Music business degree

Editor's note: This is the second in a two-part series on the issue of rates for the independent music teacher. This article addresses changes in attitude that may be necessary before we can establish an acceptable income. The first article (August/September 2002, page 82) dealt with specific and practical issues to consider when determining rates.

As independent music teachers (IMTs), we work in a profession that offers a great deal of freedom and personal gratification. Our profession attracts highly educated, creative, hard-working and nurturing individuals, yet most of us are underpaid. Whether we are setting fees for the first time or examining the acceptability of present rates, a number of influences can hinder in our efforts to establish a professional income. It is up to us to identify negative forces, to meet them head-on and to take charge of the salaries we earn.

Although there can be many potential obstacles to a professional income, there are a few attitude adjustments that may be necessary as we face the issue of setting rates:

1) We may not be aware of our low income, because we think of our income in terms of a high per-hour fee rather than a low gross annual income.

2) We label ourselves as part-time teachers and only consider the hours spent teaching as working hours without considering other related duties as part of our workweek.

3) We are unaware of the average income of other professions and unwittingly accept an income much lower than many professions with lesser skills.

4) We have an unhealthy image of our profession and our worth.

The Impact of Per Hour Versus Gross Annual Income

Can you immediately answer this question: "What was your gross annual income last year?" For my purposes here, gross annual income is money earned in one year before deductions and taxes. It is imperative that we compute our gross annual income to determine if we are actually being paid as much as we are worth. If we think of our $30 per hour fee, we may feel like that is a lot to be earning. When I am asked, "How much do you charge per lesson?", I do not answer that question. Instead, I discuss all the factors that make my studio unique and the tuition charged to study there.

When I sent questionnaires to MTNA members across the country (Keep in mind that MTNA members may have a more professional studio approach than nonmembers.), I was able to come up with the national averages in the following table.

Considering the years of experience and the work hours per week, this is definitely not a good gross annual income.

The Impact of Labeling Our Job Full-time or Part-time

The argument might be made here that the average teacher listed above is a part-time teacher, and therefore the income isn't that bad. I would argue that $17,893 is not an adequate income for someone with twenty-three years' experience who is teaching thirty students. I also would argue that this teacher is not part-time. No one who teaches thirty students and takes care of all the extra duties that managing a studio requires is part-time.

Too often teachers only consider the time spent actually teaching lessons as their work time when deciding whether or not they teach full-time. Keep in mind that the typical full-time load for a college instructor of applied lessons is eighteen hours a week of lessons during a nine-month year. It is understood that many other duties go along with the job, and the IMT should recognize this as well.

If you are not sure what extra duties you provide for your students, make a list: Learn new repertoire, attend professional meetings, hold offices in music organizations, prepare computer lab, hold theory and performance classes, keep records, practice, collect payments, plan studio policies, publish studio literature, adjudicate and so on. Imagine if we billed like lawyers for our services: $15--phone call, $30--trip to music store, $95--recital planning.

In my questionnaire on rates and workloads, there were surprising answers to what constitutes "part time." Fifty-five percent of the teachers, many with heavy teaching loads, marked themselves as part-time teachers.

* Thirty-five percent of "part-time" teachers had twenty to twenty-nine students.

* Ten percent of "part-time" teachers had thirty to thirty-nine students

* Seventeen percent of "part-time" teachers had forty or more students.

If we consider ourselves part-time, we should reexamine our total workload. We need not teach forty hours a week or twelve months of the year to actually be working full-time. This mental readjustment may make a difference in how we perceive our income.

The Impact of Knowing the Salaries of Other Professions

How does the salary of the independent music teacher compare to the salaries of other professions? It is crucial we know this. I consulted the Internet recently for helpful comparisons. With this list, we can identify the professions with salaries above or below our gross annual income.

If our income is the same or less than that of a pharmacy technician or a janitor, what does that say? How does our income compare to the more substantial salaries of pharmacists or lawyers? These jobs reflect a high level of skill and training--as does ours. Look at the fairly new professions of massage therapist and athletic trainer. How did they rise so far above that average IMT salary of $17,893? If the figure from my survey is even close to being accurate, the only professions on the above list we surpass are manicurist and maid!

We are the only ones who can change this. Knowledge is power, and once we know the incomes of other professions, we can work to place ourselves where we deserve to be on the salary scale. We can ensure we are paid our worth because we set our own rates.

The Impact of Our Mental Attitude on Our Income

The image we hold of our work and ourselves is probably the most important thing we need to examine when determining our rates. A strong sense of self-worth can be reflected in our salary, while the following harmful, and often subconscious, attitudes can hinder us in our quest to set acceptable rates:

* We have poor self-esteem. We feel guilty about charging more, as if we don't deserve it. Do we want to accept an average annual salary that is approximately one-half that of a carpet installer?

* We operate out of fear. We fear we will lose students if we charge too much. We fear parents "don't want" to pay more for lessons. We fear some deserving student will not be able to afford lessons if the rates are too high. We, in effect, offer all of our students a low-income rate. Instead, we should charge what we are worth. We can offer scholarships to those deserving students we want to teach but who cannot afford our rates.

* We are teaching "for the love of it and not for the money." This implies that being paid for something we love to do is wrong. It is not wrong to be paid a salary that reflects our worth. By setting higher rates, we send a positive message about the value of what we do.

* We don't "need" the income because we are being supported by a spouse. Not all teachers are so fortunate. Some do need to support a family of four on their income. There are no guarantees in life--one day, we too may actually "need" that income, and then we will personally suffer from having set our rates too low. By charging artificially low rates when the money isn't "needed," the whole profession suffers.

Some of us are indeed well-paid. My fear is that most of us are not. Ask yourself, "Am I paid what I deserve? Do I really work part-time? Does my salary fall where I want in comparison to other professions? Is my salary appropriate for the year 2002? Do I value the impact I have on the lives of my students?"

We need not be the victims of low wages because we are the ones in control of those wages. Every year we make active or passive choices about our income. Honest soul-searching can help us overcome the mental barriers separating us from professional salaries.