and fees charged to book studio time by the hour.

The cost drivers will be the overhead costs required in order to staff a music company. The expenses will be the payroll cost, utilities, equipment and supplies, and marketing materials.

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

Key assumptions.

The following outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials and in order to pay off the startup business loan.

• Average hours booked per month: 120
• Average fees per month: $30,000
• Overhead costs per year: $640,000

Financial Projections

Income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, music business plan faqs, what is a music business plan.

A music business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your music business. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

You can easily complete your music business plan using our Music Business Plan Template here .

What are the Main Types of Music Companies?

There are a number of different kinds of music companies , some examples include: Recorded Music, Music Licensing, Live Music, Music Publishing, Music Production, Music Business Consulting, and Retail Music Store.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Music Business Plan?

Music companies are often funded through small business loans. Personal savings, credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding.

MusicTeacherNotes

Music school management software for teachers, parents, & students.

10 Tips for Starting a Music School That Succeeds

Step 1: Research and Planning

The first step in setting up a music school is conducting thorough research and planning.  This step includes defining your music school’s mission, vision, and values and conducting market research to determine the demand for music education in your area.  You should also research your competition, understand what they offer, and how you can differentiate your music school from theirs.

Define Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Successful businesses are skilled at identifying their USP or unique selling proposition.  Consider focusing on a niche that the competition isn’t focusing on.  You could also focus on providing more value.  For example, you could also provide supplementary online course material in addition to in-person lessons, which could help students get more out of their lessons.  By brainstorming ways to offer additional value to your students, you can get more music students and keep them longer.

Consider the Overhead and Ongoing Expenses

Another critical aspect of planning is determining the financial requirements to start and sustain your music school.  You need to create a budget that outlines all the costs associated with setting up and running your music school, including rent, equipment, staff, and marketing expenses.  It’s crucial to factor in a contingency fund in your budget to cater to unforeseen expenses.

Step 2: Create a (Lean) Business Plan:

When creating a business plan for your music school, consider a lean approach to business planning to minimize time and resources.  The lean approach is based on the book “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries .  It introduces a methodology for developing and managing startups, focusing on minimizing wasted time, effort, and resources.  Focus on the key elements, such as your target audience, marketing strategies, revenue streams, and financial projections.  The Growthink website offers a helpful guide on creating a lean business plan, which covers the essential points concisely and efficiently.  By following this approach, you can create a solid business plan for your music school without spending days researching and planning.

The marketing section of your lean business plan should highlight how you intend to promote your music school, what your brand identity will look like, and how you will advertise and market your music school. Financial projections should be realistic.  You don’t want to be surprised by costs that are more than you expected and revenue that is less than you planned for.  Use this information to project when your music school will break even and start making profits.

Step 3: Register Your Business

The next step is to register your music school as a legal entity.  Registering your music school ensures that the government recognizes it and complies with the law.  You should consult a lawyer or accountant to determine the best legal structure for your music school, whether it’s a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), or corporation.

Certain tax implications are associated with each entity, so the decision on how to best structure your music school is reserved for another article.  However, we will share some links and resources to help you think through your music school’s structure.

• LLC vs. S Corporation: What’s the Difference?
• Choose a business structure

The following video isn’t made for music schools, but the information provided applies to music teachers and artists of any type.

Step 4: Secure Funding

Starting a music school requires a significant investment in equipment, rent, staffing, and marketing expenses.  You can finance your music school through personal savings, loans from family and friends, or by securing a business loan from a financial institution.  You should also explore grant opportunities from government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private foundations that fund music education programs.

Step 5: Choose a Location

Choosing the right location for your music school is important to its success. You should look for a location that’s easily accessible, preferably in a commercial or residential area. It should be central to areas you want to target, such as between two or three towns that are likely to have many potential music students. Consider the competition when selecting a location; you probably don’t want to start a brand new music school in close proximity to an established one that is well respected in the community. Ensure that the location has ample parking, is secure, and has a pleasant ambiance that fosters a conducive learning environment. The location should also be spacious enough to accommodate your equipment, students, and staff.

Do you want to get more students and grow your music teaching business?

MusicTeacherNotes is music teacher software that helps music teachers get more students and manage all aspects of their music teaching business! Every teacher who registers for a free account gets a Music Teacher Directory listing, even if they never upgrade. There is no risk in joining.

Step 6: Acquire Equipment and Materials

When starting a music school, you should have the right equipment and materials to provide high-quality music education to your students. This may involve investing considerable money in purchasing or leasing instruments, music books, sheet music, and other supplies.

Determine what types of instruments you will need.  This will depend on the kind of music you intend to teach and the age range of your students.  Some common instruments used in music schools include pianos, guitars, drums, violins, and saxophones.

Once you have a list of the instruments you need, you can research the different brands and models available to find the best options for your school. You can consider purchasing new or used instruments depending on your budget and needs .

In addition to instruments, you’ll also need to purchase music books and sheet music for your students.  This will include materials for different levels of expertise, from beginners to advanced musicians.  You can also consider creating your own teaching materials or curricula if you have the necessary skills and experience.

Finally, you’ll need to stock up on other supplies, such as music stands, metronomes, and other teaching aids.  These materials will help your students learn and practice effectively.

Step 7: Hire Staff

Your music school’s success largely depends on your staff’s expertise and dedication. This can be one of the most challenging parts of running a music school. You must hire qualified, experienced music teachers who share your school’s mission and values and compensate them for their time. Ensure your staff members are certified music educators knowledgeable in various music genres and instruments. You can advertise vacancies on online job boards, local music stores, or through referrals from colleagues and friends. Additionally, you may need administrative staff to help with scheduling, customer service, and other administrative tasks.

Step 8: Develop Your Curriculum

Your music school’s curriculum should be comprehensive and cater to students of all ages and skill levels that you intend to teach.  You can develop a curriculum that focuses on a particular genre or instrument or one that offers a broad range of music classes.  You should also consider incorporating music theory, history, and appreciation classes into your music education curriculum.

Ensuring that your music school’s curriculum aligns with state and national music education standards is important. Consider joining appropriate music teacher associations if you haven’t already.  It would help if you also encouraged your teachers to incorporate innovative teaching techniques and technology into their classes to make learning music fun and engaging for students.

Step 9: Market Your Music School

Marketing your music school is crucial to its success.  You should use various marketing strategies to promote your music school, including online, social media, and traditional advertising methods such as flyers, posters,  and brochures. You can also collaborate with local music stores, community centers, and other organizations to promote your music school.

We wrote a comprehensive guide to marketing music lessons, which you can check out here .

It’s essential to maintain a strong online presence for your music school.  You should have a website that’s easy to navigate, includes information about your music school’s curriculum, staff, and location, and allows prospective students to enroll in classes online.  You should also create social media accounts for your music school to engage with your audience and promote your classes.

Step 10: Evaluate and Adjust Your Music School’s Performance

Regularly review your music school’s finances, enrollments, and staff performance to determine areas that need improvement.  You can use student feedback surveys and focus groups to assess the effectiveness of your curriculum and teaching methods.

