Success Beyond The Score

Contracts, regulations, taxes, liabilities, trademarks and copyright. There is a big legal side to working as a musician. Not all of us, particularly those who are just starting, can afford hiring a professional to take care of that. Even if you have the resources, you still need to know your way around legislation to better communicate with your advisors, protect yourself and your audience.

With all this in mind, on Wednesday 22 April 2026, Millicent will be teaching a FREE webinar via Zoom about legal know-hows for gigging musicians. It is open to everybody who has access to the internet and wants to learn! All you need to do is sign-up following this link.

If you would like to have an idea of how the sessions go, here we have a couple of examples.

• Click here to watch a segment of the session about how to promote your music.
• Click here to watch the answer to a question submitted by a participant to that same session.

Please, share this event with everybody who could be inter...

So far, this year we have offered two free webinars for emerging musicians: ‘How to stream your live music performance’, and ‘15 ways to promote your music online and offline’. They were successful and enriching experiences that gathered testimonials like this:

I found [‘15 ways to promote your music online and offline’] really interesting and informative. There were so many fundamental and incredibly useful tips that had somehow passed me by, e.g., adding information about yourself in the signature of your email – genius! I absolutely agree with the “concentrate on one social media platform at a time” approach. It will make my life a lot easier.

We are very happy with these results, and we are going to bring you more of these opportunities throughout the year. Here is a basic outline of what is to come:

• April: Free webinar about the legal framework for musicians and copyright.
• May: Exclusive events for Time For My Music members.
• June: Short paid course about how to get book
...

The following group of episodes of the podcast Success Beyond the Score are all about how to market yourself. While the event discussed in episode 14 has long since past, the process described is a good example of what to expect when trying to get that sort of gigs. From episode 15 onwards, Millicent will talk you through the design of your Music Press Kit.

Have a listen:

14. How to perform in the Commonwealth Games 2022

Would you like to perform in the Commonwealth Games in 2022, which are being held in the city of Birmingham and the West Midlands region, United Kingdom? In today's episode, Millicent explains how to get yourself in.

15. What should you have in your Music Press Kit?

What is a Music Press Kit? Is it different from an Electronic Press Kit? What should be in it? Whether you are in the early stages of your music or performing regularly, a Press Kit is a must.

16. How to write an artist bio

What should you put in your music bio? How should it be written? What sho

...

First, we defined the what, then, the why. After that, we looked at the how, and that defined almost everything for us. Now, we just need to make the time and space to execute our plan, and we will achieve our vision.

This sounds easy, and it would be in a world less congested, noisy and stressful than the one we live in. We have responsibilities with our family, friend and community. We have jobs and maintain a home. The technology that's supposed to assist us more often than not becomes an addictive distraction, bombarding us with notifications that demand our attention 24/7. It's challenging to catch a breath and have time for ourselves. 

Despite all this, it's possible to make time and space for our vision by working smarter, not harder. Don't sacrifice sleep or overexert yourself, that will only lead to health issues and burnout. Instead, keep your priorities at the forefront of your mind, and use them to take decisions. You are the owner of your attention, your energy and your ...

In the first article of this series, we thought about what we want to achieve. Then, in the second entry, we reflected a little deeper to understand why we want what we want. So far, the most practical part of this exercise has been to write ideas down, you haven't had to stand up from the couch just yet.

Now, however, we have arrived to the point where the vast majority of people get stuck: the how. How can we get to where we want to get? What do we need? Where and how to start? The questions and the uncertainty can easily overwhelm you.

The first thing that we need to do is to step back, breathe, and focus on the elements of our vision. What is there that you need to acquire? What do you need to do in order to acquire those things? You'll be surprised by how frequently a daunting task becomes simple and easy just by paying no mind to anxiety, considering instead the logical steps needed to execute it.

Let's say that your goal is to play at open mics in the next year. What do you n...

