Two interesting posts came across my feed this week.
But before I get into all that…
Coaches and self-development gurus love to talk about the RAS, or Reticular Activating System. The RAS is a bundle of nerves resting on our brain stem that help us filter out unnecessary information.
One result of the filtering is that it allows to focus better on what we’re thinking about.
A common analogy is if you’re shopping for a particular model vehicle, all of a sudden you notice how many are actually on the road. You literally SEE them everywhere, where once you could not.
This happens with clothing you’re interested in. And for musicians, the instruments we purchase—as a lover of all things guitar, I am hyper aware of what make and model people are playing and what was used on what recording, etc.—I am sure you are, too, when it comes to your instrument.
The RAS is also what allows us to hear our name in a crowded or loud environment. Or, to recognize the cry and voice of your child when many other children are present.
This is one of the reasons a good coach will pay attention to the words you use and encourage you to do the same. You literally can start seeing things you’ve never seen before by capturing your words and thoughts. It’s also why I believe you can create an abundance of opportunities for yourself. It’s less about creating something (that wasn’t there) as it is about seeing what already existed.
Today, I want to share with you two instances where my RAS kicked into high gear.
Obviously, Heidi and I are gearing up for the launch of the TPM course and we’ve been focused on delivering high-quality, actionable content for our webinar series. As a result, I’ve been deeply focused on pivoting. Even more specifically, pivoting as a musician. What it means, what it looks like, what tools are necessary, and who it’s for.
Maybe Heidi and I will riff on these in more detail in a future podcast, but it feels almost like kismet that they popped up this week. They both affirm everything Heidi and I have been saying. We literally cannot wave this flag enough.
#1
The first was a Facebook post by a friend and former grad-school peer, Dr. Reed Hanna. Dr. Hanna is an incredible bassoonist, conductor, and educator. He shared a screen shot of a unicorn higher-ed choral conducting job post for the University of Texas San Antonio.
I say UT San Antonio is looking for a unicorn because this person should have a terminal degree, be able to do just about anything within the school of music, and make a salary equivalent to most first-year public school teachers. More than that, this position is for an Assistant Professor of Practice/Instructor. For those of you who don’t know how academic ranking works, this is a nice-sounding term for full-time adjunct professor. This position will have no tenure possibilities and will likely be on a one-year renewable contract.
The comments on Dr. Hanna’s post are a sad testimony to the state of the higher-ed job market. Again, this is something Heidi and I have spoken about at length. Both in the webinars and on the TPM podcast.
Let me be absolutely clear for those who doubt the situation and are still pursuing (or thinking of pursuing) terminal degrees in music:
THE JOB MARKET FOR HIGHER-ED IS SATURATED WITH LOW-PAYING, EXPLOITATIVE POSITIONS WITH NO UPWARD MOBILITY OR FUTURE.
And,
OUR ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS CONTINUE TO DANGLE THE CARROT OF JOBS UPON GRADUATION PUMPING OUT THOUSANDS OF OVER-QUALIFIED CANDIDATES EVERY YEAR.
What this means is that you might have your DMA and are desperate enough to take this job because you’re (probably) literally hungry for work in your field. But this job will burn you out, doesn’t have the promise of long-term stability, and you could make as much money—I’m serious about this—putting in the same hours at McDonalds. 9/10 academic job openings right now read the same way. Also, you will be competing with over 100 other equally (or perhaps even more) qualified candidates.
#2
Last night, while my wife and I watched the latest episode of All Creatures Great and Small, I was browsing Twitter. As much as I complain about social media, I still can’t get myself to remove the app from my phone—maybe soon.
Anyway, the wonderful pianist Sharon Su posted a short thread on how her music education failed to prepare her for a career in music. Ironic, isn’t it?
The thread starts with:
“I know things are changing on this front, but I wonder if I will ever stop being astounded at how poorly music school prepared me for actually having a functional career in music.”
Sharon, I’m astounded, too. I agree with you 100%.
Let me reveal to you a secret about music school: music school can help you grow in skill as a performer. It can help give you experiences and knowledge that can inform the way you create music. It can help you become top in your field. BUT it cannot do that at the same time and prepare you for a thriving career.
First, please see my comments about the other post above. Second, from a curricular perspective, there is no way a music degree could provide enough credit hours to properly prepare you for building a career without taking away essential musical training. Third, nearly all your professors have not had to build a thriving music businesses of their own—many of them matriculate from bachelors to masters to doctorate and start teaching without any real-world business building. (BTW, I also know of a full professor of music education who is also head of the music ed department at a major university who has never taught public school)—many of these teachers are teaching “music entrepreneurship” out of a book they got for free from the publisher. Listen to Heidi and my interview with Dr. Wally Wallace (Episode 12), he was adjunct and teaching “music entrepreneurship.”
There are many reasons why music school is failing its students in helping them prepare for a career. Books have been and should be written about it.
What I’m concerned about here is the fact that most schools PRETEND to help you prepare for your career. Their marketing material and enrollment process touts the success of their graduates and you may have even seen a list in their materials about “all the cool things those who study music” can do with their degrees. I encourage you to ask hard questions, such as, how many of your doctoral graduates are actively teaching? How many as adjuncts? Full time? How many of your graduates are still working in music?
There are exceptions, of course. Some schools—mainly those focused on commercial music styles or media composition—such as Berklee College of Music or USC, really DO help their students build their careers.
If you are in graduate school (or thinking about graduate school in a conservatory, or any other traditional music school), open your eyes to the reality that school can help you become a better performer, composer, or teacher, but your degree no longer guarantees a job.
So, what are you going to do about it?
That’s the exact question Heidi and I set out to answer.
We’ve walked that path. We’ve done the HARD work of getting a terminal degree. We’ve applied to countless positions. We’ve worked ourselves to exhaustion as adjuncts and visiting professors.
And still, we thrive.
Why?
Because we pivoted. We took our talent stack—that is our skills, talents, and experiences, and the unique things that make us who we are—and shifted it only a few degrees. This allows us to serve WAY more people than we could as university professors or orchestral musicians.
It also allows us incredible financial freedom, because we run our own businesses. As Heidi is fond of saying, “We said ‘yes’ to ourselves.”
Next week, we are launching The Pivoting Musician Course. It’s an 8-week program where we’ll take you from where you are, to saying ‘yes’ to yourself. At the end of the course, you’ll have the tools and resources necessary to make your pivot, build your business, and learn how to stop worrying about where the next gig is going to be.
What would it be worth to you to no longer have to look at the academic job postings like the one above?
What would it be worth to you to actually know what you need to do to have a functional and THRIVING career in music?
The thing is, we’re only opening this first run up for a small group of people. And we need to make sure everyone is a good fit.
If you’re tired of being on the academic hamster wheel, or if you’re tired of not knowing how to use your skills to serve an audience (and ACTUALLY MAKE MONEY), then consider applying to join the TPM course.
If you think The Pivoting Musician course might be a good fit for you, send us a message. We’ll add you to the waiting to the waiting list so you can be the first to know about the next cohort.