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.

Yay! MMS!

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

Puntos a favor:

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

Puntos en contra:

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.

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.)

Best thing I did for myself and my students

Comentarios: My tax returns have been made so much easier. Much less maths and fewer spreadsheets.

Puntos a favor:

I love the way it automates everything! Everything is clear functions very well. I have found it a great way to streamline the accounting and admin side of running a one-person music teaching studio, as well as provide my students with all the info and resources they need all in one place.

Puntos en contra:

I wish there was a way the system could automatically calculate daily mileage based on lesson location - inputting this is the most tedious part of doing admin.I also don't like that the calendar groups appointments together/doesn't space out appointments equally if there is missing time between eg. a 9am booking on Wednesday will be next to a 2pm booking on Thursday if the Thursday morning is not booked.