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Business Mentorship and Support in DFW
Free access to mentors and workshops on starting or growing your business. Located in Dallas.
Small Business Development Center
Free access to mentors and workshops on starting or growing your business. Located in Denton.
Stoke is a local co-working space and new business incubator. Mentors available with membership. Located in Denton.
The Texas Music Office (TMO) is a state-funded business promotion office and information clearinghouse for the Texas music industry. The TMO assists more than 15,000 individual clients each year, thereby meeting its legislative mandate: "Sec. 485.004. Promotion; Duties. (a) The office shall promote the development of the music industry in the state by informing members of that industry and the public about the resources available in the state for music production." The TMO is the sister office to the Texas Film Commission, both of which are within the Office of the Governor.
Texas Woman’s University Center for Women Entrepreneurs
Provides the tools for start-ups to succeed, including training, funding, advising and networking opportunities for prospective business owners and students. Located in Denton.
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Career Preparation
Angela Beeching 4 x 6 of How to Write a Great Musicians Bio
Angela Beeching provides simple guidelines to create a compelling musician bio.
How to Write an Effective Musicians Bio
A bio is an important tool for any musician. Knowing how to write a strong one will help you promote yourself.
Applying for Music Teaching Positions in Higher Ed - New England Conservatory of Music
This comprehensive guide defines important terms, such as “tenure track” or “lecturer”, and also provides basic information about writing a compelling teaching philosophy, curriculum vitae, resume, etc.
Cover letter tips created by Developing Employability - Dawn Bennett
This PDF leads you through the steps to create a solid cover letter that can represent you well.
Berklee Career Development Center YouTube Channel
The overall focus of the Berklee Career Development Center is on music career management, helping students access resources and activities available to them and applying them to their own individual career paths. Through their YouTube channel you can find records of their semester events about networking, music business and professional development.
Practical information and real-world answers to career questions for college students. The site includes job search guides, a resume gallery, links to professional associations by industry, as well as access to advice from their career coaching staff.
"For more than a century, members of the American Federation of Musicians have enjoyed access to one of the most important sources of information affecting their livelihoods. Published monthly and distributed to more than 80,000 Federation members, International Musician provides vital news of legislation affecting musicians, audition notices, industry news, features about activism and labor organizing campaigns, and spotlights featuring the activities of their colleagues. Union members aren’t the only ones who can take advantage of the resources found in the pages of International Musician. Subscribe now to stay on top of the latest developments in the music industry. Important resources covered in the pages of IM each month include book and software reviews, new product spotlights, health topics, instrument sales, audition notices, and an extensive classified advertising section."
This site offers career advice, free resume critique, professional job postings, and job alerts.
MusiciansWay.com serves instrumentalists and singers who strive for excellence. Along with the 350-page book The Musician’s Way by Gerald Klickstein, the resources on the site help musicians to: enhance practice and performance skills, overcome performance anxiety, foster creativity and motivation, collaborate effectively, learn about the music industry, boost health & prevent injuries, build music careers, and enjoy lifelong music making
From Berklee’s journal “Music Careers in Dollars and Cents” (2016)
New England Conservatory of Music's Entrepreneurial Musicianship Guidebook
This comprehensive resource covers topics including resume preparation, crowdfunding, interview preparation, audience development, and music copyright amongst others.
Polyphonic - The Orchestral Musician Forum
"Funded by a gift from the Symphony Orchestra Institute (founded in 1994 by Paul R. Judy), the Eastman School of Music has established the Orchestra Musician Forum. It offers students and young professionals the opportunity to engage and interact with their peers. Over time, other activities directed to the Forum’s mission might be pursued."
Resume and CV writing tips - Eastman School of Music
Use this resource for help creating different resumes and CVs for teaching, performance, and leadership/administration.
"Springboard for the Arts is an economic and community development organization for artists and by artists. Their work is about building stronger communities, neighborhoods, and economies, and they believe that artists are an important leverage point in that work. Springboard for the Arts’ mission is to cultivate vibrant communities by connecting artists with the skills, information, and services they need to make a living and a life. Their work is about creating communities and artists that have a reciprocal relationship, where artists are key contributors to community issues and are visible and valued for the impact they create. They do this work by creating simple, practical solutions and systems to support artists. Those programs support their goal to help create a local culture movement."
