My Music Staff reviews

Couldn't run my music school without it

Pluspunten:

It is extremely simple and easy to use. I only use the Students, Family and Calendar portions of it, and it serves well beyond what I need it for. So easy to view schedule and filter and organize it based on location, teacher, student, etc. i LOVE , as do the parents, the 24-hour in advance automatic reminders auto-texted or e-mailed (your choice).

Minpunten:

Besides a couple of very minor workflow impedances, it would be nice to integrate the calendar with an existing website, rather than only having the option to do so with the current website.

Ideally for anyone managing a small music school

Opmerkingen: Really positive. Support staff are great and there is plenty of resources to problem solve any booking requirements. It’s nice to see that the software is still being updated and invested in which makes me hopefully for the tools it will provide in the near future.

Pluspunten:

It has features that I didn’t realise I would need. It’s the best blends of resources for music teachers and management software.

Minpunten:

The experience on phones feels clunky and difficult to navigate. All my staff use it on their phones and would prefer an app that is more condensed for just their day of teaching.

Very good software for music school management

Opmerkingen: It is the best out there unless who want to pay tens of thousands for personalised Salesforce set up.

Pluspunten:

There are some very great features in My Music Staff such as the ease of payment from the client. I also like the calendar layout and functionality.

Minpunten:

Having to jump from one category to the other and back can take along time over the web. It would be easier if all of a clients information including payments, bookings, contact history, etc where all available on one screen. Also, monitoring non-payers can be a bit of a headache and be time consuming.

Looks great on the website, doesn't it?

Opmerkingen: I was SO excited to find this service. But I've been SO disappointed in them, and can't wait to transfer everything to a new service later this year.

Pluspunten:

MMS promises to handle all of your music studio needs, from scheduling to billing to communications, and indeed, it has modules for all of those plus repertory records, lending library management, downloadable/playable resources, and even mileage. So if you want software that LOOKS like it does everything, you've found it!

Minpunten:

None of these modules seem actually to have been tested by actual music teachers. Scheduling is ridiculously complicated, especially when students want to cancel or reschedule. Billing leads to a minimum of five confused emails from parents each month because of MMS's bizarre policies regarding past-due payments and account balances. Emails cannot be sent to students and parents simultaneously—they're automatically BCC'ed, leading to confusing message threads and miscommunications. Even the lesson notes and blog features are poorly handled—they don't auto-save, so an accidental tab closure can lead to the loss of an entire lesson's worth of notes, and formatting is bizarrely non-standard. (Don't even think about cutting and pasting.)

Yay! MMS!

Opmerkingen: Online and phone support & the 1-on-1 live training are excellent.The HELP area is nice. Downloads are fun and informative.

Pluspunten:

Calendar, ease of website design, online resources, repertoire, expenses, etc. This is a great program. I never used the "old" version, but the online complaints just remind me of the 2009 Facebook crowd whining about the new versions thru the years. We don't throw sheep at each other anymore or play Mafia wars either. lol

Minpunten:

Lesson Notes: Can't add jpg PLEASE! It looks like an email template, can't be like one?Repertoire: Can't just look at final design, have to go into Edit mode. Can't add jpg. OMG, PLEASE!FONTS and SIZING and PARAGRAPHs in lesson notes AND emails. OMG why are they all over the place? If I change my mind and ctrl-x and ctrl-v, all of a sudden, everything is wonky. I can start a blank lesson note and immediately change the font size to legible (instead of teeny). If I need to insert or edit whatever, bam, it's back to the teeny font size.

A Must-Have

Opmerkingen: Overall, MMS has made organization, scheduling, and communication with studio families easier!

Pluspunten:

This is an all-in-one platform for running your music studio! Before finding My Music Staff, I was using 3 different spreadsheets, 2 paper notebooks, a phone to-do list, and a paper planner to run my business. MMS consolidated this down to one affordable program that is customized to the needs of a music teacher. I love it!