Additionally, you should adjust your music school’s strategies and operations based on feedback and performance evaluations.  You may need to modify your curriculum or marketing strategies or hire additional staff to meet demand.  Regular evaluation and adjustment can help you maintain a successful and thriving music school.

In conclusion, setting up a music school requires careful planning, research, and execution. Not every music teacher will want to go through this process, and that’s okay. It’s not an easy path. Being a private music teacher and focusing on individual music lessons can offer much more flexibility with far fewer headaches. If you do choose to start a music school, i t’s essential to:

•  develop a comprehensive business plan, 
• secure funding,
• choose a suitable location, 
• acquire equipment and materials, 
• hire qualified staff, 
• develop a comprehensive curriculum,  
• market your music school effectively, 
• and evaluate and adjust your strategies and operations regularly. 

With dedication, hard work, and passion for music education, setting up a music school can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience.

An Ultimate Guide To Starting A Successful Music Business By Teaching Online

Gone are the times when you need to travel to places to run your business and make money. The trend of this era is to leverage the power of the Internet to start your own online business. For those with a passion and love for music, you have a unique opportunity to actually start your own music teaching business online right from the comfort of your own space. 

Teaching online must be considered for starting a music teaching business in today’s digital world. You can get more students in your local area and globally. In addition to generating more income, you are also exposing yourself to other cultures allowing you to enjoy a great learning experience along with your students. 

However, getting started can be challenging. If you are up for the challenge, then you need to plan strategically to get started and launch your online music teaching business. In this blog, let’s look into how to start a music business online. 

Start Your Online Music Business

Get your fully engaging and interactive online music teaching website.

Top Reasons Why Musicians Must Start Teaching Online

Starting a music lesson business is not just gratifying as a musician and educator; it also provides a full-time income and leaves you with enough time to still make music. 

So whether you want to start a music teaching business online just because you are passionate about it or as a sole source of your income or to supplement your income, there are undeniable reasons to pursue your music teaching online. 

To Build Your Personal Brand In Your Market

When planning how to start a music school at home , the first thing to consider is building your own brand. Most educators are skeptical about the idea of building a personal music brand. Building a personal brand of your own, especially when you are tutoring online, is important. 

Teachers do more than teaching- they work on preparation, planning, and work that happens out of the online classes. As various skills go into being an online music teacher, they must have a clear idea of their strength to stand out for opportunities, making it important for teachers to build a brand of their own.

People Are Looking Out To Learn Your Talent

When starting, you might wonder whether your online music business can attract learners immediately. Yes, online teaching offers many opportunities and can help you build a profitable business. There is no shortage of opportunities if you are looking for how to start a music teaching business . People across the globe are searching for professional, experienced, talented, and reliable teachers to pursue their music education in the comfort of their home.  

There are a lot of students who need access to a music conservatory; they will benefit from your online masterclasses. Online music classes also offer an opportunity for students to watch their teachers in real-time, just like in traditional classes. 

The key thing to remember about taking music classes online is not to replace traditional classes. Online classes serve the benefit of learning music from a master teacher in situations where students don’t have access to such classes in real life. 

You Can Target People All Around The Globe

Unlike traditional music classes that only allow you to teach students who are in your same locality, online music tutoring gives you the advantage of reaching out to a wide global audience. Take your music business online to target a learner base across the globe and spread your knowledge beyond geographical limitations. 

The Online Classes Have Low Investment Overhead

While traditional music business models are tricky to implement and scale, online classes only require you to put in a small amount of effort or investment. When it comes to traditional classes, you might have to rent a space to set up your class to accommodate a large number of students. 

Unlike traditional classes, starting a music school business do not need a dedicated place; you need to have a small space to set up your instruments which makes the investment low. Online music classes have low investment overheads and don’t produce any incremental cost.

High Profits In Online Classes Compared To Youtube Or Blog

When looking for how to teach music online as an additional source of income, it presents you with a lucrative opportunity to make higher profits than a blog or a YouTube channel. While a dedicated YouTube channel and blog can help you make some extra money, the efforts you need to make are more, but the profits might be negligible once you earn a large audience base which takes time. However, with online music classes, you can set your hourly rates according to your proficiency and expertise, which can help you earn significant amounts of revenue quickly. 

Want to Conduct Live Music Classes?

Teaching is made easy with Pinlearn, to learn more about features, functionalities, and pricing.

How to Start a Music Teaching Business

Most people see the online music business as a way to make extra money. For the same reasons, they don’t pay attention to the details and generally don’t think outside of music classes. If you want to run a successful music business online , consider the following important steps.

Determine What You Want To Teach

When thinking about how to start a music teaching business , you cannot simply teach anything and make sustainable money through music classes online. It takes a lot of patience and hard work to establish a successful music business, but that doesn’t mean that it is challenging to succeed as a master music teacher. The very first step is to discover a niche where your skills can make a difference or determine what you want to teach. 

To begin with starting a music teaching business , ask the following questions yourself. 

• Are you looking to teach others how to play a specific genre?
• Are your music classes designed for beginners or experienced learners? 
• What will your student base gain after completing your online music classes? 

Answering these questions will guide you toward creating music classes for which your students want to sign up. 

Another important thing is that you don’t need to teach learners how to play a particular instrument. You can also take classes on producing music, recording songs, performing, and exploring other areas of the music business. 

Set Your Goals For Your Music Business

The next step in starting a music teaching business is setting your goals for your online music business. For example, if you are going to start a music class for teaching guitar, you must choose whether you will offer classes for beginners or advanced learners. 

Setting goals will help you develop your online classes effectively and have an idea about your target when you are looking to market or promote your classes. Based on your end goals, make a detailed business plan focusing on more practical issues when starting your music teaching business. 

Research On Building An Audience

The only way to bring students to your music lessons online is to put your courses in front of them. While there are a lot of ways to build an audience, the best comes through giving some freebies or free trial classes and using that to build an email list. 

Fortunately, musicians will have plenty of knowledge to share when starting a music teaching business . For example, you can choose an area and create an eBook, a mini-course, or even a private community and give out those as free to invite your target audience to your classes.

Plan On Pricing Your Music Classes

Pricing your music classes when learning how to start a music teaching business is tricky as it decides the sellability and profitability of your online classes. While it might be easy to set prices on your traditional-styled music classes, it could be hard to figure out how to price your music classes when it comes to teaching music online . It is recommended to start from a nominal price and then later increase it according to your customer’s feedback. 

When setting up a business as a musician , consider offering a free trial for your music classes so that your target audience can try your classes in real-time and decide whether to subscribe to your classes or not. Regarding pricing, you can allow your students to buy individual classes, personal coaching, or monthly subscription. For group classes, you can set monthly subscriptions for, say, 10 or 20 classes. 

Have A Brand For Yourself By Building Your Own Website

Now that you have covered all the steps of building a music business online ; it is time to start setting up a web presence. By building your own music tutoring website, you create a brand for yourself. 

