Guidance

This introduction is the second of three documents on Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR). It gives you an overview of how to set up and run a production company to claim OTR. 

This introduction is the first of three documents on Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR). It gives you an overview of what it is and how it works, and an overall idea if this is something your group would like to look into.

To help you decide we also have two additional documents –

This agreement, reached between the Musicians' Union and Making Music in 2017, provides guideline minimum rates for groups when engaging freelance professional musicians. We hope that this will provide a simple and effective aid to ensure that members are able to budget for, and professionals able to receive, a fair rate of payment.

We are very pleased to have reached this new agreement with the Musicians' Union which is revolutionary in two ways:

In the current economic climate, where arts funding is scarcer than ever, it can be tough for amateur music groups to engage high-quality soloists for their concerts. To help to address this, Making Music runs the following schemes, helping member groups to engage artists at specially reduced or subsidised rates.

Following on from our look at barbershop singing and wind bands, in this article we take a look at the ins and outs of brass banding in the UK. What is a brass band and where did they come from? What is it like to be part of a brass band today? And how can you get involved?

Online events listings can be a good way to way to reach new and bigger audiences, but you have to be willing to put in time, work, patience and a bit of creativity.

There are many options out there, and we'll outline the main types below. Also, before you venture deep into the web, did you know that you can list your events on the Making Music website?

Listings sites

In part 2 of this guidance on email marketing we'll cover what to include in your email, how to make a great subject line and how to measure success.

Part 1: Getting started and building a list | Part 2: Building a great email

In an era with more and more options available for communicating with your audiences, email remains one of the most effective - 91% of adults check their email at least once per day, and promotion via email is reckoned to be 40 times more effective than social media.

Following our look at Barbershop, we're moving on to Wind Bands. What's included in the 'wind' bit? Why has the repertoire grown so much in the last century? And what do they offer musicians that orchestral music often doesn't?

Performance anxiety or ‘stage fright’ is a feeling of fear accompanied by increased bodily arousal which can affect a performer when they are practising on their own, rehearsing with others, before and/or during a performance – in fact any time.This resource from The British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM) offers some useful advice on recognising and managing performance anxiety.