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Conferences and Educational Programs
Midem is a large international conference focused on the music industry. If you can’t attend the conference, check out the YouTube channel, which is full of videos on topics like building a successful marketing campaign and making a living in the digital world. Find the channel here.
National Arts Marketing Project
The National Arts Marketing Project, a program of Americans for the Arts, is dedicated to helping arts marketers acquire and implement sophisticated marketing, technology, and entrepreneurial skills to increase earned income through greater audience engagement.
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Digital Distributors
CD Baby is the largest online music distribution company for independent music. They offer a host of artist services including physical and digital distribution, warehousing and shipping of CDs, DVDs, and vinyl, affordable web-hosting and design, download cards, disc duplication, and more.
TuneCore Music Distribution can put your music on 80+ of the most popular music stores so your fans can listen to you all over the world. They get to hear your songs on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play.... Upload your music today, and before you know, you’ll be heard around the world.
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Entrepreneurship
7 Key Differences Between For-Profit and Non-Profit Organizations - Norwich University Online
This article briefly explains the differences between for and non-profit organizations.
Arts Management Network is an international platform for arts managers, researchers, students, policy makers, journalists and professionals in the arts and creative sector around the globe. Their aim is to shed light on new approaches to the roles and challenges for arts managers in the context of global developments with a special, but not exclusive focus on non-Western countries.
Becoming a Music Business Entrepreneur - LinkedIn Learning
This series of videos covers numerous topics on the skills and knowledge needed to become a successful music business entrepreneur. Requires LinkedIn Learning account or access through a university portal.
This video goes into the basics of creating a business model using detailed graphics and animations.
Advice, insight, profiles and guides for established and aspiring entrepreneurs worldwide. Home of Entrepreneur magazine.
This website is full of relevant articles and blog posts on starting a small business.
This website is full of tools, resources, and information on building a successful and profitable career in the arts.
Entrepreneurship and Today’s Musicians - Melissa Snooza
This series, by the Executive Director of the Fifth House Ensemble Melissa Snooza, presents important entrepreneurship concepts using short, animated videos.
The Harvard Innovation Labs YouTube Channel
The Harvard Innovation Labs are a new and innovative initiative fostering team-based and entrepreneurial activities and deepen interactions among Harvard students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and members of the Allston and Greater Boston community. While not focused specifically on entrepreneurship in the arts, the i-lab videos offer a wealth of information on starting a business and developing business concepts.
This site is designed to help musicians with aspects of running their own business. They offer a course on the topic, as well as other resources. The YouTube channel run by Steve Rennie, who started the site, has a variety of videos on aspects of the music business. Find it here.
The Savvy Musician - David Cutler
This website, created by David Cutler, includes a blog and thousands of links to resources such as networking, jobs, and funding opportunities.
“SEA is a program geared towards helping emerging visual, performing, literary, and media artists gain the resources and connections they need to be successful self-employed artists. Programming includes conferences, workshops, panel discussions, webinars, competitions and more. Within these events there are a variety of activities including keynote presentations, artist-led sessions, one-on-one mentoring, round table discussions, networking events, as well as creative releases such as a gallery reception, create room, and improv.”
Setting Up a Business Structure - LinkedIn Learning
A short video that goes into the basics of how to set up a new business structure. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
So You Want To Be An Entrepreneur? - Tom Bronson
Mr. Bronson discusses his entrepreneurial background, as well as his ideas on business, management, sales, and general entrepreneurship principles.
Types of Business Structures - FindLaw
This article explains the different types of business structures and the pros and cons of each.
Finance
Finding ways to generate revenue is important for the freelance musician. This article lists ways to do that and defines each method.
Breakeven and Cost-Volume-Profit CVP Analysis - LinkedIn Learning
This video series will dive deeper into understanding breakeven and cost analysis. If you want to learn more about cost, this is a good second step. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
Considering All of Your Costs (Fixed, Variable, and the Contribution Margin) - LinkedIn Learning
This video will help you cost your product or service using gather data. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
How to Calculate Your Break-Even Point - LinkedIn Learning
This video will teach you about your break-even point and how to determine this very important number. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
Overview of the Financial Statements - LinkedIn Learning
These videos will walk you through the financial sheets with easy to follow examples. Check out specific information about balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flow. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
Preparing Financial Statements - BizFilings
Understanding your finances are important to any business. This article will help you understand and plan your finances.
Understanding Your Business Financial Spreadsheets Video - Devonte Snowden
UNT finance major and Professional Leadership Program member, Devonte Snowden, breaks down the financial documents that need to be included in a business plan.
