Thursday, March 29, 2007
Teaching Musicians to Be Entrepreneurs
Business Week: "In most areas of higher education, entrepreneurship has long lost its stigma as a career path for those without one (see BusinessWeek.com, Fall, 2006, 'Hitting the Books'). But at the nation's top music conservatories that stigma is still very much alive, despite the fact that the 'traditional' career path for classically trained musicians—one that ends with steady employment in a symphony orchestra—is difficult."
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This is a very interesting idea. I agree with the article that the word "entrepreneur" in the art or music world is not easily thought of or accepted. It's a strange word in the field. But it's true - musicians need to think about how to make a living. There are so many ridiculously talented individuals - even from Juilliard that can not get a job. I thought it was really interesting the girl who started a quartet and is now pursuing that. That is an excellent example of entrepreneurship that isn't foreign to a musician. I think it is very important for conservatories to address how the students are actually going to survive in the real world and not starve. A friend of mine was telling me that in thinking about his future and how he's going to make a career in music had "entertained the whole starving artist thing for a while" but the fact of the matter is you don't need to to that. You can find a way to use your talent to make a living, maybe even in an unconventional way. Because people who don't feel they could do anything else well but what they love, need to find a way to do that then. While someone could be happy just making music or pursuing their passion - and I agree that the most important thing is the art - but you've got to eat. So hopefully the idea of musicians and other artists being entrepreneurs doesn't remain so foreign.
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