The ideal way of starting a music teaching business is to use online tutoring software to create online music classes and manage access to your music platform. Your professional music teaching website is the first place your students can search for your online classes. The platform must be excellent in looks and contain basic and advanced features to create music classes, manage access, process payments, accept reviews and ratings, etc. 

Write Blog Posts Related To Music On Your Website

Alongside running your own music tutoring website; you must start a blog for your site where you can update relevant posts regularly. While writing regular blog posts might sound like a waste of time, in the beginning, blogs will help build credibility and trust and will definitely pay off in the future. If you are looking for how to start a music teaching business , you can also consider blogging and even vlogging through YouTube; tt can also help you promote your online classes. 

Mistakes Beginners Make While Starting a Music Teaching Business

When taking your music business online , the first step to the huge world of music can be scary. If you are weighing your options on how to start an online music school , or if you have already started and feel stuck, do not panic. We are going to address some of the most common mistakes beginners make while starting their online music business . 

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Failing To Select An Exact Genre Of Music

As musicians, you create a unique piece of work, and often it is difficult to categorize your creation. However, music without a consistent niche might cause major issues when building your learner base. If your music is all over the place, your brand might lack consistency of your brand. Even music artists who create cover songs than originals still have a consistent style. Failing to categorize your music into a micro-niche is musicians’ biggest mistake when starting their online music business . 

When trying to choose a genre, choose the one that will define you as a brand, and make you stand out. The more specific your niche is, the more your potential learners will relate to it.

Investing In Low Audio Quality

This might seem like a sheer basic; however, neglecting the best quality sound is one of the top mistakes most music teachers make, thinking that it comes with a high expense. Great quality isn’t always expensive, as home studios can produce really high quality. Think about the very first time a new person listens to your music. If the quality of your music classes is not good, they might stop attending your classes and never look back. 

Some of the elements that contribute to poor audio quality can be extremely low-quality mics, bad mixing, too much background noise, etc. Invest in good quality affordable mics to ensure the quality of your audio is top-notch. Bad mixing can ruin a piece of music so if you do not have mixing experience, hire help in this area. If you plan well, you can still achieve high-quality audio at an affordable budget. 

Not Giving Priority To Building Email Lists

Another big mistake most music teachers make when they take their classes offline to online is to underestimate the power of email marketing. Many think that email marketing is an old technique and doesn’t work well now. That’s wrong; the email is not dead. People still check their emails every single day. Emails still are the primary way to promote any online business. 

It is equally good for both small and big players. Think about the process of creating any type of account on a website or a social media network. An email address is the first step to creating an account. Email marketing is one of the techniques you must leverage to promote and grow your music brand. If you start from scratch, you might wonder where to begin. Start by offering a free trial class in exchange for the email address of your target audience.

Not Fully Utilizing Social Media Platforms

Social media is one of the best platforms to nurture organic traffic. If you already have an active social presence, try nurturing it to get students for your online classes. Ignoring social media is just like ignoring the basics that produce good results from your existing organic traffic. 

Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., have some cool features that allow you to build and promote your online music brand. When looking for where to advertise music lessons , you can start with Google Ads, Youtube ads, and Facebook ads. 

If combined with your music tutoring website, social media marketing can do wonders to grow your business exponentially. 

Not Investing Money In Advertising

Paid advertising is a critical component of a serious market campaign if you are looking to promote your music business online . Advertising can help you increase the visibility of your music classes, help you attract new learners, and expand your business. Letting your target audience know about your music classes through advertising can boost sales exponentially, helping you to improve brand awareness to a greater extent. 

Stream Music Classes Online

Teach and sell music courses online on your online academy.

The demand for music classes online is rising, and it becomes important for you as a musician to establish your online business. Online classes present a great opportunity for musicians to generate income from their passion. Hope this guide and ideas have offered you significant insights on starting music business training online. If you are looking for any expert guidance on starting your online music business, we are here to help you. Get in touch with us if you need support to set up your music business.

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How Will New Artists Learn to Navigate the Music Business?

Several platforms that allow artists to create and listen to music also see educational initiatives as a way to foster loyalty — and possibly make extra money

By Elias Leight

Elias Leight

Don Passman had been teaching a course on music law at USC for several years when he realized his class notes were the outline of a book. “Because musicians are oriented to their ears,” he says, there was an opportunity to write “an easy-to-read overview of the business for people who don’t like to read.” Think “big print, lots of pictures, analogies, simple language.” When the first edition of All You Need to Know About the Music Business came out in 1991 — the 11th edition arrived this past October — “there was only one book on the music business at the time that was of any consequence,” Passman recalls. “And it was a bit difficult to read.”

Trending on Billboard

Music attorney don passman on contracts, ai and what makes superstars different.

As a result, there is a dire need for quality, accessible music business education. Many of the platforms that allow artists to create, listen to, or distribute music today see educational initiatives as a way to foster loyalty and community — which will in turn help them stand out in the neverending battle for users and attention — and possibly as an additional revenue stream as well. 

Some of these educational efforts are in their early stages: Spotify started testing video learning courses in the U.K. in March, for example, while TIDAL has said education will be a cornerstone of its new era as it works to build financial tools for artists. (It was acquired by Block in 2021.)

The company Creative Intell is further along — it has raised money from around the music business and created an animated series to teach young artists the inner workings of the industry, from record deals to publishing. And the platform Bandlab, which allows its 100-million-plus users to create songs on their phones, has been releasing a steady stream of free tutorials and blog posts.

Helping aspiring artists grasp the intricacies of the music industry is “something that we’re investing a lot in,” says Kevin Breuner , Bandlab’s head of artist development and education. “The industry is more complex than ever, and understanding the business from day one is not just an advantage; it’s essential. Bandlab has such a young audience, it’s growing, and we want those artists to feel like they have a partner — somebody they can trust.”

Welcome to the Spotify Machine: Podcasts, Audiobooks, Video, Education — And, Yes, Music

Austen Smart agrees: The DJ, who co-founded the U.K. music-education company PLAYvirtuoso in 2020 with his brother, sees “huge potential in this space.” “I look at it like, there will be one in eight people, at least, learning at home,” he says, and a portion of those will be interested in the music industry. 

Creative Intell co-founder Steven Ship divides the music education field into three buckets — how to create music, how to market music and the business of music. While YouTube alone is littered with free videos on the first two topics — not to mention all the Reddit threads, blog posts and TikTok tutorials — finding reliable and accessible information on the third is more challenging. “The business of music is probably the most important; it has to be the most accurate, and it’s often ignored,” Ship says.  

If an aspiring artist produces a track poorly or markets it clumsily, that song probably won’t do well — a temporary setback. In contrast, if they don’t understand how the industry works, the consequences can be far more damaging: They could sign a contract with a manager, label, or publisher that cedes control of their output for decades. “Artists were horribly taken advantage of in the early days of the music business, because they just didn’t know what they were doing,” Passman says. And today, “the industry is changing so fast,” Breuner adds, making it even harder to “know what’s important and what’s not.”

When Smart signed a major label deal with his brother — just “two hungry young artists living in London” — he admits the pair “didn’t have the knowledge and the understanding of what we were ultimately signing.” An attorney would have helped, but they didn’t have the cash “to engage with lawyers who could help us interpret it.”