Minpunten:

I do occasionally encounter technological issues, or notice that there is a task I would like to achieve that I do not know how to accomplish. When this happens, the answer is not always intuitive. (For perspective, I am of the millennial generation, and consider myself technologically savvy enough to independently learn most computer programs oriented for the workplace).

It’s like having a virtual assistant who knows her stuff!

Opmerkingen: Wonderful! I wouldn’t use anything else.

Pluspunten:

I love how it is easy to take notes for my students, easing the use of books and saving trees. Attendance marking is valuable to manage billing disputes. Auto pay and invoices takes the business out of it so I can remain personal with my families and so much more!

Minpunten:

There are just so many features that I feel a webinar by them every now and then would be a good idea. The search function in ‘help’ is not great for keywords. I also dislike the the event time window always closes rather then remaining open until I close it or click out.

Very useful product for mid-size school.

Opmerkingen: We were able to easily import all of our data from our previous program, and MMS tracks information that we didn't know was even useful for us at the time. The calendar scheduling is easy to use and very very very very nice.

Pluspunten:

Compared to teh software we were using, MMS is super user friendly, easy to learn, and accurate. It has reduced our admin time for lesson management year over year by more than 50%.

Minpunten:

I wish that there was the option for package billing. We offer services as calendar based billing, and as package billing for our introductory clients. MMS does not support package billing.

Helps manage studio

Pluspunten:

Very comprehensive solution to allow my students to do the following:See lesson notes organized in one placeSee lesson calendarAccess big PDF library of piano repertoire Create a weekly practice log Tuition and invoicing is easier

Minpunten:

Laborious to set up at first, no way around this. Wish it integrated more fully with Calendly and Google Calendar for scheduling make-ups

Keep track of attendance

Opmerkingen: It helps keep things organized in a studio with multiple teachers and students.

Pluspunten:

I like being able to look at my calendar and see what students I have for the day. It is also very nice to be able to track attendance.

Minpunten:

It's a little clumsy when you have to confirm the attendance

My Music Staff Falling Behind

Opmerkingen: We've been using MMS for over 4 years now. When we first found this program it was the all-in-one solution we were looking for but unfortunately, as the years have progressed, the site has gotten much slower to work with, updates made are off-point and not helpful and the program is falling behind in offering features that are standard with others. Most noticeable is the lack of an activity feed or notification system. While other customer management and team work platforms have made this piece a base offering, My Music Staff has no way to indicate who is making changes in the database, when changes are made or a way to be notified. They occasionally roll out new features which are of little use. The Beta Attendance update, still in Beta after more than a year has more steps than the original method and makes the routine more cumbersome instead of streamlining. Despite being around since 2013, My Music Staff is still lacking an application made specifically for your phone further hindering their usability. While we'd really like to continue using this program, the lack of investment to keep up with development and customer needs puts it on the verge of being outdated.

Pluspunten:

Ease of set it and forget it weekly lesson management and invoicing for clients.Calendar is user friendly

Minpunten:

Not responsive to feedback, input. No feed or alert for user changes in any way makes it extremely difficult to track if a teacher makes a change or someone has changed something that will impact your client's billing.The adjustments they do make seem to glitch the system at times.

Love it!

Opmerkingen: Love it, for the most part. Staff has always been very responsive with questions and issues.

Pluspunten:

For years I kept track of scheduling on one sheet of paper from a weekly calender that I photo-copied and kept in a binder. Used a pencil so I could easily make changes. Attendance and income/expenses separate book. While it does take a little time to enter things manually, everything is streamlined and simpler than other software I have tried. I have looked at a few systems for teachers and this beats them all. I love that I can also send out group emails and save the templates for future use. Expenses and income can be set to repeat and this makes tax time a whole lot easier. Also keeps track of mileage if you travel to student homes—-I also set that to repeat back when I was a traveling teacher. One year I was audited and the auditor was very impressed with the way I kept track of miles and everything else with this software. I gave her printed reports (with receipts). Once she saw I had a good tracking system and accounting software, she glanced at it and sent me on my way with a pat on the back for good record-keeping. That, alone, makes this software worth every penny. I also make use of the free webpage and the “New Student Request” button. I set up a separate email account just for MMS so I know when I see an email it is either a new student request OR from an existing student. I am a solo teacher and don’t use all the features—just what I need. You can set this up to use as much or as little as you want.