Last time, I talked about my thought process when I decided to move on from being a hobbyist and become an established musician. I explained how I started cementing my vision by writing down what I wanted to achieve, condensing my beautiful dreams into describable goals. I also invited you to do the same, so you had your own material to follow along this series.

Now that you have the what, the next question is why. What is the reason behind your wish to reach something? What is the purpose that your goals serve to yourself? If you don't understand why you are doing what you do, or you lose sight of it with time, your motivation will dwindle. You need energy to overcome the challenges and obstacles that you will inevitably find on your way, and this energy, this drive that you need, can be fuelled by your reasons.

Just as we wrote down our whats to solidify them, we need to document our whys. Going back to them now and then to remind ourselves of our purpose keeps us focused and pushi...

I wasn’t born a full-time award-winning musician. In fact, I spent the first couple of decades of my adult life working in a completely different field. During those years, music was a hobby, a fulfilling one that I loved, but nothing more than that. Whilst I did catch the attention of a record label or two, it never came to anything.

At 42, I attended a concert by a friend. Seeing him shining on stage, being aware of his achievements and career, made me realise that I wanted that too. With my children in secondary and primary school, I was at a point when I finally had time for myself. The conditions were there, I could give professional music a shot! I hesitated for a long time, but finally, I decided to try.

I gave myself a timeframe, which was of five years, and sat to write down all the things I wanted to achieve during that period. At that point, I didn't know how to get there, but that didn't matter. The first step towards reaching a goal is to know what the goal is. Then, in ...

Here is the transcription of episode 10 of season 3 of the podcast "Success Beyond The Score". Happy reading!

- Watch the video of the episode here: YouTube

- Listen to the audio of the episode here: Kajabi

INTRO:

Hi! I hope you are well. Let me just do my little buttons here, and hopefully you can hear me. If you can, please put a message in the chat. That would be really, really good. Oh dear. Okay, so I'm going to crack on as I wait for those replies. Hi Gary! Good to see you. Lovely to see you there.

Today, I've got a topic about putting on your own show. Actually, before I dive in, let me do a proper welcome. This is my 10th episode live. If you've been with me from the first one, I said that I'm here for 11 days on YouTube, and my 11th is going to be [on] Monday. It's just great. It's just gone really, really quickly. But I want to thank you so much for showing up, for liking, subscribing and sharing and just commenting. Thank you. Thank you so much. It means a lot that ...

Here is the transcription of episode 7 of season 3 of the podcast "Success Beyond The Score". Happy reading!

- Watch the video of the episode here: YouTube

- Listen to the audio of the episode here: Kajabi

INTRO:

Hello, hello, hello. I hope you're well. I've changed my setup here. I've put my notes to this side. So if you see me looking that way, that's what I'm looking at instead of that way. And I had a nice iPad stand for my birthday yesterday. So I'm really excited. I'm trying it out today.
Really, really happy. So I'm hoping you can hear me okay. Um, it looks as though my volume might be a little bit too loud. So let me just turn that down one second. Yeah, that seems a bit better, not peaking.

Okay, so today is about: "Do you have a music hobby or a music business?" And I think this is a really good topic. When I started off, many moons ago, at school, I did some music, left school, did some part-time studies. Music was my hobby, and eventually I moved it into a music bus...

Here is the transcription of episode 5 of season 3 of the podcast "Success Beyond The Score". Happy reading!

- Watch the video of the episode here: YouTube

- Listen to the audio of the episode here: Kajabi

PODCAST INTRO:

I'm going to be diving into the three reasons why you should be charging for your music starting today! It's really, really warm weather and in fact, I've got a gig later on as well, but I thought I'd come on and speak with you and share some nuggets. And I would love to hear from you too. If you've got a story to tell about getting paid, put that in the comments; I'd love to read it out, give you some tips on that. And if you've got any questions, please do that.

Getting paid is a real vital thing for musicians. I said in episode one, on Monday, that I believe every musician should be paid their worth. I a 100% believe it, believe it, believe it. Of course, it's a journey, and for some of you, you're probably not charging at all —that's why you're here today....