The Founders Series

These are many of the features, at a high level, to give you some idea of what you’re looking at.

There is a lot of behind the scenes information that I would be remiss if I didn’t include it here; doing it in paragraph form to break up the tables 🙂

The team at Muzie.Live has been working on online music platforms since 2017 and launched the current product in early 2020. The platform is a blend of open source and proprietary software and is developed in house. Sam Reti is the CEO and his father is the principal developer. The software is not only designed for high-quality HD audio and video, but also contains a full suite of tools. These tools can be used inside and outside of lessons to create engaged students and organized teachers.

Rock Out Loud Live was the first Virtual Music Lesson Platform to offer an interactive Virtual Experience. With a secure P2P layer of encryption for a safe Video Music Lesson and access to the tools you need to teach. CEO Michael Grande’s goal is to provide the highest quality audio for online music lessons.

Musicology came about entirely because of the global Covid-19 pandemic. CEO Rebecca Featherstone and her team of musicians/developers, have developed an app specifically for teaching music to all ages. Many of the features were designed for the youngest of learners who are empowered to take on their music lessons without parent involvement. It’s all about making teaching music a more intuitive, effective and engaging experience online!

Blink Session Music's mission is to equip music teachers with tools which make teaching online and running their busy studio excellent and easy. The platform was released in the summer of 2021, but don’t let the newness fool you, the origins go back to 2016 with Blink Session (Health.) Eric DeGrove is a musician and developer; once the platform worked in his wife’s vertical, it was time for him to bring it to his passion.

Let’s get a bit geeky (because this stuff is important!)

Software as a Service (SaaS) is the most common type of software available right now. Basically, you pay a monthly fee (or annual) to use the software and you’re paying that fee to not only use the software but help it continually improve and provide more value to your business.

To use a SaaS platform, you’re required to have an internet connection, but that is a moot point when it comes to providing an online service through the software. I call it out though because there are features in these products that you’ll use outside of lessons and you’ll need an internet connection for those too.

Speaking of internet connection -- while these SaaS platforms are designed to provide you with the best possible teaching experience, that doesn’t mean they will remove the limitations of internet connectivity issues. For the optimal experience, you’ll want to make sure that you are using the best internet you can and encourage your students to do the same. When there is more traffic on the internet within your home or your students’ homes, that will degrade the experience.

The best online music lessons will occur when there is great audio quality. Rock Out Loud and Muzie have both discussed the need to degrade video in favor of audio and I completely agree. I’d forgo perfect images to make sure that my students can hear me and I can hear them properly.

And another benefit of separating out audio from video is that there is less cutting out of sound from one side or the other. This means that while a true perfectly timed duet might not be possible, both sides will be able to hear each other while playing/singing/talking/performing! This is a major goal of Rock Out Loud and Muzie.

If that is important to you, then I would recommend looking at those platforms. They differ in a number of ways, which I’ve called out in the tables above, but those would be my picks for lessons geared towards intermediate and advanced students.

Musicology has put itself in a position to be the leading contender (in my mind) for students under 10 because the interface is so easy to use and feel comfortable with.

If you are just getting started online and want to manage your entire studio in one place, look at the PRO option of Blink Session Music.

Oh, and to keep things really simple, all four of these SaaS products are going to run extremely well on Google Chrome. So as long as you and your students are using a device with Google Chrome installed, you’re good. Musicology’s iOS app should be used when on an iPad or iPhone over Chrome, but otherwise, Chrome all the way.

Updates to SaaS products are done mostly seamlessly to you; you’ll be in the software one day and the next there will be a new feature or button or option that wasn’t there before. That’s the beautiful thing -- and with that, you’re going to want to make sure that you bookmark the relevant KB (Knowledge Base/Support Articles/Tutorials -- because those get updated regularly too.

Getting into lessons!

I know you’re going to get comfortable with whatever platform you decide to use, so let’s talk a bit about how your students are going to access your lessons.

Your online classroom will be accessible via a website URL, inside a portal, with an access code or any combination of the above. Once your students get the hang of it, it really doesn’t matter what the method is… so don’t be deterred if the platform you choose requires them to create an account or uses a master teacher code or otherwise.

A student onboarding process should be used with whatever platform or platforms you use online. You’ll want your students to know if/how they are getting reminders, where/when to click links/access your portal and so on. Your students and families are familiar with Zoom, and we want them to be familiar with the platform you choose as well. The best way I know how to do that is to invite the platform into the conversation.

Use language like “Lessons will be delivered through the Musicology App” or “My online teaching portal is called Rock Out Loud Live” or “Everything you need for lessons is located in our Muzie student portal” or “My studio runs on Blink Session Music.”

How do I decide what to replace Zoom with?

It’s going to be a personal choice, that’s for sure. 

• Was there something that you heard from one of our founders that stuck with you? 
• Is there something on the feature list that helps to narrow your options?
• What does your current student roster look like? Can you absorb the cost associated with the software?
• If you sign up for one of these platforms, what will that eliminate from your current processes? Is there any expense that can be reduced or eliminated to offset the cost of the better option?

Any one of these software options can change your business. They give you the confidence that when you teach music lessons online you are giving the best product to your students. It’s all about setting them up for the success that they want out of lessons.

Sam, Mike, Eric and Rebecca have put your music studio at the forefront of the work they do daily on their apps and in their respective communities. They look at technology as an opportunity rather than a barrier so that you can be successful. 

Whether you decide to look at Muzie, Rock Out Loud Live, Musicology, Blink Session Music, or any new platform that comes along (like Forte which I found out about during editing!) my goal with this series is to bring you answers to some of the most important questions that you have about them and how they compare and contrast with each other.