Value-Based Pricing - LinkedIn Learning
Value-based pricing is a concept that has you setting prices based on perceived value instead of cost. This strategy can help you generate more revenue if the proper steps are taken. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
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Finding Opportunities
Bridge - New England Conservatory of Music
A service of New England Conservatory's Entrepreneurial Musicianship Department, Bridge: Worldwide Music Connection provides online access to 3,000 opportunities in music and arts administration. Their subscribers are taking their careers to the next level by connecting with the auditions, teaching positions, administrative positions, competitions, grants, scholarships, and festivals they find posted here fresh each day.
Gig Salad is the marketplace for event talent and services, providing the ultimate booking experience for both the talent and the buyer.
Search for jobs, internships, and opportunities here.
North Texas Business Council for the Arts
"Business Council for the Arts (BCA) encourages the growth of organizations by engaging businesses and business leaders in arts and culture. Additionally, BCA provides leadership training that brings business skills to the arts community by developing board members and identifying “Best Practices” for serving on boards of directors. Moreover, BCA programs such as ARTsPARK aid in the engagement of our general population and introduce new audiences to the arts. Benefits to arts organizations from BCA programs: Board member training and placement Consulting in areas such as arts administration, accounting, marketing and law Matchmaking of project needs and business services Increased visibility in and volunteerism from the business community Recognition for outstanding arts and cultural leadership and business partnerships Systemic tools for organizational infrastructure to strengthen and sustain area arts"
Access to over 2500 audition opportunities published each year. See last year's breakdown for more details. E-mail alerts and reminders for upcoming deadlines. Tracking tools including personalized calendar, expense tracking and auditors. Notifications when auditions and contracts have been offered to other singers. Mobile friendly version upload profile and audition materials for use across multiple applications.
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Fundraising
Crowdfunding can be a good way to generate money for your project, but it can also lead to disappointment. Understanding the basic before diving in will help set you up for success.
This article gives you ideas on where you can go to locate prospective investor for you business or project.
Grants can be one of the ways you generate funds as an independent artist or a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. This article will guide you through the steps necessary to create a proposal.
"IndieGoGo is a crowdfunding resource that is free for users to register, to create a campaign, and to contribute to a campaign. When a campaign raises funds, Indiegogo charges a 9.0% fee on the funds raised. If a campaign reaches its goal, it gets 5.0% back, for an overall fee of 4.0%. If a campaign fails, the user receives the funding raised, minus the 9% fee. Registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits receive a 25% reduction in our platform fees."
“Project creators set a funding goal and deadline. If people like a project, they can pledge money to make it happen. Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing — projects must reach their funding goals to receive any money. All-or-nothing funding might seem scary, but it’s amazingly effective in creating momentum and rallying people around an idea. To date, an impressive 44% of projects have reached their funding goals.”
Launching a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign
In nine steps, you can create and launch a successful crowdfunding campaign.
Pivot is a database that provides users with a comprehensive source of funding opportunities around the globe.
“RocketHub is a crowdfunding resource launched in January 2010 that enables users to create campaigns, set targets, and accept contributions. Unlike KickStarter, projects that do not reach their funding goals by the deadline are able to keep the collected funds. There are no upfront costs with RocketHub. The site does collect a commission (4% or 8% depending on whether or not the campaign was successful) and credit card fees (4%).”
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Marketing
101 Ways to Market your small business
An extensive list of ways you can market your product or service.
Brand Positioning - LinkedIn Learning
Brand positioning works to create trust and value in a product or service. Learning more about this concept in the linked video. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
Electronic Press Kit Fundamentals
An EPK will help you get noticed in the music industry. Knowing what to include will help you create an EPK that represents you properly.
A website is a strong tool in today’s market. This article will lead you through the website creation process.
Market your business on a budget - Chris W. Dunn
This article gives ideas on how you can market your ideas on the cheap.
A list of ways to market your music with short tips.
Marketing Foundations - LinkedIn Learning
This course will help you lay the foundation for a successful marketing initiative. The course will explain marketing’s role in an organization, framework for analyzing a business, its customers, and competitors, and how to develop a successful marketing strategy. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
Marketing Foundations: Competitive Analysis - LinkedIn Learning
Understanding your competitors is an important aspect of running a business. This course will help you identify your business advantages and edge in the marketplace in relation to what your competition is doing. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
Marketing Foundations: Integrated Marketing Strategies - LinkedIn Learning.