There’s a Free Mobile App Helping Teens Crash the Hot 100, and It’s Not TikTok

Contracts are often “murky and complicated,” Smart continues. “You get offered a relatively big advance; it’s quite a big number when you’re 25 and 22. What does it actually mean? What does it mean ten years later?” 

If he could rewind the clock, he imagines going through the process again — but this time, “we’ve got that course on understanding label deals” available. And if necessary, he could “book a one-on-one session with someone for 30 pounds” to help provide extra context. This is part of the reason that one of PLAYvirtuoso’s “three pillars” of educational material centers on understanding the music industry. 

PLAYvirtuoso is one of four companies that partnered with Spotify initially to provide courses on a variety of topics. The streaming service’s decision to test new education materials came about because it saw data indicating that some users were eager to acquire more knowledge. 

“If I take you 10 years back, most of the people that came to Spotify came with a single intent: listening to music,” says Mohit Jitani , a product director at Spotify. “But in the last few years, as we brought on podcasts and audiobooks, people started to come to Spotify to listen to an interview or learn leadership and finance.” 

TIDAL Plots a New Course — Will It Pay Off?

Currently Spotify’s courses are offered via a freemium model: Users are able to access the first few lessons for free, but they must pay to complete a full course. 

While Spotify’s exploratory foray into education stemmed from the fact that “people started coming to [us] for casual learning,” as Jitani puts it — and it potentially offers the platform another new revenue stream — TIDAL’s recent drive to help artists raise their business IQ is driven in part by its new owner, the payments company Block.

“Building tools and services for business owners, we saw that the moment that you get a little traction outside of your friends and family, the world becomes a lot more complicated,” says Agustina Sacerdote , the TIDAL’s global head of product. “You have to start to understand your numbers to understand where the next big opportunity is going to come from.”

The same principle applies to artists. Understandably, they tend to focus on the art. But as Ship notes, “The moment you release a song, you’re in business” — whether you like it or not. So TIDAL has started offering webinars and rolled out a new product called Circles, which Sacerdote likens to “a very curated version of Reddit, where we have the topics that we believe most artists have questions about,” including touring and merchandise. 

Why Spotify’s Latest Price Hike Means a Lower Royalty Rate for U.S. Songwriters

For now, TIDAL’s products are free. “Once an artist does get a really good piece of advice that they would have never gotten [elsewhere] on Circles, then we’ll start to think about, how do we monetize?” Sacerdote says. 

Creative Intell’s materials on the music business are currently far more comprehensive than TIDAL’s or Spotify’s: The company has created 18 animated courses to help aspiring artists — the vast majority of whom don’t have a manager or lawyer — “understand what they’re signing, learn how to monetize themselves better and learn how to protect themselves,” Ship says.  

Creative Intell releases some materials for free and charges for access to everything ($29.99 a month). It’s also aiming to work with distributors like Vydia as marketing partners. Vydia is not the only company looking to provide this type of resource — Songtrust, for example, has built out its own materials to help songwriters understand how to collect their money from around the world.

“Other industries have all kinds of corporate resources for training and the music industry is lacking those,” Ship says. “We’re trying to fill that void.”

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Sales & Marketing Plan for a Musical Instrument Store (Example)

• May 16, 2024
• Business Plan , Sales & Marketing Strategy

Establishing and operating a successful musical instrument store requires more than just an extensive inventory of instruments; it demands a strategic approach to marketing and sales. This comprehensive guide will assist you in formulating a sales and marketing plan tailored to the business plan of a musical instrument store.

We’ll start with a thorough market analysis to understand your competition and customer needs. Next, we’ll build and position your store’s brand identity strategically. Then, we’ll explore effective marketing channels to engage potential musicians and delve into sales strategies to boost revenue and loyalty in the musical community

Musical Instruments Store Business Plan

Fully editable 30+ slides Powerpoint presentation business plan template.

Download an expert-built 30+ slides Powerpoint business plan template

Market Analysis

Understanding the market landscape is crucial for positioning your musical instrument store effectively amidst competitors and meeting the demands of your target audience .

Competitive Analysis

• Identify Key Competitors : Research other musical instrument stores in your area to understand their offerings, customer interactions, and business strategies. Analyze their instrument inventory, pricing models, customer reviews, and promotional approaches.
• SWOT Analysis : Conduct a comprehensive SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) comparing your musical instrument store against competitors. Highlight your store’s unique strengths, address weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, and mitigate potential threats in the market.

Target Audience Profiling

• Demographic and Psychographic Details: Define the demographics and psychographics of your ideal customers. Consider factors such as age, gender, income levels, musical preferences, skill levels, aspirations, and lifestyle choices. This information will guide your marketing messaging and influence your service offerings.
• Customer Needs and Expectations: Understand what your target customers value most in a musical instrument store experience. Whether it’s a wide selection of instruments, expert advice, fair pricing, educational resources, or community engagement, identifying these needs is critical for catering to your customers effectively.

Branding and Positioning

Establishing a strong and resonant brand identity for your music store is key to setting it apart from competitors and creating an emotional connection with your audience.

Brand Identity Development

• Brand Story and Values: Craft a compelling and authentic brand story that encapsulates your store’s essence. Share the passion behind your store’s establishment, your commitment to music, and the distinct perspectives you bring to the musical instrument industry.
• Visual Elements: Develop a consistent and visually appealing identity, including logos, color schemes, and in-store aesthetics. Ensure these elements resonate with your target audience and effectively convey your store’s personality, values, and dedication to musical excellence.

Market Positioning Strategy

• Define Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Articulate what makes your music store stand out. Whether it’s rare instruments, specialized services like repairs and customization, or a curated selection of emerging and unique brands, define your USP that sets your store apart from competitors.
• Positioning Statement: Create a concise and impactful positioning statement that communicates your store’s desired perception in customers’ minds. This statement should emphasize the unique benefits and value proposition your store offers, guiding all marketing strategies and operational decisions.

Marketing Channels

Utilize diverse marketing channels to elevate brand awareness, engage customers, and drive foot traffic to your music store.

Digital Marketing

• Social media engagement: Utilize Instagram for high-quality instrument images, Facebook for engaging stories, and Pinterest for trendy musical content. Regularly interact with your audience to foster engagement.
• Email Marketing: Build an email list with sign-up incentives. Send bi-weekly newsletters featuring musical tips, event updates, and exclusive offers to keep customers engaged.
• Website and SEO : Develop a professional website showcasing instruments, customer testimonials, and a blog with musical advice. Optimize your site for local SEO to rank higher in local search results for musical instruments.

Local Advertising

• Flyers and Local Print: Distribute well-designed flyers in strategic local spots such as cafes, boutiques, and community centers. Advertise in local lifestyle magazines or newspapers to broaden your audience’s reach.
• Community Events: Engage with the local community by participating in fairs, music festivals, or workshops. Offer free music lessons, instrument demonstrations, or mini-performances to showcase your store’s offerings.
• Partnerships: Collaborate with local businesses, music schools, or event organizers to establish joint promotions, sponsorships, or cross-promotional deals. Partnering with schools, bands, or music events can significantly enhance your brand’s visibility.

