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Written by Tess Vreeland, MT-BC, AMTAS Secretary 2023 It's an exciting, yet sometimes overwhelming, time to begin a new school year! Some students may be just beginning their path to becoming a music therapist as freshmen, some may be working on applying to internships, and some may be somewhere in between. Wherever you are in your academic journey, the AMTAS board would like to wish you a happy and growth-filled school year. The start of a new academic year brings potential for new opportunities to learn in the field of music therapy. Getting involved with (or starting!) your school's music therapy club is a wonderful way to form connections with peers and get involved with music therapy advocacy efforts on your campus. Consider also looking into workshops and other opportunities available through your regional music therapy associations for students. Our regional boards work hard to provide support for students and universities across the country! This fall, AMTA has provided a coupon code to assist with textbook purchases! Now through September 30th, students can input the code "MTSTUDENT2023-BOOK" at checkout to receive 25% off their AMTA published book purchase. AMTAS has some exciting dates to mark in your planners for this semester!
Staying organized is a useful skill to acquire and maintain as a future music therapist. There are resources available to help facilitate the growth of this skill, such as planners designed for music therapists. One planner available on Etsy is linked here, and it is specifically designed for music therapy students juggling practica experiences, homework, practice, and more! Looking for some back-to-school music therapy advocacy merch? Keep looking out on our social media @_amtas_ on Instagram and American Music Therapy Association Students on Facebook for big things to be announced soon! 
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Written by Nina Stecker, MM, MT-BC
In the field of music therapy, small businesses such as private practice are constantly opening. The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) reported that five new private practices were opened and one practice closed in the year 2020. AMTA (2020) asked participants if they were a business owner. After gathering 1,826 responses, 419 participants reported that they identified as a music therapy (MT) business owner (AMTA, 2020). There is limited current research regarding the responsibilities and activities of music therapy private practice owners. Choices concerning such responsibilities include finances, marketing, supervision, advocating for the field, face-to-face client interaction, and many more. These responsibilities influence the model of the practice and how it is administered. For my Masters thesis, I conducted a survey with 3 main research questions: 1. What were the demographics of current AMTA private practice owners? 2. How was weekly time allocated by music therapy private practice owners? 3. How was revenue generated and is it differentiated by region of the United States? The results of the survey showed that the majority of music therapists who owned their own private practice were new to the field within the most recent decades (70.2%), devoted the most of their time, on average, to direct client interaction, and offered their services to a variety of populations. Differences in average annual income varied from each region of the United States. New England had the highest average annual income at $97,500. There was a notable outlier, reporting an annual income in New England of $290,000. This survey did not inquire about practice expenses, so net income cannot be determined. AMTA (2020) reported that the average salary range for music therapy business owners was between $28,000 and $490,000. Information obtained in future surveys could include location of the private practice within the region, cost of rent and utilities if the practice had an office space, and other expenses that affected the financial responsibilities of the private practice. Overall, the data collected was beneficial for visualizing an idea of how different private practices are managed and how the responsibilities of the owners are reported. Such information may be useful to help future music therapy entrepreneurs. American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). (2020). 2020 AMTA member survey and workforce analysis. Retrieved from: musictherapy.org |
