The days of writing receipts with a pad and pen and manually handling all the functions to run your music school are long gone! Today, there are many options for software for music schools that handle most daily functions automatically. You just “set it and forget it.” Payments are deposited into your bank account while you sleep, and emails and texts are sent to teachers and students automatically. All this makes your life easier, and many other benefits come with it as well. I’ll dive deeper into music studio management software and help you see ways to improve your school.
What is Music School Management Software?
Today’s music school management software options offer much more than just scheduling. These platforms have become an all-in-one solution to fully run your school. I know firsthand that running a successful music school requires many moving parts that need to be coordinated seamlessly. In the past, we had to use several programs: one for scheduling, one for invoicing, one for payments, and then still handle many other tasks manually. It was a nightmare to juggle them all! Finding the right music business management software can completely transform your school. I’ll highlight some key features and how they will benefit you.
Scheduling
Scheduling is one feature that every school needs. I remember in my early days of running my school, I would manually write the schedule on a pad and a clipboard. I don’t miss that at all. Today’s most advanced music school scheduling software uses drag-and-drop functionality. They link teachers to their students, and you simply drag them onto the schedule and choose options such as lesson length, frequency, room, lesson type, and whether the lesson is in person or online. Not all music lesson management software includes drag-and-drop, but I highly recommend finding one that does, as it makes scheduling super easy.
Payroll
Payroll can be a major priority if you own a school with many teachers. I have over twenty teachers on my payroll, so it was a priority for me. Trying to calculate each teacher’s hours and track how many students attended, canceled, or were no-shows is crucial because it determines their pay. You don’t want to overpay or underpay your staff. AmpliTeach has one of the most advanced payroll systems. We put the responsibility on teachers to take attendance by marking each student as attended, teacher-canceled, student-canceled, or no-show. They all take attendance because they know that if they don’t, they won’t get paid; that’s strong motivation! At the end of each week, we can run payroll for all teachers in just a few clicks. You can set preferences to pay teachers for attended lessons, no-shows, or student-canceled lessons to fit your school’s rules.
Communication
Communication between teachers, students, and parents is key to running a successful music school. There are always lesson changes, rescheduling needs, payments due, and events taking place. Find music teacher management software that has a comprehensive email and text alert system integrated into the platform. Students receive lesson reminder texts and emails to ensure they don’t miss lessons. No more students say, “I didn’t remember when my lesson was.” Parents get notified when payments are due, when a student is a no-show for a lesson, and when lessons are assigned. Teachers get notified of any schedule changes and receive their daily and weekly schedules by email. Find a music studio management application with integrated email and text alerts; it’s a must!
Autopay
If there is one piece of advice I can give any music school owner, it is: USE AUTOPAY! I was resistant at first because I knew there were fees for credit and debit card payments, and I wanted to keep all the lesson tuition money. The one thing I didn’t realize is that you can make that back tenfold because payments come every month without fail. Even if a student misses a lesson or needs a makeup, you still get paid. When students pay manually, they often ask to pay less for a missed lesson or extend the due date. That becomes an accounting nightmare and affects your bottom-line income. With AmpliTeach, there is a banking system where you can bank a lesson if a student cancels with proper advance notice, giving them a set period of time to make it up. What we’ve realized is that parents love having the banked lesson and not just losing it, but only about 30% of the time do they actually request to make it up. So, you still get paid, that’s a win for your school.
Teacher Training
Your teachers must not only be good musicians but also know how to teach and make their students excited to learn. This is the key to ensuring your school retains students for a long time. You can attract hundreds of students, but if they are not excited to learn, they will drop out after a few months. I have had teachers who were amazing players but could not communicate or inspire students. I created a teacher training course that I require every teacher to read and study before they start teaching. It covers how to communicate and inspire students, strategies for creating lesson plans, and in-depth techniques to keep students learning at the highest level for a long time. Our student retention is high because of this. The training course is available in the Build My Biz section on AmpliTeach.
Curriculum
Curriculum is another major decision for your school. I strongly suggest that you choose a modern and progressive curriculum and make it standard for all your teachers. Most teachers think they have their own superior method, but they often fall short. Choose a curriculum that all teachers must use, and then allow them to add some personal lessons as well. This also helps when one teacher needs to substitute for another; if they are both using the same curriculum, they can easily step in and continue the learning process. AmpliTeach has the award-winning Rock House curriculum integrated into the platform. There are over 5,000 lessons that include video, audio, and PDF worksheets that teachers can assign to students in just a few clicks.
In Closing
Do your homework and find the perfect music studio management software for your school. It will definitely make your school run seamlessly, give you more free time, and help you grow your school to new heights!