Brand Choreography, an innovative integrated marketing communications framework, will help breathe life into your marketing efforts. This course will teach you how to use this framework to effectively deliver your message to the right people. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
Marketing Foundations: The Marketing Funnel - LinkedIn Learning
The marketing funnel is a popular representation of the customer experience and shows how you turn potential customers into buyers. This course will explain the five segments of this funnel and demonstrate how to create campaigns that will drive customers through the funnel. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
Marketing Foundations: Value Proposition Development - LinkedIn Learning
The purpose of this course is to guide you through the steps needed to create a great value proposition. The value proposition is one of the more critical components of marketing. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
LinkedIn is currently the largest professional networking site with over 300 million members. Through its system of profiles and connections, users are able to exchange information, post and find jobs, and endorse other users' skills. Employers sometimes take the opportunity to review the LinkedIn profiles of job applicants, hoping to gain additional insight into the applicants background that might not be readily available from other application materials. The site restricts the ability of members to add contacts (requires an existing direct or closely related indirect relationship).
MailChimp is an email marketing service that allows users to create and manage email marketing lists, create digital marketing campaigns, and measure the results of such campaigns using built-in analytics software. Integration of campaigns with social media platforms is available. Pricing is terraced, with users with fewer than 2,000 subscribers allowed to use the service for free.
Online Marketing Fundamentals - LinkedIn Learning
In this course you will learn how to promote your business effectively online and develop a targeted online marketing strategy. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
Promote and Market Your Music - LinkedIn Learning
A selection of video courses from LinkedIn Learning on music marketing and promotion. Includes content on songwriting, music industry, online platforms, music copyright law, recording, management, rights and performance contracts, bookmarking sites for musicians and bands. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
Vistaprint is an online supplier of printed and promotional material and marketing services to micro businesses and consumers, specializing in print on demand products. Vistaprint offers various printing formats with a user design interface.
What Makes a Good Logo? - LinkedIn Learning
This short video breaks down what makes a solid logo. The rest of the course will dive more into logo theory. Requires LinkedIn learning account or access through a university portal.
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Music Copyright and Law
Copyright Quick Reference Guide
A UNT library guide that provides basic information on copyright law
This guide from the Georgetown Law Library provides resources relevant to legal issues commonly faced by artists and the music industry, such as copyright, licensing, and antitrust law.
Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts (TALA) was formed in 1979 to help meet the legal and accounting needs of artists and arts nonprofits across the State of Texas. TALA volunteers throughout the state handle more than 350 matters per year. This amounts to more than six hundred thousand dollars annually in donated services to the arts and cultural community. TALA’s pro bono legal and accounting services are offered to artists from all creative disciplines, including visual artists, musicians, actors, dancers, filmmakers and writers. Over 600 attorneys and accountants volunteer their time each year, assisting in legal and accounting matters that might otherwise remain unresolved and unrepresented.
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Writing and Pitching your Business Idea
How Great Leaders Inspire Action - Simon Sinek
In TED’s third most popular video, Sinek proves why knowing and communicating your purpose is the secret to success.
10 Tips on How to Make Slides That Communicate Your Idea - TED Staff
This article will help you create a more effect powerpoint that will better assist you in your presentation.
How to Avoid Death By Powerpoint - David JP Phillips
It is easy to let the powerpoint overtake the presenter during a presentation. By following David Phillip’s advice, the powerpoint will return focus to the presenter, which will create a more successful presentation.
How to Begin Your Presentation - Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek explains how you should begin your presentation and what to focus on first.
How to Give a Killer Presentation - The Harvard Business Review
Knowing how to give a presentation can be just as important as the content you are trying to talk about. This article gives advice on how to deliver your content in a way that will have audience members staying engaged throughout your entire talk.
How to Pitch your idea - Ryan Robinson
This article explains the steps you should take when creating and giving a pitch.
TED’s Secret to Great Public Speaking - Chris Anderson
Chris Anderson shares the secrets to creating a great talk.
Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are - Amy Cuddy
Body language and posture can affect how others see you, and it can affect how you see yourself. Amy Cuddy gives tips on how to stand and present yourself to boost your confidence and the confidence your audience can have in you.
A Sample Music Business Plan - Kevin English
A sample business plan and financial documents based on Mr. English’s template article.
