I 100% agree with the sentiments in this article.

https://theindustryobserver.thebrag.com/songmakers-tina-br…/

The connection between schools and the real music industry is vital. And when I say REAL, instead of limiting this connection to the small handful of Industry Organisations funded by government purporting to represent the music industry, why not amplify it to include the real bread and butter musos and industry savvy businesses who are out there in the market day in and day out focusing on one thing – building a market where live music can grow?

Thousands of different types of individuals and organisations have influenced this industry for the past several decades. Yet 99% of these industry influencers are found outside of government funded music organisations. It is these Artists and Music Businesses, who are the ones, because they are self-funded, and have crafted their own economic pathways through these markets, whose voices deliver the most value.

These are the voices that need to be heard in schools across the country.

These are the stories that need to be shared in schools across the country.

The future Live Music Artist is currently in school right now. And for these kids to have any type of real shot of being able to survive the Music Industry in the future, and be able to leverage all aspects of it economically, the number one education premise for them right now must be a congruent true understanding of the collective live music markets to prepare the Artist to be able to manage the economics of their Music Business Brand as they meander their way through their Industry journey, as opposed to the generic utopic/dystopic skew that we have witnessed for too long now.

In 2019, the primary challenge that real time music businesses face, before we look at any other factors, begins with the Artist Mindset. When they come to the industry with a distorted understanding of the real time industry economic mechanism, this ultimately leads them to a significant breakdown in their mental health. After 29 years of managing and developing Artists in a wide array of genres and markets, our data has revealed this as the number one contributing factor to the Artist inability to adapt to the real time market and as a consequence, experience substantial mental health challenges.

In many ways, the tight knit mafia of the Australian Music Industry comes off as a cheesy American High School movie filled with seemingly one dimensional archetypes like the jock, the nerd, the queen bee, the outcast, the stoner, the class president, the rebel, the teacher’s pet etc. To contrast, there are literally hundreds of thousands of talented, credible, successful, connected, profitable, experienced and highly skilled Artists, Music Teachers and Music Businesses around this country that together have contributed to and influenced this present Music Industry ecosystem. Yet only a handful of the same faces are acknowledged, or drip fed by the various government feeding tubes that make up the Arts Funding Mechanism. This very tiny minority are not representative of the real working blood and guts of this industry.

Every Education Institution Music Program should be driven by the real time economic metrics. The very first question should always be about the money. How does an Artist financially survive in a Music Business? At the end of the day, if an Artist cannot pay the rent, buy food, run a car and be able to live – then that career path is not sustainable. Let’s give these kids a real plan instead of some utopic fantasy bullshit that leads to more bankrupts in this industry.

Every Education Institution Music Program should be driven by the real time economic metrics.

The old model is dead. Stop giving it mouth to mouth. Thank it. Bury it. Rebuild from the ashes.

In 2019, it is important to create a team that works together in partnership with a congruent vision, real time goals and strategic and operational plans that manifest true economic and creative results. Kids need to understand the mechanism and the various roles in that mechanism in order to be able to work within it. Everything begins and ends with your mindset. Dig a deep foundation and lay the groundwork for a long-term sustainable career pathway factoring in strategies to mitigate the relentless risks and challenges that they WILL experience in this business. Build the Artist Mindset from the ground up in realistic terms.

I’m chuckling to myself writing this because I know only too well that this little piece is MY utopic view of the industry. ? Market forces are driven by the vast spectrum of human behaviour and as such all archetypes will be equally represented and that includes those high school archtypical faces, I have listed above. It could well be that the 99% of the unrecognised industry influencers found outside of government funded music organisations, who have self-funded their own music businesses, have done so BECAUSE they found their own way.

They followed their own light.

And at the end of the day, it is THAT light, that brings the music to life.

https://medium.com/@Nikdozkyr/amplify-the-voices-heard-in-schools-9c9ec5985e10