Promotional Activities

• Special Deals: Launch seasonal promotions or instrument-specific discounts to attract customers. For instance, ‘Holiday Instrument Bundles’ or ‘Back-to-School Music Gear Sales’ can be enticing offers.
• Loyalty Programs: Implement a customer loyalty card system where after a certain number of purchases or visits, customers unlock rewards such as discounts, free accessories, or exclusive event invites.
• Referral Bonuses: Incentivize existing customers to refer new clients by offering discounts, free accessories, or additional services for successful referrals.

Sales Channels

Enhance sales channels to maximize revenue and ensure customer satisfaction:

In-Store Sales Strategies:

• Product Recommendations: Train your staff to provide expert advice and guidance to customers browsing instruments. Offer personalized recommendations based on customer preferences and musical requirements.
• Accessories and Add-Ons: Encourage upselling by suggesting complementary accessories or add-ons during instrument sales. Highlight the benefits of accessories like straps, cases, or additional gear to enhance the musical experience.
• Bundle Deals and Packages: Create bundled offerings such as starter kits for beginners or comprehensive sets for advanced musicians. Introduce package deals for instrument accessories or maintenance kits.

Online Booking and Sales

• User-Friendly Booking System: Implement an intuitive and user-friendly online booking system accessible through your website and social media platforms. Offer incentives like exclusive discounts or priority bookings for online reservations.
• E-Commerce Platform: Establish an e-commerce platform on your website, allowing customers to purchase musical instruments, accessories, gift cards, or branded merchandise remotely. Ensure a seamless and secure checkout process to facilitate online transactions.
• Virtual Consultations and Support: Offer online consultations for personalized musical advice and guidance. Provide customers with tailored recommendations for instrument purchases or additional equipment based on their musical interests and skill levels. This personalized service can significantly enhance customer satisfaction and drive sales.

Membership and Educational Programs

• Membership Options: Develop programs that foster customer loyalty and musical education. Create membership tiers with benefits like discounts, exclusive events, or free lessons.
• Educational Programs: Host workshops, masterclasses, or instrument maintenance sessions to educate and engage customers, fostering a sense of community within your store.

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Start Your Music Lesson Business in Minutes

How Much Does it Cost to Start a Music Lesson Business

In this article, we'll be delving into the world of music lessons and exploring the business and startup costs involved in launching a successful music teaching venture.

Get worry-free services and support to launch your business starting at $0 plus state fees.

Table of Contents: (Page Navigation)

Detailed startup costs for a music lesson business:.

Initiating a music lesson business can involve substantial financial commitment, the scale of which is significantly influenced by factors such as geographical location, market dynamics, and operational expenses, among others. Nonetheless, our extensive research and hands-on experience have revealed an estimated starting cost of approximately $16000 for launching such an business. Please note, not all of these costs may be necessary to start up your music lesson business.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article on startup costs for a music lesson business is intended for general informational purposes only. The costs outlined may vary depending on location, market demand, and individual business factors. It is important to conduct thorough research and consult with professionals before making any financial decisions. The author and publisher of this article are not responsible for any financial losses or damages resulting from the use of this information.

Factors Contributing to Music Lesson Startup Costs:

There are several factors that contribute to music lesson startup costs:

• Location: Renting or leasing a space for music lessons can be a significant expense.
• Instruments and equipment: Purchasing instruments, music stands, and other necessary equipment can be costly.
• Marketing and advertising: Promoting your music lessons through flyers, online ads, and other marketing channels can require a budget.
• Insurance: Liability insurance is important for protecting your business and can add to startup costs.
• Teacher salaries: If you plan to hire other music teachers, their salaries will be an ongoing expense.
• Software and technology: Investing in software for scheduling, billing, and other administrative tasks can also contribute to startup costs.

Seven Methods to Reduce Your Music Lesson Startup Costs:

Starting a music lesson business can be an exciting venture, but it can also come with a hefty price tag. From instruments to studio space, the costs can add up quickly. However, there are several methods you can implement to reduce your music lesson startup costs. Here are seven ideas to consider:

• Offer virtual lessons: With the rise of technology, virtual lessons have become more popular than ever. By offering virtual lessons, you can eliminate the need for a physical studio space and save on rent and utilities.
• Borrow or rent instruments: Instead of purchasing all the necessary instruments upfront, consider borrowing or renting them. This can save you a significant amount of money in the beginning stages of your business.
• Partner with local schools: Partnering with local schools can provide you with a space to teach lessons and potentially even a source of students. This can also help you build relationships within the community.
• Utilize social media: Social media can be a powerful tool for marketing your business. By creating a strong online presence, you can reach potential students without spending a lot of money on advertising.
• Teach group lessons: Teaching group lessons can be an efficient way to maximize your time and resources. By teaching multiple students at once, you can increase your income while minimizing your expenses.
• Offer package deals: Offering package deals can incentivize students to sign up for multiple lessons at once. This can help you secure a steady stream of income and reduce the need for constant marketing.
• Start small: Starting small can be a smart way to test the waters and minimize your risk. Instead of investing in a full-fledged music lesson business right away, consider starting with a few students and gradually building up your clientele.

How to Improve Your Music Lesson Profit Margins?

As a music teacher, your ultimate goal is to impart your knowledge and skills to your students. But let's face it, you also need to make a living. To improve your music lesson profit margins, you need to think beyond just teaching. Here are some tips to help you maximize your earnings:

• Offer group lessons instead of individual ones. Group lessons allow you to teach more students at once, which means more income for you. Plus, students can learn from each other and develop their social skills.
• Create lesson packages. Offer discounts to students who sign up for a set number of lessons in advance. This will encourage them to commit to a longer-term arrangement, which means more stable income for you.
• Provide additional services. Consider offering additional services such as instrument rentals, sheet music sales, or recording sessions. These can be an excellent source of additional income.
• Teach online. With the rise of online learning, you can now teach students from all over the world. This opens up a whole new market for you and can significantly increase your earnings.
• Partner with other music teachers. Collaborating with other music teachers can help you expand your reach and offer a wider range of services. You can also split the profits from joint ventures.

By implementing these strategies, you can improve your music lesson profit margins and achieve financial stability while doing what you love.

More Music Lesson Business Resources:

• How to Start a Profitable Music Lesson Business [11 Steps]

I'm Nick, co-founder of newfoundr.com, dedicated to helping aspiring entrepreneurs succeed. As a small business owner with over five years of experience, I have garnered valuable knowledge and insights across a diverse range of industries. My passion for entrepreneurship drives me to share my expertise with aspiring entrepreneurs, empowering them to turn their business dreams into reality.

Through meticulous research and firsthand experience, I uncover the essential steps, software, tools, and costs associated with launching and maintaining a successful business. By demystifying the complexities of entrepreneurship, I provide the guidance and support needed for others to embark on their journey with confidence.

