Basic Training

Music Nova Scotia has created a Basic Training program to help artists and aspiring music industry professionals develop their skills and knowledge. Moving forward, applicants to Music Nova Scotia’s investment programs will be required to complete Basic Training sessions in order to be eligible to apply to our investment programs.

All previous applicants will be eligible to continue to apply at their current level (Artist Development, Artist Development II, and Export Ready). However, all first time applicants and all artists wishing to move up levels will be required to complete a corresponding number of Basic Training sessions.

The session requirements per investment level are as follows:

Artist Development: 2 sessions
Artist Development II: 5 sessions
Export Ready: 8 sessions

Please note: It is mandatory for all first time NSMW showcasing artists to attend the Conference & Showcasing session prior to NSMW 2020.

Please follow Music Nova Scotia on social media and subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay up-to-date on Basic Training session dates.

Session Descriptions

Business Basics

From your mission statement to filing your emails, Business Basics will walk you through the necessary steps to lay a solid foundation for an effective and successful business in the music industry.

Building Your Team

Who does what?  What does it cost?  Where do you start? This session will describe the roles of potential partners, independent contractors, and industry support organizations.

Conferences & Showcasing

Find out how to get the most out of conferences and showcases – from making the decision to attend to the best way to showcase your music.

Funding

This session will give you a better understanding of Canada’s major music funding organizations – how they work, how to submit solid applications and the steps necessary to file final reports.

Royalties for Songwriters 

This session will demystify the songwriting and publishing world.  From registration to royalties, it will show you how to maximize your revenue.

Royalties for Musicians & Master Owner

Feature Artist? Musician? Master Owner?  – whatever your role, chances are you should be collecting royalties for your work.  This session will outline the various royalty streams, your options for collecting agencies and how to register.

Marketing

Everything you do requires some form of marketing – from releasing a record to selling show tickets, working an industry conference to building your fanbase.  This session will give an overview of the components of marketing and the importance of consistent branding.

Social Media

Setting up profiles, optimizing analytics, and developing your brand – we’ll touch on all of it including how/what/how often to post and ad creation targeting.

Streaming –

   This section will walk you through how to register  for the different DSP’s , how to maximize your artist profile, and how to submit to playlists through various platforms.

Financial

Basic accounting terms, tracking income and expenses, and organizational tips will all be covered in a session targeted at helping you analyze numbers in a way that will keep your business on track and growing.

Live Performance

From selling the show to selling the tickets, this session will all you through the logistics of booking and marketing your shows.

Recording

The Recording Session will walk you through the steps of making a record – from pre-production to pre-release.  We’ll touch on planning, your recording team, budgets, and how to organize your marketing plan.