Minpunten:

Webpage templates are pretty limited. More options would be fabulous! Text operations seem to be somewhat limited and quirky within the software on my iPad Pro. I rarely use a computer these days so a little more functionality there would be terrific. Line spacing and text options seem to be very limited within the templates and I have been very frustrated with the limitations. I make it work, but more in this area would be better.

A great All-In-One Business Manager and Scheduler

Opmerkingen: The scheduling alone and automated charges and billing are amazing - so much easier to keep track of everything. I'm also loving the additional features and ease of communication to students and parents from one place.
The improvements they've made over the past 2 years (most especially becoming more friendly to syncing to Google Calendar) have been unobtrusive and are generally making the software easier to use - and all at a reasonable cost!

Pluspunten:

First of all, the price is fantastic for a small business - you pay per teacher you're managing and the base subscription price is outstanding! Any equivalent scheduling software charges as though you are a large company and was many times the price for just me and my partner! The scheduling interface is easy and pretty intuitive, and I love that I can opt to allow people to change their own times (but only to a time that I've already set aside for teaching). I continue to have control over the times and days that I teach, and I have to deal with fewer make up lesson headaches! I've only started using some of the other functions this school year (file sharing, practice tracking, sending notes to parents/students, etc) so only a few months, but so far it's working really well and I love being able to contact the parents with concerns or suggestions when the child is not present.

Minpunten:

1. Most of my students pay on an automated monthly tuition model, and I would love to be able to set the month beginning/end dates for something other than the 1st. (mid month starts, 2nd pay period, etc) 2. While it is great to be able to message parents with notes, notifications of uploads, etc, it would be great if there were a way to group all those messages together instead of spamming them the day after the lesson. 3. Sometimes changes I make from my mobile device don't save properly (attendance is bad for this)

An extremely high value product

Opmerkingen: My Music Staff has become indispensible and almost makes life a breeze. Accounts, invoicing and lesson management, notes and plenty more are brilliant. If they can upgrade some and smooth a couple of other areas I'd gladly pay more.

Pluspunten:

After trying a number of other systems which felt like a real pain, I must say I can't find a system anywhere near as good for even double the price. There's a learning curve but it's really nothing like many others out there. TOP PROS: - Invoice for a period for all students in one hit and then email in one more. - Calendar view is powerful: attendance, great filtering by student/teacher/and many more - Setting up lessons is a breeze with conflicts detected automatically (although I wish it picked it up conflicts before pressing save, saving me a click-and-loading cycle) - Love the ability to clone days, run indefinite recurring group lessons with blocked out dates - Account management is brilliant too with a running list of billables and balance at any particular date - Sign up form is embeddable - SMS support mostly great - Notifiations to clients are great

Minpunten:

SMS INTEGRATION IS PATCHY - Fantastic for e.g. deleting a day. Except to send SMS messages needs to be activated in each profile manually which is slow - can't be turned on by default either - If the student doesn't have SMS turned on they don't get sent - Deleting lessons obscures the account: there is no longer record of that lesson even if it was previously included on an upfront invoice. - Marking a teacher absent is ideal EXCEPT there is no option to SMS all students without activating the feature in each individual profile first. NO SECOND FORM Other than the signup form - you need another service to handle this LEAD MANAGEMENT - No real (even simple) LMS, need another system. hello double handling data - Can classify as "lead" but then they can't book an open lesson. They need to be "Active" to do that, which is confusing because then they're "current students" which they aren't. It would be nice if leads could be added to lessons, then be automatically converted (semi-workaround via Student view sorting) INVOICES - need more templates & automation for outstanding, reminder before due, overdue, overdue 7/14 days - XERO integration please! NO STOCK MANAGEMENT - No stocking books to smooth the process. To sell, a manual entry for every book sold is required. No prefill or stock - I've stopped selling books because of this ATTENDANCE - For group lessons needs optimising too many features has bloated the process & created too many loading panes

You Need This in Your Life!

