Entrepreneurs in Music — and Don’t Forget about Mozart!

I want to vamp just a little bit on what Angela said in her first post, “Musicians often get hung up on the word “entrepreneurship” because it may seem (to some folks) antithetical to the arts.” I’ve observed this too. I think that some “artists” often confuse entrepreneurship with self-promotion, or they equate it with inventing or making something. In reality most musicians have entrepreneurial projects. When I look at the Eastman faculty I see a violin professor who runs a summer string quartet program, a pianist who hosts an international piano competition, a jazz faculty that is all over the U.S. and Europe playing their music, and historians and theorists writing and promoting their latest books. It’s what we do. We create. And anything worth doing is worth sharing with others. If someone will pay us for this talent, so much the better. As long as the entrepreneurial aspect of your musical life is backed up by strong playing and solid musicianship, no one will call you a self-promoter.