The podcast Success Beyond The Score is soon to have a new season! The wait has been long but we promise it was worth it. We’ll provide details soon (as soon as the end of this week!), but while the time comes, why don’t you listen to the seasons that are already there?
No matter if it is your first time, or if you have already studied the episodes and benefited from applying what you learned to your career, we believe there’s always something new to take from these capsules of key knowledge of the music industry, provided by decades of experience by Millicent and her guests.
You can listen to the two seasons on the following platforms:
And you can watch the videos of season 2 on YouTube.
Stay tunned!
Having a customer crying poverty after you've come off stage is one big nightmare for musicians who perform live as part of their profession. The best solution, meaning the one that will allow you to sleep without anxiety, is to arrange it so you're always paid beforethe gig, not after.
How can you do that? Well, I have ten tips that will help you figure it out, and I am happy to give them for free! Just go to this page and follow the steps to download the document. There, you will also find a more comprehensive booklet, called "25 Secrets of the Successful Gigging Musician, Singer, Rapper & Spoken Word Artiste" that will serve you as guide sheet in the world of music.
If you'd like more customised assistance, you can also check my coaching sessions, and if you are a woman looking for a community that supports your growth, then Time For My Music is for you.
On Wednesday 30th March, 7.30pm until 9pm on Zoom, Millicent Stephenson will be running a Zoom webinar called ‘Mastering YouTube for Musicians – Part 1’. The session is directed towards musicians who want to increase their reach online through YouTube, but aren't sure of how to navigate the platform and use its tools to their favour.
The content of the session will be:
Interested? The course fee is £35 and you can book your place following this link.
Help Musicians UK and Musicians Union have helped funding the PiPA (Parents in Performing Arts) Classical Music Survey, which aims to identify patterns in job and working environments in relation to work-life balance, and develop practical strategies and resources for Classical Music organisations to better support parents and carers, and the wider workforce.
You can take the survey clicking here.
The survey was developed in partnership with Association of British Orchestras, Liverpool Philharmonic, SWAP’ra, Black Lives in Music and UK Music. It will investigate the impact of caring responsibilities on career progression as well as wider worklife balance and wellbeing challenges in Classical Music.
The survey will provide data driven insights to enable PiPA to develop a range of strategies and resources for the Classical Music sector to empower organisations to better support parents, carers and the wider workforce.
PiPA wants to hear from people from all backgrounds and circumstan...
The season 2 finale of the podcast Success Beyond The Score is available now! Listen to Millicent Stephenson highlight the best from the interviews she held during the season, comment and add on the advice by the guests and thank every one of them for their fantastic advice and contributions.
Click here to watch the episode on YouTube.
Click here to find your podcast platform of choice to listen to the episode in audio format.
Don't forget to leave comments and to share with friends that are also working their way into the music business.
Also, let's take this chance to confirm there will be a season 3 of the podcast. Stay tunned!
For quite some time, like the Frank Sinatra song, I thought ‘I did it my way’ with my musical achievements. I believed I developed my music hobby into a professional music business all on my own steam. I felt I carved my path and forged my way with no input from anyone else. That I figured it all out, through epiphany.
But, while I was compiling my music business plan on a course I attended 10 years ago, I learnt something quite significant. I learnt that although there were moments of revelation in my journey, I did not achieve half of what I had without someone else’s input.
The people who point the way; those who offer a shoulder to cry on; individuals who pass on opportunities; fans who take it upon themselves to be my ambassadors; colleagues who make the time to explain concepts so I can do my business better; and so on.
By the way, your own connections are not too far away.
Everything you do or achieve has a connection to someone else.
Maybe you think your connec...
What do you think about this word, ‘Plan’? What does it conjure in your mind? Hard work that you don’t want to do, or glee because you relish identifying parts and their connections, and seeing if they work?
I’m a planner, but not everybody is. Don’t get me wrong. Some people are more holistic, top-down, see the bigger picture. I’m the opposite. I see the big picture but I get down to the detail of how to make it happen. Actually, it doesn’t really matter too much which approach you prefer, as long as things are achieved.
How does this relate to your music?
Well, when you move forward, you are moving forward to something: your targets. How you move forward has to be decided. This is planning, deciding what, when, why, how, etc.
Most of my music life, pre-42 years old, I just ambled along. I performed when invited. I had dreams of what I wanted to become, but no plans on how to get there. At 42, one of the significant things that made a difference and propelled me forward was maki...
Today’s episode of the podcast is perfect to start the year: from each guest, we are going to hear at least three essential tips that you can do now to make it in the music industry and build a full-time career. It condenses all the other advice and experience we have enjoyed through all the season, which is great and so useful, isn’t it?
Find the perfect platform to listen to the audio version in this link, or watch on YouTube.
As we are close to the end of the year, this episode of the podcast "Success Beyond The Score" is dedicated to reflection, in particular about the critical event that marked 2020 and 2021: the coronavirus pandemic.
How did it affect the music industry? Specifically, how did it impact musicians? Today you will hear true stories from Anna Brooks, Tony Bean, Louise Dengate, Dan Whitehouse, Abigail Kelly and Ruby Turner MBE, in which they will tell us about their hardships, opportunities, the good and the bad.
Find the video of the episode on YouTube and choose your favourite podcast platform to listen to the audio version on this list.
Recently, I’ve been binge watching ‘Race To The Center of the Earth’. It has adventure, dizzy heights even from my sofa, a little drama, great scenery and of course teams competing for the prize of one million dollars. I love shows like these because I find them inspiring, a little scary (when someone gets hurt or they have to climb up a super high cliff face) but also interesting.
How does this relate to music? Last time, I mentioned I would share with you one of the things I still do now to keep me moving and growing as a musician. On reflection, there are 3 things, but today I’ll illustrate the first one through the Race.
Each of the racers in the Team have a goal. A goal to win the million-dollar prize. They are focused on that goal and all roads lead to that goal. They train for that goal; they strategize towards that goal and at the end they will know if they achieve the goal.
This is something I do. No, not extreme sports although I wish – lol! But at 42, when I gave ...