Template for Writing a Music Business Plan - Kevin English
Mr. English provides a typical format of a business plan in an easy to follow article.
This short document breaks down what you need to include when developing a music business plan.
Writing Your Business Plan Video - Dr. David Cutler
Dr. David Cutler, author of the Savvy Musician, speaks about the steps one should follow when creating a business plan.
UNT Music Entrepreneurship 2018 Competition Workshop Departmental Video
Angela Beeching discusses her background and gives advice about creating a business plan.
Dr. Fabiana Claure, director of the music entrepreneurship program, and previous competitors then speak about the competition.
UNT Music Entrepreneurship Workshop III Video - Dr. Fabiana Claure and Dr. Ron McCurdy
Dr. Claure gives a breakdown of what to look for when reviewing your completed plan and tips on presenting. Dr. McCurdy dives into business concepts needed to organize and promote your projects.
2019 Competition Departmental Video - Tonya Butler
Professor Butler gives tips and information about what she looks for in a successful business plan.
Creating a Successful Business Plan (For the Artist) - Sask Music
This article goes through the different aspects of a business plan to help you understand that various sections of the document.
Developing a Music Business Plan Coro Video Course - Dr. Fabiana Claure
Dr. Claure works to help musicians understand the foundational principles of creating and developing a music business plan. Requires an iCadenza account.
Music Business Plan Template - Smart Brand Management
This worksheet gives a thorough overview of what goes into a business plan. Great if you are looking to take your plan to the next step.
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Social Media
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Scholarships, Competitions, and Awards
American Association of University Women
Austin Community Foundation Scholarships
Communities Foundation of Texas
Dallas Foundation Scholarships
Dallas Jewish Community Foundation Scholarships
Graduate Fellowship & Grant Opportunities
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
Institute of International Education
Institute of International Education Study Abroad Funding
International Education Financial Aid
John D. O’Bryant National Think Tank Merit Scholarship
Korean American Scholarship Foundation
Majoring in Music: Scholarships for Music Majors
Mobility International: Funding to Study in the U.S.
Music Business (Music Biz) Association Scholarship
NAMM President’s Innovation Award
Pan American Round Tables of Texas
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Tools to Save Time and Money
UNT Money Management Center Guides
Helpful tips on creating a budget, understanding credit and debt, saving and investing, etc. and also includes customizable templates.
Fractured Atlas helps artists run their businesses more efficiently, with more, better resources at their fingertips, allowing for more time, energy, and money to be dedicated to making art. Fractured Atlas is non-curatorial. They do not discriminate, nor do they judge an artist's output.
Music Teachers Helper is a web-based application for managing the business aspects of a musician's teaching studio including invoicing, credit card payments, financial reporting, scheduling, lesson reminders for students, score lending reminders, etc. The service also allows users to create customized studio websites and provides for student/parent login to the calendaring system.
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UNT Student Resources
Guidestar provides information on the programs and finances of charities and nonprofits, news on philanthropy, and resources for donors and volunteers. Users can search by name, keyword, location, nonprofit type, or income range.
Musical America is the web's leading business source for the performing arts. Find the latest industry news, careers and contacts.
Travel Support for UNT Students
Each College of Music Division has a designated amount of money to help students offset the cost of travel for competitions, conferences, and other major musical endeavors.
Facebook Business
Over a billion people use Facebook to connect. Many businesses take advantage of Facebook pages as a major part of their social media presence. Through Pages, Facebook provides the ability to target audiences based on their location, age and more, host events, create surveys, post media, etc. Integrations with other social media platforms and social media management software allow businesses to streamline communications efforts.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management system that allows users a single interface to manage their social media and digital media marketing efforts. Current integrations include Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, MailChimp, Tumblr, and YouTube.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is currently the largest professional networking site with over 300 million members. Through its system of profiles and connections, users are able to exchange information, post and find jobs, and endorse other users' skills. Employers sometimes take the opportunity to review the LinkedIn profiles of job applicants, hoping to gain additional insight into the applicants background that might not be readily available from other application materials. The site restricts the ability of members to add contacts (requires an existing direct or closely related indirect relationship).
Twitter for Business
Twitter is an online social networking service with more than 500 million users. It offers services to businesses to help create/manage a Twitter presence, grow a follower base, extend the reach of a website through the use of Twitter, increase fan engagement, and finding business leads.
Why Use Social Media
Understanding the importance of social media marketing will push you to invest in maintaining a presence on your chosen platform(s).