From assessing market viability and formulating business plans to selecting the right technology and navigating the financial landscape, I am dedicated to helping fellow entrepreneurs overcome challenges and unlock their full potential. As a steadfast advocate for small business success, my mission is to pave the way for a new generation of innovative and driven entrepreneurs who are ready to make their mark on the world.

Daily News Lesson

May 15, 2024, 9:50 a.m.

How the Kendrick Lamar-Drake feud affects industry and fans

They are two of the biggest names in hip hop, Kendrick Lamar and Drake, and they're locked in a rap battle that's capturing global attention and having a big impact on the music industry. Amna Nawaz discussed this feud and its implications with Sidney Madden of NPR.

View the transcript of the story.

News alternative : Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

• Who are Drake and Kendrick Lamar?
• When did they start their feud?
• What are the two artists battling about?
• Why has the story caught worldwide attention?
• How do you think the serious nature of the fight involving race and the treatment of women including serious allegations about underage relationships and domestic abuse changes the nature of the story?

FOCUS QUESTIONS

How do you think the fight between two rap artists should be resolved? If you are fans of either or both artists, how do you feel about the fact that their fight is so public and the insults so deep?

Media literacy : What else would you like to know about the feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake? Why did Drake used A.I.-generated lyrics to goad Kendrick into engaging with him? Does Drake's not creating his own lyrics affect his case?

Alternative : See, Think, Wonder : What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you want to learn more about?

WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO:

There will be some new watchers who don't feel as though a personal battle between two hip hop stars should receive so much news attention. However, this greatly underestimates the power of arts & culture in our lives. Learn more about the history of hip hop here by:

• Watching this clip from PBS' Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World .
• Here's another highlight clip:

• You can also read this article about the history of hip hop .

In addition to the important history rap music has played in American culture and beyond, research studies have analyzed how music affects our mental health. Watch this Student Reporting Labs (SRL) video to learn more:

Fill out  this form  to share your thoughts on Classroom’s resources. Sign up for NewsHour Classroom’s ready-to-go  Daily News Lessons delivered to your inbox each week.

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• art and culture
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A Plan to Remake the Middle East

While talks for a cease-fire between israel and hamas continue, another set of negotiations is happening behind the scenes..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

From New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily.

[MUSIC CONTINUES]

Today, if and when Israel and Hamas reach a deal for a ceasefire fire, the United States will immediately turn to a different set of negotiations over a grand diplomatic bargain that it believes could rebuild Gaza and remake the Middle East. My colleague Michael Crowley has been reporting on that plan and explains why those involved in it believe they have so little time left to get it done.

It’s Wednesday, May 8.

Michael, I want to start with what feels like a pretty dizzying set of developments in this conflict over the past few days. Just walk us through them?

Well, over the weekend, there was an intense round of negotiations in an effort, backed by the United States, to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

The latest ceasefire proposal would reportedly see as many as 33 Israeli hostages released in exchange for potentially hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

US officials were very eager to get this deal.

Pressure for a ceasefire has been building ahead of a threatened Israeli assault on Rafah.

Because Israel has been threatening a military offensive in the Southern Palestinian city of Rafah, where a huge number of people are crowded.

Fleeing the violence to the North. And now they’re packed into Rafah. Exposed and vulnerable, they need to be protected.

And the US says it would be a humanitarian catastrophe on top of the emergency that’s already underway.

Breaking news this hour — very important breaking news. An official Hamas source has told The BBC that it does accept a proposal for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

And for a few hours on Monday, it looked like there might have been a major breakthrough when Hamas put out a statement saying that it had accepted a negotiating proposal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the ceasefire proposal does not meet his country’s requirements. But Netanyahu says he will send a delegation of mediators to continue those talks. Now, the terms —

But those hopes were dashed pretty quickly when the Israelis took a look at what Hamas was saying and said that it was not a proposal that they had agreed to. It had been modified.

And overnight —

Israeli troops stormed into Rafah. Video showing tanks crashing over a sign at the entrance of the city.

— the Israelis launched a partial invasion of Rafah.

It says Hamas used the area to launch a deadly attack on Israeli troops over the weekend.

And they have now secured a border crossing at the Southern end of Gaza and are conducting targeted strikes. This is not yet the full scale invasion that President Biden has adamantly warned Israel against undertaking, but it is an escalation by Israel.

So while all that drama might suggest that these talks are in big trouble, these talks are very much still alive and ongoing and there is still a possibility of a ceasefire deal.

And the reason that’s so important is not just to stop the fighting in Gaza and relieve the suffering there, but a ceasefire also opens the door to a grand diplomatic bargain, one that involves Israel and its Arab neighbors and the Palestinians, and would have very far-reaching implications.

And what is that grand bargain. Describe what you’re talking about?

Well, it’s incredibly ambitious. It would reshape Israel’s relationship with its Arab neighbors, principally Saudi Arabia. But it’s important to understand that this is a vision that has actually been around since well before October 7. This was a diplomatic project that President Biden had been investing in and negotiating actually in a very real and tangible way long before the Hamas attacks and the Gaza war.

And President Biden was looking to build on something that President Trump had done, which was a series of agreements that the Trump administration struck in which Israel and some of its Arab neighbors agreed to have normal diplomatic relations for the first time.

Right, they’re called the Abraham Accords.

That’s right. And, you know, Biden doesn’t like a lot of things, most things that Trump did. But he actually likes this, because the idea is that they contribute to stability and economic integration in the Middle East, the US likes Israel having friends and likes having a tight-knit alliance against Iran.

President Biden agrees with the Saudis and with the Israelis, that Iran is really the top threat to everybody here. So, how can you build on this? How can you expand it? Well, the next and biggest step would be normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

And the Saudis have made clear that they want to do this and that they’re ready to do this. They weren’t ready to do it in the Trump years. But Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, has made clear he wants to do it now.

So this kind of triangular deal began to take shape before October 7, in which the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia would enter this three way agreement in which everyone would get something that they wanted.

And just walk through what each side gets in this pre-October 7th version of these negotiations?

So for Israel, you get normalized ties with its most important Arab neighbor and really the country that sets the tone for the whole Muslim world, which is Saudi Arabia of course. It makes Israel feel safer and more secure. Again, it helps to build this alliance against Iran, which Israel considers its greatest threat, and it comes with benefits like economic ties and travel and tourism. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been very open, at least before October 7th, that this was his highest diplomatic and foreign policy priority.

For the Saudis, the rationale is similar when it comes to Israel. They think that it will bring stability. They like having a more explicitly close ally against Iran. There are economic and cultural benefits. Saudi Arabia is opening itself up in general, encouraging more tourism.

But I think that what’s most important to the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is what he can get from the United States. And what he has been asking for are a couple of essential things. One is a security agreement whose details have always been a little bit vague, but I think essentially come down to reliable arms supplies from the United States that are not going to be cut off or paused on a whim, as he felt happened when President Biden stopped arms deliveries in 2021 because of how Saudi was conducting its war in Yemen. The Saudis were furious about that.

Saudi Arabia also wants to start a domestic nuclear power program. They are planning for a very long-term future, possibly a post-oil future. And they need help getting a nuclear program off the ground.

