In this episode John Kozicki (Michigan Rock School and RockSchoolProprietor.com) talks with Rory Cain, VP of Sales at Opus1, who has spoken with more than a thousand music school owners. They explore how building community can help music schools improve student retention, attract more students with less marketing spend, and grow a more profitable, sustainable lesson studio. Drawing on new industry data, they cover why students in group classes and band programs stay longer, what classical and contemporary schools can learn from each other, and practical steps any studio can take to build community, from recitals and performances to letting prospective families watch a rehearsal.
Included:
- How classical and contemporary rock schools each have different strengths, from the built-in structure that drives retention to the instant community of a band program, and what each side can learn from the other.
- Why students in group classes and band programs stay longer, backed by new findings from Opus1’s upcoming State of the Industry report covering nearly 200,000 lessons, including how retention varies by instrument.
- How to calculate your student lifetime value (tuition x average tenure) and use it to decide how hard to chase every lead and how much you can afford to spend on marketing, and why strong community lowers your acquisition costs.
- Practical ways to start building community in your own studio, from timing recitals and performances to head off the summer drop, to letting prospective families see a rehearsal in action, to testing a new group program for a set period without betting the whole business.
Tune in to hear why the “magic” of kids making music together is your best sales tool, how community can help you compete with dance, soccer and hockey for students’ time, and why a little experimentation is less risky than it feels.
Rock School Proprietor is a podcast for independent music school owners and lesson studio operators looking to attract more students and create a sustainable business. New episodes drop Wednesdays at RockSchoolProprietor.com and on all podcast streaming platforms.
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