How to Confidently Structure Tuition for Private Music Lessons
Kelly Riordan
Date Posted: April 16, 2024
The Four Factors
Lesson rates are typically impacted by four major factors. Based on data compiled by Outside The Bachs, these are the factors, ranked by importance:
1. Self-confidence of instructor
2. Location and market conditions
3. Demand for trial lessons, consultations, waitlist, etc
4. Instructor’s education and experience
Things that do not influence rates include:
X Competition
X Starting on your own
X Occasional student “no”
X Feedback on rates outside of a trial or consultation
Confidence in Tuition Rates
As musicians, we often price our services based on what feels fair and right, not on comparable data and close rates. This is a large reason many instructors with significant education, experience, testimonials, and demand are currently undercharging.
However, the most significant factor for determining price is our belief in the chosen rates. Whether we are increasing existing rates or starting an independent teaching studio for the first time, establishing confidence in higher tuition can easily feel overwhelming.
Confidently presenting rates communicates to potential students that our service and package are refined and proven. We find that Outside The Bachs members feel most secure in their pricing when they have clear data from our team and their own studio enrollment process.
When analyzing the success of our enrollment process, ideally 50-70% of students will register for lessons after an initial consultation or trial lesson. If more than 70% of students accept our rates and enroll, that can be a strong indicator that the local market can tolerate a higher rate. If fewer than 40% of students choose to enroll, we want to examine whether issues stem more from our marketing or the price of our lesson package.
"...the most significant factor for determining price is our belief in the chosen rates." - Kelly Riordan
Base Rate
The current industry standard for private lessons in the United States is roughly $1/minute for anyone with at least some experience teaching a 4-year degree in music (or equivalent certifications and experience). For example:
- $30/30 minutes
- $45/45 minutes
- $60/60 minutes
Location
Besides confidence in our rates, cost of living in our local area has the biggest impact on rate in many areas.
For areas with dense population and high cost of living, rates should be adjusted higher.
For areas with more sparse population and lower cost of living, rates may align with the industry standard or be adjusted slightly lower.
Here are a handful examples of base rate adjustments for a variety of urban, suburban, and rural areas:
Standard Base Rate $60/hour
Minneapolis, MN $65-70/hour
Naperville, IL $70/hour
Irvine, CA $80-85/hour
Los Angeles, CA $90-95/hour
New York City, NY $95-120/hour
Demand
Demand for a new studio should not be estimated, or influenced by anecdotal evidence from local colleagues or music programs.
A high-demand studio is most easily defined as a studio that places new student inquiries on a waitlist due to limited availability during the studio’s business hours. Studios or teachers with high demand should consider a rate increase for current students every 18-24 months, and raise prices more regularly for new incoming students.
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Education & Experience
For most recent college graduates, the industry standard rates are an appropriate place to start. Additional education should increase rates roughly 10-20% per degree. For example:
+ $5-$10/hour following MM
+ additional $10-15/hour following DMA
Starting at the baseline rates in the first 1-3 years of teaching is advisable. Instructors with more experience should determine rate increases based on demand.
Discounted Lesson Rates
We generally advise that lesson rates stay the same for all students and don’t encourage discounts for longer lessons or sibling enrollment. The strong exception to that guideline is need-based financial support. In my own studio, between 5-10% of my students have submitted a brief statement of need and pay a reduced fee.
This system is something I implemented as soon as the studio was comfortably supporting my own cost of living, and I am so passionate about seeing other instructors extend this offer whenever possible.
Monthly Flat Rate Tuition
After thorough experimentation, we have found that utilizing a flat rate tuition structure can be the best option for both the studio owner and the students. It’s one of the policy changes that we use in the Outside The Bachs community to successfully create sustainability for private instructors and studio owners.
There are three main advantages of a monthly flat rate tuition:
Consistency in revenue and scheduling
Transparency through all-inclusive rates
Separation of money from the music using autopay systems
Flat rate tuition is calculated based on the number of lessons we guarantee students over the course of a calendar year. Most studios like to plan for 6 weeks off each year, which typically allows for a week in the spring, two over the summer, one for Thanksgiving or fall break, and two at the end of the year for winter break and holidays. We encourage teachers to build in at least two additional weeks for emergency leave or unplanned teacher absences.
As an Outside The Bachs client recently said: “I now get time off without losing revenue. It feels like I’m finally paying myself a salary.”
Most studios plan for 8 weeks off in total, meaning they guarantee between 44 lessons. Of course, additional time off can be included for instructors who want additional emergency weeks or tend to have heavier gig schedules.
Once this number is set, the calculation is straightforward:
- guaranteed lessons x hourly rate / 12 = monthly hourly tuition rate
- ex: 44 x 75 / 12 = 275/month for hour lessons
Transparency is a key benefit to this system, because we can include all potential lesson expenses in the monthly tuition. If a studio hosts an annual recital, increasing monthly rates by $5 creates a budget for recital planning without relying on ticket sales or recital fees. Some studios include a budget for materials, studio classes, and video exchange support between lessons.
We can also increase slightly from the base rate to plan for credit card processing fees, as a significant advantage of monthly flat rate tuition is the ability to run tuition as a subscription rate on automatic payment through a studio management software.
A monthly flat rate tuition policy helps achieve consistency in revenue for a studio and instructor, which increases confidence in lesson pricing. This formula has been successful for Outside The Bachs members for over three years, and is an important trend in private lesson instruction.
Kelly Riordan is the CEO and Co-Founder of Outside the Bachs, LLC - a program designed to give musicians the skills to create their own private music studios and deliver the highest quality instruction to their students.
Her work has brought her to the forefront in music business education. In addition to hosting The Outside the Bachs Podcast, Riordan presents regularly at conferences and universities, with recent appearances at The NAMM Show and The Ultimate Music Business Summit, in addition to lectures at the University of Tennessee, Miami University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Kelly Riordan holds a Master of Music (MM) in Performance and Literature from the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Music from the Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.