And they want that from the US?

And they want that from the US.

Now, those are big asks from the us. But from the perspective of President Biden, there are some really enticing things about this possible agreement. One is that it will hopefully produce more stability in the region. Again, the US likes having a tight-knit alliance against Iran.

The US also wants to have a strong relationship with Saudi Arabia. You know, despite the anger at Mohammed bin Salman over the murder of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, the Biden administration recognizes that given the Saudis control over global oil production and their strategic importance in the Middle East, they need to have a good relationship with them. And the administration has been worried about the influence of China in the region and with the Saudis in particular.

So this is an opportunity for the US to draw the Saudis closer. Whatever our moral qualms might be about bin Salman and the Saudi government, this is an opportunity to bring the Saudis closer, which is something the Biden administration sees as a strategic benefit.

All three of these countries — big, disparate countries that normally don’t see eye-to-eye, this was a win-win-win on a military, economic, and strategic front.

That’s right. But there was one important actor in the region that did not see itself as winning, and that was the Palestinians.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

First, it’s important to understand that the Palestinians have always expected that the Arab countries in the Middle East would insist that Israel recognize a Palestinian state before those countries were willing to essentially make total peace and have normal relations with Israel.

So when the Abraham Accords happened in the Trump administration, the Palestinians felt like they’d been thrown under the bus because the Abraham Accords gave them virtually nothing. But the Palestinians did still hold out hope that Saudi Arabia would be their savior. And for years, Saudi Arabia has said that Israel must give the Palestinians a state if there’s going to be a normal relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Now the Palestinians see the Saudis in discussions with the US and Israel about a normalization agreement, and there appears to be very little on offer for the Palestinians. And they are feeling like they’re going to be left out in the cold here.

Right. And in the minds of the Palestinians, having already been essentially sold out by all their other Arab neighbors, the prospect that Saudi Arabia, of all countries, the most important Muslim Arab country in the region, would sell them out, had to be extremely painful.

It was a nightmare scenario for them. And in the minds of many analysts and US officials, this was a factor, one of many, in Hamas’s decision to stage the October 7th attacks.

Hamas, like other Palestinian leaders, was seeing the prospect that the Middle East was moving on and essentially, in their view, giving up on the Palestinian cause, and that Israel would be able to have friendly, normal relations with Arab countries around the region, and that it could continue with hardline policies toward the Palestinians and a refusal, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said publicly, to accept a Palestinian state.

Right. So Michael, once Hamas carries out the October 7th attacks in an effort to destroy a status quo that it thinks is leaving them less and less relevant, more and more hopeless, including potentially this prospect that Saudi Arabia is going to normalize relations with Israel, what happens to these pre-October 7th negotiations between the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel?

Well, I think there was a snap assumption that these talks were dead and buried. That they couldn’t possibly survive a cataclysm like this.

But then something surprising happened. It became clear that all the parties were still determined to pull-off the normalization.

And most surprisingly of all, perhaps, was the continued eagerness of Saudi Arabia, which publicly was professing outrage over the Israeli response to the Hamas attacks, but privately was still very much engaged in these conversations and trying to move them forward.

And in fact, what has happened is that the scope of this effort has grown substantially. October 7th didn’t kill these talks. It actually made them bigger, more complicated, and some people would argue, more important than ever.

We’ll be right back.

Michael, walk us through what exactly happens to these three-way negotiations after October 7th that ends up making them, as you just said, more complicated and more important than ever?

Well, it’s more important than ever because of the incredible need in Gaza. And it’s going to take a deal like this and the approval of Saudi Arabia to unlock the kind of massive reconstruction project required to essentially rebuild Gaza from the rubble. Saudi Arabia and its Arab friends are also going to be instrumental in figuring out how Gaza is governed, and they might even provide troops to help secure it. None of those things are going to happen without a deal like this.

Fascinating.

But this is all much more complicated now because the price for a deal like this has gone up.

And by price, you mean?

What Israel would have to give up. [MUSIC PLAYING]

From Saudi Arabia’s perspective, you have an Arab population that is furious at Israel. It now feels like a really hard time to do a normalization deal with the Israelis. It was never going to be easy, but this is about as bad a time to do it as there has been in a generation at least. And I think that President Biden and the people around him understand that the status quo between Israel and the Palestinians is intolerable and it is going to lead to chaos and violence indefinitely.

So now you have two of the three parties to this agreement, the Saudis and the Americans, basically asking a new price after October 7th, and saying to the Israelis, if we’re going to do this deal, it has to not only do something for the Palestinians, it has to do something really big. You have to commit to the creation of a Palestinian state. Now, I’ll be specific and say that what you hear the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, say is that the agreement has to include an irreversible time-bound path to a Palestinian state.

We don’t know exactly what that looks like, but it’s some kind of a firm commitment, the likes of which the world and certainly the Israelis have not made before.

Something that was very much not present in the pre-October 7th vision of this negotiation. So much so that, as we just talked about, the Palestinians were left feeling completely out in the cold and furious at it.

That’s right. There was no sign that people were thinking that ambitiously about the Palestinians in this deal before October 7th. And the Palestinians certainly felt like they weren’t going to get much out of it. And that has completely changed now.

So, Michael, once this big new dimension after October 7th, which is the insistence by Saudi Arabia and the US that there be a Palestinian state or a path to a Palestinian state, what is the reaction specifically from Israel, which is, of course, the third major party to this entire conversation?

Well, Israel, or at least its political leadership, hates it. You know, this is just an extremely tough sell in Israel. It would have been a tough sell before October 7th. It’s even harder now.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is completely unrepentantly open in saying that there’s not going to be a Palestinian state on his watch. He won’t accept it. He says that it’s a strategic risk to his country. He says that it would, in effect, reward Hamas.

His argument is that terrorism has forced a conversation about statehood onto the table that wasn’t there before October 7th. Sure, it’s always in the background. It’s a perennial issue in global affairs, but it was not something certainly that the US and Israel’s Arab neighbors were actively pushing. Netanyahu also has — you know, he governs with the support of very right-wing members of a political coalition that he has cobbled together. And that coalition is quite likely to fall apart if he does embrace a Palestinian state or a path to a Palestinian state.

Now, he might be able to cobble together some sort of alternative, but it creates a political crisis for him.

And finally, you know, I think in any conversation about Israel, it’s worth bearing in mind something you hear from senior US officials these days, which is that although there is often finger pointing at Netanyahu and a desire to blame Netanyahu as this obstructionist who won’t agree to deals, what they say is Netanyahu is largely reflecting his population and the political establishment of his country, not just the right-wingers in his coalition who are clearly extremist.

But actually the prevailing views of the Israeli public. And the Israeli public and their political leaders across the spectrum right now with few exceptions, are not interested in talking about a Palestinian state when there are still dozens and dozens of Israeli hostages in tunnels beneath Gaza.

