Opiniones de My Music Staff

Couldn't run my music school without it

Puntos a favor:

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).

Puntos en contra:

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

Comentarios: 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.

Puntos a favor:

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

Puntos en contra:

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.

My Music Staff from a Person who is not techie

Comentarios: The problems solved by using My Music Staff include: 1. Streamlining the administrative processes of teaching music. 2. Automating lesson scheduling, billing, and invoicing. 3. Keeping track of student progress and attendance. 4. Reducing the time spent on administrative tasks. The benefits of using My Music Staff include: 1. Increased efficiency and productivity for music teachers. 2. Improved communication between teachers and their students. 3. Easier access to resources, such as music theory and practice materials. 4. Increased visibility into student progress and performance. 5. The ability to customize the system to meet individual teaching needs.

Puntos a favor:

- My Music Staff allows users to manage their music teaching business from one convenient location. - It is easy to use and navigate, with an intuitive interface.- My Music Staff provides great customer support and they have a wide variety of features such as scheduling, invoicing, and communication tools.- It offers a comprehensive range of features and is constantly being updated with new features.

Puntos en contra:

Some users have reported that the customer service can be slow to respond.- Reports can be difficult to generate.- There are some limitations when it comes to customizing the look and feel of the website.

Looks great on the website, doesn't it?

Comentarios: 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.

Puntos a favor:

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!

Puntos en contra:

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.)

My Music Staff Falling Behind

Comentarios: 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.

Puntos a favor:

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

Puntos en contra:

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.

Does everything you need for a great price

Comentarios: I've found that the software fits my needs. I have looked around extensively to see if there is anything out there better and currently there isn't. There are similar platforms but they are more expensive. I also like how it specifically caters to music teachers rather than a generic software for all industries.

Puntos a favor:

It does everything I need it to do in terms of scheduling, billing and expenses and has other features that I use sometimes such as lesson notes, file sharing, newsletters and lending library. It also has a website included, blog and online signup.

Puntos en contra:

It would be good if students were able to edit/comment on their lesson notes. Also if there could be a blog or newsletter that is not public but only accessible by your clients with the ability for them to comment.

A Must-Have

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

Puntos a favor:

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!

Puntos en contra:

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).

Game changer!

Comentarios: My overall experience has been amazing. The customer service reps are so kind and helpful, and the software itself has given me all I need to run my flute studio in one website.

Puntos a favor:

I really like how many features are included with this software, it really is mindblowing.

Puntos en contra:

Nothing! I like everything about this software.

Music Therapist Music Educator

Comentarios: Would not trade them for anything! They are awesome! Try them for yourself! So glad I was told a lot them!

Puntos a favor:

I love the customer support. They listen and are down to earth and really want to help. They are very patient! I love that!

Puntos en contra:

Note talking for classes is not easily accessible…well on don’t know where it is. The previous feature was more customer friendly.

Amazing resource!

Comentarios: Marvelous!! They are prompt and very helpful whenever I've had a question.

Puntos a favor:

I love the ability to manage many different facets of my business--student progress and notes, materials loaned, billing, attendance, etc.

Puntos en contra:

I can't think of anything! It is fantastic!

It's great once you get to know it

Comentarios: For a relatively low cost, this software is helping me grow and define my business. The company was extremely responsive when the pandemic hit and new features were unveiled quickly. I am able to run my appointments just as easily from zoom as face to face using the software tools they provided. Overall, I would recommend this product as a great tool for a studio.

Puntos a favor:

It makes scheduling and keeping track of payments a breeze. Everything is all in one place and generating reports is also simple. For the most part, it does more than I had expected/hoped.

Puntos en contra:

For people who prefer having support via the phone, this is not a good option. There are many times that I wish I could just dial a number to get an answer. That being said, they respond quickly via email. There is also a learning curve with this software that might be a barrier to some.

Awesome!

Comentarios: Huge time saver!

Puntos a favor:

For me, the best feature is the ease of scheduling lessons and ensembles. Summer is more complicated for me because family schedules are less regular. This program allows parents to check my schedule, find an open time that works for them and register for it - all with no e-mails back and forth with me! They can do this each week if they want and if something comes up and they need to reschedule, they can just do it without multiple emails. This is a huge time saver! I also really like the ease of entering payments at the lesson. I can handle this before the student leaves and put the check/cash in my wallet. Done! My old paper system seemed to take longer for me. Oh, and for scheduling ensembles, I can create an ensemble time and notify students in like 30 seconds! Then I just wait for them to register, or not. If not enough students register, I just cancel the ensemble and everyone is notified. This used to require a boatload of emails and texts. And one more thing, my summer used to be full of students forgetting to come to lessons because they don't come every Tuesday at 2pm. I was just not going to spend the time to send reminder emails to each student manually. Now, My Music Staff automatically sends a reminder email (or text) to the the student and/or parent the day before. So far, I have only had one student no show because they forgot. I don't have to feel guilty about charging for it, they were reminded.

Puntos en contra:

I am getting used to the attendance pop-up. Most of my students are with me for a number of years and we always work on scales, etudes and technique pieces, and repertoire pieces. I have the books that I commonly use for scales, etudes and technique set up as Repertoire and then use the Notes to assign pages or specific pieces as well as for comments. This automatically copies to each lesson so this shows what I assigned and I can adjust it for the current lesson. I am not sure if this is developing a history or not for the student. I guess the biggest hurdle for me has been getting used to the process of recording the lesson while the student is there. Mostly, it is just adjusting from my custom paper lesson book to keying things on a screen. It would be extremely helpful to be able to see the end time of the lesson on this pop-up (currently just the start time shows) and also when I will see this student for their next lesson.