Opmerkingen: Customer support is very helpful!

Pluspunten:

I don't generate invoices until I have my schedule set. Once I have my schedule for the month/semester/etc figured out, I create invoices and send them to parents. I love that this program makes it easy to create and send invoices based on the schedule. What used to take me HOURS now takes minutes. I also like how it tracks payments, adjustments, etc in the program so that even parents can see. No more angry parents claiming they paid when they simply forgot; they can see everything. My studio size doubled because I am so much more organized with everything. I also love that students can see notes that I've taken, assignments, download music, etc. I also send out mass messages for my upcoming concerts which is posted on the group studio page. ALSO I love that it automatically sends reminder texts and emails. I rarely have students forget to come to their lessons anymore (and when they do, I just remind them of my cancellation policy, so I never lose any dollars). I love this program. Just amazing. I will never use anything else.

Minpunten:

I wish there was an phone app that would allow me to work offline. I frequently work in practice rooms that block out cell phone signal, so I can't load students' notes when I teach. Also, It took forever to figure out how to navigate through the site at first. Lastly, I wish I could figure out how to automatically send my students their lesson schedule for the month (not essential since it is listed in the invoice, but I would like to have the kids get a list of lesson times in the email).

MMS is a solid product which covers most of the bases

Opmerkingen: MMS has made scheduling quite efficient. It is fairly easy to navigate once you get used to it. We have been using it for a long time and I know there are features I haven't even gotten to yet. I don't think we've worked with the support team much as we've been able to figure things out. I would be very interested in taking a live class if it were offered just to appreciate the full potential of the software.

Pluspunten:

I especially like the attendance notes. It informs our students (parents) what is to be expected at the next lesson. This is especially good for parents who are not particularly musical, to remind the child specifics of the practice material. I also like the auto reminder sent for next day classes. This gives the student an opportunity to cancel class in time to qualify for a make up class. And, if a class had been verbally cancelled, but the teacher did not log it as such, (s)he is reminded that the class has been cancelled.

Minpunten:

I wish there was an entry to list the specific instrument being taught at each class. We can list the instrument in the student information section, but it'd be more convenient if it were right there on the calendar. Many instructors teach multiple disciplines and knowing which is being taught at a given class would make it easier for us to book the right room and/or the right substitute.

Music Dancing Feet Partnership and My Music Staff - Life has become easier for both staff and pupils

Opmerkingen: The main benefit that we have found has been increased reliability of pupil attendance and an enhanced way of keeping track of lessons that need to be caught up.
It has made invoicing easier for both us as a business and for the pupils to see what they owe at a glance.
The Music Dancing Feet Partnership have been really pleased to have joined in partnership with My Music Staff, I would like to say thank you from all of our pupils and staff for making our lives easier.

Pluspunten:

The ease of use to link with pupils. With the ability to create lessons notes as you teach and email them for assistance with practice is a great benefit for both teacher and pupil. The Lesson reminders. the lesson reminder have a two fold benefit in that they reduce the number of no shows for lessons and ensure that pupils remember to let you know if they cannot attend to allow you the scope to offer other lessons to them and to fill their slot; it also gets a lot of correspondence to you in advance of the lesson so that you can have other material ready for the lesson in advance. Invoicing. This has proven to be a very reliable package for invoicing. Student records. A very easy way of keeping all notes up to date and to hand. Library facility I haven't had much call to use this yet but on the occasion that I have lent music out it is an invaluable way of keeping track of who has what. Blog This is an area that is looking to be exploited later in the year.

Minpunten:

I have not really found any down sides to the software.

A Game Changer for All Private Music Teachers

Opmerkingen: MMS has made running my own private studio a breeze. Everything I need for my studio is in one place, and the automation eliminates my need to spend hours at the computer or have a secretary. I can't imagine having to manage my studio any other way.