So it very much looks like this giant agreement that once seemed doable before October 7th might be more important to everyone involved than ever, given that it’s a plan for rebuilding Gaza and potentially preventing future October 7th’s from happening, but because of this higher price that Israel would have to pay, which is the acceptance of a Palestinian state, it seems from everything you’re saying, that this is more and more out of reach than ever before and hard to imagine happening in the immediate future. So if the people negotiating it are being honest, Michael, are they ready to acknowledge that it doesn’t look like this is going to happen?

Well, not quite yet. As time goes by, they certainly say it’s getting harder and harder, but they’re still trying, and they still think there’s a chance. But both the Saudis and the Biden administration understand that there’s very little time left to do this.

Well, what do you mean there’s very little time left? It would seem like time might benefit this negotiation in that it might give Israel distance from October 7th to think potentially differently about a Palestinian state?

Potentially. But Saudi Arabia wants to get this deal done in the Biden administration because Mohammed bin Salman has concluded this has to be done under a Democratic president.

Because Democrats in Congress are going to be very reluctant to approve a security agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

It’s important to understand that if there is a security agreement, that’s something Congress is going to have to approve. And you’re just not going to get enough Democrats in Congress to support a deal with Saudi Arabia, who a lot of Democrats don’t like to begin with, because they see them as human rights abusers.

But if a Democratic president is asking them to do it, they’re much more likely to go along.

Right. So Saudi Arabia fears that if Biden loses and Trump is president, that those same Democrats would balk at this deal in a way that they wouldn’t if it were being negotiated under President Biden?

Exactly. Now, from President Biden’s perspective, politically, think about a president who’s running for re-election, who is presiding right now over chaos in the Middle East, who doesn’t seem to have good answers for the Israeli-Palestinian question, this is an opportunity for President Biden to deliver what could be at least what he would present as a diplomatic masterstroke that does multiple things at once, including creating a new pathway for Israel and the Palestinians to coexist, to break through the logjam, even as he is also improving Israel’s relations with Saudi Arabia.

So Biden and the Crown Prince hope that they can somehow persuade Bibi Netanyahu that in spite of all the reasons that he thinks this is a terrible idea, that this is a bet worth taking on Israel’s and the region’s long-term security and future?

That’s right. Now, no one has explained very clearly exactly how this is going to work, and it’s probably going to require artful diplomacy, possibly even a scenario where the Israelis would agree to something that maybe means one thing to them and means something else to other people. But Biden officials refuse to say that it’s hopeless and they refuse to essentially take Netanyahu’s preliminary no’s for an answer. And they still see some way that they can thread this incredibly narrow needle.

Michael, I’m curious about a constituency that we haven’t been talking about because they’re not at the table in these discussions that we are talking about here. And that would be Hamas. How does Hamas feel about the prospect of such a deal like this ever taking shape. Do they see it as any kind of a victory and vindication for what they did on October 7th?

So it’s hard to know exactly what Hamas’s leadership is thinking. I think they can feel two things. I think they can feel on the one hand, that they have established themselves as the champions of the Palestinian people who struck a blow against Israel and against a diplomatic process that was potentially going to leave the Palestinians out in the cold.

At the same time, Hamas has no interest in the kind of two-state solution that the US is trying to promote. They think Israel should be destroyed. They think the Palestinian state should cover the entire geography of what is now Israel, and they want to lead a state like that. And that’s not something that the US, Saudi Arabia, or anyone else is going to tolerate.

So what Hamas wants is to fight, to be the leader of the Palestinian people, and to destroy Israel. And they’re not interested in any sort of a peace process or statehood process.

It seems very clear from everything you’ve said here that neither Israel nor Hamas is ready to have the conversation about a grand bargain diplomatic program. And I wonder if that inevitably has any bearing on the ceasefire negotiations that are going on right now between the two of them that are supposed to bring this conflict to some sort of an end, even if it’s just temporary?

Because if, as you said, Michael, a ceasefire opens the door to this larger diplomatic solution, and these two players don’t necessarily want that larger diplomatic solution, doesn’t that inevitably impact their enthusiasm for even reaching a ceasefire?

Well, it certainly doesn’t help. You know, this is such a hellish problem. And of course, you first have the question of whether Israel and Hamas can make a deal on these immediate issues, including the hostages, Palestinian prisoners, and what the Israeli military is going to do, how long a ceasefire might last.

But on top of that, you have these much bigger diplomatic questions that are looming over them. And it’s not clear that either side is ready to turn and face those bigger questions.

So while for the Biden administration and for Saudi Arabia, this is a way out of this crisis, these larger diplomatic solutions, it’s not clear that it’s a conversation that the two parties that are actually at war here are prepared to start having.

Well, Michael, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

On Tuesday afternoon, under intense pressure from the US, delegations from Israel and Hamas arrived in Cairo to resume negotiations over a potential ceasefire. But in a statement, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear that even with the talks underway, his government would, quote, “continue to wage war against Hamas.”

Here’s what else you need to know today. In a dramatic day of testimony, Stormy Daniels offered explicit details about an alleged sexual encounter with Donald Trump that ultimately led to the hush money payment at the center of his trial. Daniels testified that Trump answered the door in pajamas, that he told her not to worry that he was married, and that he did not use a condom when they had sex.

That prompted lawyers for Trump to seek a mistrial based on what they called prejudicial testimony. But the judge in the case rejected that request. And,

We’ve seen a ferocious surge of anti-Semitism in America and around the world.

In a speech on Tuesday honoring victims of the Holocaust, President Biden condemned what he said was the alarming rise of anti-Semitism in the United States after the October 7th attacks on Israel. And he expressed worry that too many Americans were already forgetting the horrors of that attack.

The Jewish community, I want you to know I see your fear, your hurt, and your pain. Let me reassure you, as your president, you’re not alone. You belong. You always have and you always will.

Today’s episode was produced by Nina Feldman, Clare Toeniskoetter, and Rikki Novetsky. It was edited by Liz O. Baylen, contains original music by Marion Lozano, Elisheba Ittoop, and Dan Powell, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for The Daily. I’m Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.

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Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Michael Crowley

Produced by Nina Feldman ,  Clare Toeniskoetter and Rikki Novetsky

Edited by Liz O. Baylen

Original music by Marion Lozano ,  Elisheba Ittoop and Dan Powell

Engineered by Alyssa Moxley

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

If and when Israel and Hamas reach a deal for a cease-fire, the United States will immediately turn to a different set of negotiations over a grand diplomatic bargain that it believes could rebuild Gaza and remake the Middle East.

Michael Crowley, who covers the State Department and U.S. foreign policy for The Times, explains why those involved in this plan believe they have so little time left to get it done.

On today’s episode

Michael Crowley , a reporter covering the State Department and U.S. foreign policy for The New York Times.

Background reading :

Talks on a cease-fire in the Gaza war are once again at an uncertain stage .

Here’s how the push for a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia looked before Oct. 7 .

From early in the war, President Biden has said that a lasting resolution requires a “real” Palestinian state .

Here’s what Israeli officials are discussing about postwar Gaza.

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The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Michael Crowley covers the State Department and U.S. foreign policy for The Times. He has reported from nearly three dozen countries and often travels with the secretary of state. More about Michael Crowley

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