My Music Staff review first year

Comentarios: I definitely have been having a great experience with My Music Staff. Especially their actual staff members. I spoke with [SENSITIVE CONTENT] recently and she did a phenomenal job at helping me fix my accounting issues and invoicing issues. She was very easy to talk to you she listened to my concerns and questions that I had and took time to teach me how to fix my accounting problems. I had several students accounts that had it inputs put in the wrong way for discounts etc. and she was able to quickly spot what the problems were as well as allow me the time to fix them and explain why not to do what I did before and how to properly and put the information I need to moving forward and why. I told her I think it would be nice if My Music Staff will give her a bonus to make videos on how to create invoices and teaching users how to utilize accounting and how all of the features work together to help balance out the accounting page and create invoices all of the ends and outs! She would be great at that as well!

Puntos a favor:

It’s really kind of hard to pinpoint what specifically I like because there’s a lot of features that I do like such as being able to schedule, pull reports, upload videos for our students, upload link sent of the learning material for our students, payroll etc

Puntos en contra:

I don’t like that I’m not able to use PayPal and stripe at the same time to except payments. I do have parents who like to pay through PayPal as well but I have to utilize a different source to receive those payments because only stripe or PayPal can be used one at a time. I wish that it was also a lot easier to understand how to utilize the invoice an account features. I have gotten pretty confused and had to call in and ask questions several times in order to really get the hang of it. It can be a bit confusing without that additional coaching to understand how to bill clients. I’ve had moments where my numbers were off because I gave an additional discount or I build them incorrectly and didn’t understand how I did it or why.

My assistant for my studio

Comentarios: My experience has been great! I can't attest to the customer service as I've never had to use it! But that says something, doesn't it?

Puntos a favor:

I really like how this software program allows me to stay organized and gives me a very professional look with my clients. From invoices to curriculum to client information to the dreaded year end taxes, I am able to keep detailed information and have it right at my finger tips when needed. My personal studio has 40 students with 26 different families to account to and communicate with. I use My Music Staff to set up a structured personal invoice system for each family, keep track of all lessons (attended or unattended), list all curriculum items each student is working on plus all festival and competition participation and results, any loaned music books I've given each student, and keep detailed notes on how each student is progressing. My Music Staff allows me to keep all my expenses (music books, office supplies, mileage, etc) in an organized, detailed system so April is no longer a huge headache for me! I also keep my waiting list of families looking to get into lessons so I no longer have the problem of the lost email or phone number when I get an opening in my studio.There are more possibilities with the program (website link, clients being able to link in) that I have not pursued yet but am looking forward to in the future. I have had a lot of comments from my clients about how impressed they are with how organized my studio is. I appreciate that this program allows me to come across as the professional I aim to be and hope to be perceived in my community.

Puntos en contra:

I get frustrated with some of the backtracking I have to do to personalize the calendar and the invoices. But, I don't see how that would be avoided as my studio is unique and each year is different. I do appreciate that I can personalize each student and each year.

You Need This in Your Life!

Comentarios: Customer support is very helpful!

Puntos a favor:

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.

Puntos en contra:

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

Comentarios: 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.

Puntos a favor:

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.

Puntos en contra:

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

Comentarios: 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.

Puntos a favor:

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.

Puntos en contra:

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

A Game Changer for All Private Music Teachers

Comentarios: 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.

Puntos a favor:

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.

Puntos en contra:

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!

Comentarios: 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!

Puntos a favor:

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

Puntos en contra:

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!

Comentarios: 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.

Puntos a favor:

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.

Puntos en contra:

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.

Easy to use!

Comentarios: I use MMS daily and it is a crucial resource for the success of my studio. The price point is fantastic. Overall I am a very pleased customer.

Puntos a favor:

I have used my Music Staff software for almost 3 years. I've tried other programs but I believe that MMS is the BEST resource for your money!

Puntos en contra:

The only issues I've run into are just minor in detail. I kinda would like there to be an app and maybe a better functionality on mobile devices.

My Music Staff Simplified My Life!

Comentarios: My Music Staff has allowed me to run an efficient business. Students play more because they are more engaged. Parents are happy because invoicing runs efficiently which also results in better cashflow for me as I'm not chasing people for money all the time!

Puntos a favor:

It's incredibly easy to use and automatically allows you to present your business as that of a professional who cares about what they do. Invoicing is easy and professional and parents find it easy to pay me which makes my life a lot easier! My students love it because they they can engage with me in ways they previously couldn't allowing me to be their tutor for more than just 30 minutes a week. Parents love it because they know what's happening, can contact me easily and feel part of the child's musical journey. Plus it's really affordable. I attract and retain more students because of My Music Staff so it pays for itself.

Puntos en contra:

I would like to be able to change the colouring of the website after logging in to match my own 'corporate' colours but that's a small thing.

My first 10 months with My Music Staff.

Comentarios: 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.

Puntos a favor:

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.

Puntos en contra:

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

Comentarios: 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!

Puntos a favor:

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!

Puntos en contra:

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!

best time saver for my studio!

Comentarios: CUstomer support is always prompt and thorough when answering my questions. This software has made managing a studio of 65 students/1 teacher (myself) easy and simple. Plus tracking inquiries and waiting list is simple too!

Puntos a favor:

automatic billing feature!!!!! this saves me countless hours and headache each month when billing time comes around plus it guarantees that I will get paid on time

Puntos en contra:

n/a They are constantly improving the program and this program meets all of my business needs. Only one suggestion would be to create a way to list waiting list and leads by the date they inquired or were added to the wait list. That way when a student drops I can easily locate students in the order of their inquiry or in the order of the wait list