Pluspunten:

I love the billing process with My Music Staff! Before using MMS, I spent hours creating and sending invoices and then I would have to chase down payments every month. Now it creates and sends the invoices automatically each month and parents pay me on time, because they receive reminders and it is so easy for them to push a button and pay online. I was so surprised in my first month with MMS when parents were sending me payments while I was out enjoying my time off with family - I completely forgot that invoices had gone out already, and I was able to sit back and let MMS do all the work.

Minpunten:

The only improvements that could be made to MMS is in the website section. I love the design and look of MMS, and that is one of the reasons I chose to use it. It looks so much better and it is so much easier to use than some of their competitors like Music Teacher's Helper. I even love the designs of MMS's ads on facebook and instagram, and the designs of their new printables. While the design for MMS is the best I have seen, the website template designs are not good. The designs look outdated and the personalization features are no where near Wordpress, Squarespace, or other website design companies. This issue is not a big deal breaker for me, because so many of the other features on MMS are fantastic, however it is the only section of MMS that I don't use.

Awesome software. I couldn't live without MMS!

Opmerkingen: I've solved so many business problems with MyMusicStaff which have allowed me to spend less time on administrative work and more time teaching my students! I recommend this software to my other teacher friends all the time. This software is such a good value for the price and I love how they really put teachers' needs first!

Pluspunten:

The things I like most about MyMusicStaff are: - The ability for me to send professional-looking invoices to all of my students, ensuring that everyone pays me the correct amount and streamlining my billing process - The ability for students to reschedule their own lessons in the Student Portal - The ability to manage my schedule, leave lesson notes, track progress, handle billing, and use the practice timer all in one place

Minpunten:

It takes a lot of time to manage on a daily basis, and sometimes it takes me several clicks to get where I need to go. For example, when navigating to the student view to view my Studio News posts, I have to... 1. Click on the 'Students' tab on the left 2. Click on one of my students' names 3. Navigate all the way to the right to where it says 'Student Portal' 4. Click on 'View As Student' 5. Wait for the student view to load 6. Click on the 'News and Blog Posts' bar And finally, see what I wanted to see. The email interface for writing emails within MMS is also a little bit weird. The user interface gets better and better all the time, though, and the staff is very good at responding to suggestions!

Much More Than I Expected!

Opmerkingen: Part of my music teaching is done in a school that requires a rotating timetable so the students skip a different class each week for their music lesson. For years I tried communicating these times to students and parents in many ways, none of which seemed effective as there was a great deal of confusion and absenteeism. I searched frequently for some kind of notification system such as the one my dentist uses, but they were all very prohibitively expensive. One day, toward the end of 2014, one my searches turned up My Music Staff, which could send automated email event reminders for a low monthly fee. After using it for a while, I found unexpected features such as keeping track of attendance, make-up credits, lesson notes, providing downloads for students, an online student/parent portal, a sign-up widget, as well as integrated billing to be indispensable for the way I’m now able to run my studio.

Pluspunten:

What I like most about My Music Staff is the Lesson Notes function as it enables seamless continuity from lesson to lesson with each student, which, to me, is most the most important aspect of teaching.

Minpunten:

As each feature in My Music Staff is likeable in its own way, the only reason why I like the Expense Tracker the least is because I use different accounting software and, therefore, have no need for it.

The Tool Music Businesses Must Have

Opmerkingen: Overall, the usage was a breeze. I couldn't add anymore other than I am happy with the product.

Pluspunten:

I would say it's packed with a lot of features compared to other software in the same genre that I've used. It can ease your everyday school, student management and appointment bookings. The Practice Log and Repertoire Management is just so awesome which is not present in the other tool that I've used previously. I also noticed that the interface is a lot cleaner compared to the calendar post its approach which most common booking/ scheduling apps have.

