Portfolio Task Four - Where is your music career heading?

Where is your music career heading?

My music career is definitely heading in a more academic pathway - by 2024, I will have completed my Postgraduate Diploma in Education and be a qualified and internationally recognised music teacher. I also see myself becoming head of the department in music and/or another subject or department such as English or pastoral care by the end of the decade. I will be partaking in a training institute over the summer for five weeks, with a week of “practice teaching” in my allocated school. I definitely do see myself going between academia and professional performance. I feel that my goals are realistic and within a good, solid time frame. 

I always knew that I wanted to go into teaching - when I was in school, my music teacher saved me. There were times when I would doubt my place in society, and she would always be there to reassure me that I am worthy and I have the power to create my own destiny. Even when I left secondary school to go to college, she would still check in with me and support me where I needed it. I went through a very traumatic experience when I was 16, and my music teacher was there to hold me and assure me that everything would be okay. I thought to myself, if I could be even a quarter of the woman that she is, I would be a very happy person.

I will be able to train, acquire the extra skills needed and get the much needed experience to move up within the hierarchy of staff into a leadership position which would allow me to oversee the education of more students as well as evaluate them on a broader spectrum.

Electrify! Music (music business) - projected summary and budgeting

 

Assignment 3 - Music Business Plan

 Electrify! Music

Electrify! Music is an online-only teaching service that would be held via Zoom. The purpose of the business would be to teach theory and vocal lessons through remote locations - so students and users of the service could have their classes, essentially, from anywhere! The preliminary demographic would be children and young people aged five to eighteen plus and living in Coventry and Warwickshire. My goal is that once the business becomes more established and recognised, I will be able to expand to other high traffic areas such as Birmingham, London - even globally! 

For the allocations, I would instate three groups from as young as five to age ten, the “Primary” group, where the children would learn choir songs, breathing techniques, and warmups in a fun and interactive way.

There would be children and young people from age eleven to age sixteen in the secondary demographic. Within secondary groups, there would be an enhanced focus on theory and the vocal lessons in a traditional but interactive way. From the age of thirteen, students will have the option to choose the songs they learn, and this includes the theory of the compositions they have chosen, which will, in turn, teach them about responsibility for their own learning. 

The tertiary groups are theory and vocal lessons - students pick their own material and can play their own or find suitable backing music for their solos. The tertiary groups and the key stage four secondary groups would choose their own schedule, compositions and areas of study they feel needs development - as opposed to the key stage three secondary groups and primary groups who would have set days, times and topics to instil discipline and balance the structure with their school-allocated timetables. 

Electrify! is more than a business - for students and young people without a musical programme at their institutions, Electrify! strives to provide a safe and nourishing environment to develop, advance and execute one’s theoretical knowledge and musicianship.

Electrify! would be a paid service, with a week’s free trial. Lessons will be charged as a subscription and pay as you go. The reason for this is that a bundle deal appears more appealing to prospective customers - for example, a Playstation Plus monthly subscription is £6.99. For twelve months, this equates to £83.33. A set twelve-month bundle would be £49.99, which equates to £4.16 a month, resulting in better value for money and a more inclusive playing experience. Pay as you go is the more flexible option for those who may not have the means to pay for a premium bundle. 

The most critical factor to bear in mind is that the learning resources and the frequencies remain the same no matter what rate you pay. Students will be able to buy their books through the website and have them delivered to their desired locations. The mandatory resources will be included as an add-on to the first payment; however, students must buy the first resources to aid their learning and development.

Beyond the Screen (networking event) - budgeting

Assignment 2 - Networking event

 Beyond the Screen

Considering the pandemic and current social distancing rules, I would not be able to host a total capacity in-person event without incurring some form of disciplinary. With this in mind, the hybrid event (Beyond the Screen) would allow for the special guests to come in, along with select students from the Music Technology course that has good knowledge of sound, production as well as engineering as well as BA and MA Music courses and Popular Music. ‘Beyond the Screen’ is a metaphoric connection to the pandemic and symbolises breaking away from the restrictions and trying to get the world back to in-person as safely as possible.

Upon reflection, hiring a professional sound engineer would take up most of the set budget. By utilising student talent, students get an opportunity to work with music industry professionals. As the event manager, I would be able to use LoveToShop vouchers and gift cards instead of paying the students in hard cash, which can be perceived as unethical. 

The nature of the event is to market, re-introduce, and re-familiarise students with music performance and an opportunity for registered online and in-person attendees to take part in an optional workshop for performance careers advice or a question and answer session. I wanted to ensure an opportunity available for every student and attendee; many music students may be more inclined to the more academic pathway to music - going into teaching, analysing or scrutinising. In comparison, other students and attendees may be more inclined toward the vocational path of music - going into performing, songwriting and hosting. The target audience is anyone over sixteen who has the drive and determination to pursue an academic or vocational career within the music industry. It is vital to keep the target audience within the music demographic. It wouldn’t be possible to have an “open to all courses” event due to the social and medical restrictions that must be followed by law. 

For the event, I have a budget of £1000. I obtained 50% sponsorship from Las Iguanas Coventry, who will be the provider of the food and refreshments on the day. The aim would be to have new and upcoming artists come to the event, as getting somebody like Rita Ora or Frank Ocean is unrealistic and very expensive. I was initially thinking to have for rap to invite JAY1 and D9, as they live in Coventry; it wouldn’t cost anything to get them to the venue. The only things that would need to be paid would be their time performing and their time spent in workshops (in mid-size groups, lasting 30 minutes maximum). The two expenses that might be the most costly are renting the space and food and refreshments. For the more classical side of music, I would try to get Dr Nicole Panizza and Ms Angela Simkin to feature as not only workshop leaders but also as performers. For Dr Panizza, I envisioned her doing some piano workshops and vocal strengthening. For Ms Simkin, I pictured her doing vocal workshops, including warmups and a run-through of a song of her choice that would be accessible and inclusive to all attendees.

Portfolio Task 3 - outline of tasks chosen

 Options chosen:

Planning a networking event This task requires you to create a one-page (c. 500 word) plan outlining the staging of a networking event.

Please include the following components/descriptors:

1. i)  Name, venue and nature of networking event

2. ii)  Market entry (any relevance of impact within the wider

   demographic/community)

3. iii)  Projected desired consumer base / audience

4. iv)  Artistic brief and mandate

5. v)  Projected financial summary

Option 3: Starting a music-related business This task requires you to create a one-page (c. 500 word) plan outlining your music-related business plan.

Please include the following components/descriptors:

1. i)  Name, venue and nature of your music-related business

2. ii)  Market entry (any relevance of impact within the wider

   demographic/community)

3. iii)  Projected desired consumer base/audience

4. iv)  Artistic brief and mandate

5. v)  Projected financial summary

cover letter (t&a altered)