Minpunten:

There's just one feature that I find hard to get used to, which is the auto-generated lesson fee. The students were confused and even the teachers themselves were having a hard time figuring it out at first. It would be great to step out of the browser interface only because there is no Mac, Linux, Windows apps that you can use it with. Also, I think having one on mobile is a must nowadays.

The best!!

Opmerkingen: I had a studio of around 30 students before beginning to use this software. I don’t think that I could have expanded my studio up to students without this tool to help me out. It has made my personal finances easier to manage, scheduling and billing matters a breeze to keep track of, and I could never go back to teaching without it

Pluspunten:

MMS has truly allowed me to grow and expand my teaching business with ease. The ability to send professional looking invoices via email to all of my students has been excellent and it has definitely reduce the amount of late payments or forgetfulness regarding payments. I love that I can take notes during my students’ lessons and email them directly to students and parents or just keep notes for my own reference. I feel that the cost of this software is very low for what it provides so I am grateful for the great value for such a great product. I will continue to use my music staff without hesitation and recommend it to all of my colleagues

Minpunten:

The only con that I can think of is that when you are viewing a student profile in my music staff, phone numbers and email addresses are not hyperlinked. This is a simaple feature that would be really wonderful to have

My first 10 months with My Music Staff.

Opmerkingen: Very happy to be on board. I was a member of Music Teachers Helper for more than 10 years but latterly I found that it became a little over complicated for me to follow.

Pluspunten:

The software was well explained and it was easy to try the basics out from the beginning. It is best to explore a little at a time initially, and gradually knowledge of optimising your system will build up, organising timetable/billing/etc concerts and parents are welcome. It is clear that help is easily at hand if you need assistance with questions.

Minpunten:

I have run a website before and I was looking forward to doing it again with MMS. I’m still learning how to use all things available on MMS……and I have had some snags setting up parental access ..however I haven’t tried out all the ‘help’ yet. I have learnt to love the ‘video music”.. just

A True Lifesaver

Opmerkingen: I have over 40 students, with varying price brackets and class types and lengths... I would be spending SO MUCH of my free time trying to keep track of it all if I didn’t have My Music Staff. Plus, before starting with My Music Staff, I was constantly having payment difficulties, with families who didn’t pay on time or the right amount, and that process is now so streamlined! The My Music Staff platform is so easy to use, I can breeze right through setting up a new student profile, adding something to my calendar, or sending an invoice in minutes! My favorite features are the organized schedule and student info list, and the invoicing and payment system. This has subtracted so much stress from my life and my work as a music teacher, and signing up for My Music Staff was one of my best decisions for my music studio, hands down!

Pluspunten:

I LOVE the ease and simplicity of My Music Staff. I love how customizable it is and that I can adjust it to meet all my needs as a teacher. My favorite thing about it is that it has created so much freedom and peace in my life because of how smoothly it keeps track of all my scheduling, student lists, and payments — hello to a super easy, stress-free admin-task solution!

Minpunten:

I don’t think I have any cons. My Music Staff has been overwhelmingly worth it to me and has been delightfully helpful and wonderful every step of the way!

The Ultimate Admin-Effort-Relieve!

Opmerkingen: Admin, payroll, professional appearance - overall the absolute best headache-relieve I could possibly have imagined!

Pluspunten:

Mymusicstaff has saved our life. After the third year of running our music school, when things started getting hectic with over 100 students, we were drowning in excel sheets and word documents, PDF invoices and sheets of paper. We looked around for admin softwares until we came across Mymusicstaff. It is not cheap, but worth every penny. It makes running our school so professional and easy, and no admin errors occur as everything is done on the same platform, from timetabling, room allocation to invoicing and tutor reports etc. Communication and payroll are two additional features which are amazing. Tutors take attendance, which determines their payroll, and they can easily send messages to us and the parents / students which we can review and access. Absolutely wonderful system, we are so glad we found it!

Minpunten:

The only thing is that the price per month is steep if you have multiple tutors. It's not a flat rate or per pupil but instead per tutor. This means that some tutors, who only have one or two pupils, cost us quite a lot.