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This chapter discusses George P. Knauff's music business. When versatile musician and entrepreneur Knauff heard a fiddler playing the Virginia Reels melodies for dancing at social events held at the home of his wife's parents, he sensed a similar chance to enhance his income. It is not clear exactly when he launched into composing and arranging music for profit because a few of his publications lack dates and plate numbers; this includes the first printing of the first two volumes of the Virginia Reels. This suggests an alternative scenario: that his activity as a composer and arranger started after his home and business burned and piggybacked on his next focus for earning a living, which was teaching. Whether initially part of his brick-and-mortar business or coupled with his subsequent stint teaching, Knauff's choosing to compose, arrange, and publish music was nothing startling as it was a natural ingredient of any music career at that time.

This chapter discusses how to structure a dynamic plan of action. It addresses the following issues: how to launch a strategic plan, when to launch a strategic plan, and where to launch a strategic plan. The answers for these questions are dependent on the following: the market place or the music industry, the time frame allotted for the execution of the plan, the number of consulted music professionals, knowledge and the level of “musical intelligence” and motivation to make a profit while pursuing a career in music. These should be kept in mind while making plans. However, sometimes artists are too engrossed with achieving success that they eventually forget to be prudent in plan-making, which results in erroneous plans. The chapter then suggests that artists should put altruism at the center of their plans.

This chapter focuses on the Hutchinson Family Singers' attempts to build an identity for themselves through their music career in 1841. Society was not the kind of performance that the Hutchinsons had in mind. With their music career stalling, they focused on their worsening financial situation. In 1841 audiences found the Hutchinsons' Aeolian associations weak—their performance was hardly effortless or instinctive, natural, or wondrous; their singing failed to inspire a search for the supernatural within the natural world. Living in Lynn once again, the Hutchinson brothers resumed their nonmusical employ. The Boston papers generally liked the Hutchinsons, who, as time progressed, used their family name more often than the rubric Aeolian Vocalists.

This chapter identifies what comprises a career in music. These include understanding the relationship of a musician with the world, the present state of the world of music, and the new music landscape. Music is one of the arts that mirrors culture. In spite of the importance of music to culture, the present era disregards music appreciation. This can be seen by the lack of interest of government in the United States to promote music education in the public school system. This chapter seeks arts advocacy, community outreach, development of the income base, preparation of students for the world of technology, and the development of associations with other artist–educators.

This chapter begins with a narration of the life story of a musician which emphasizes the importance of balancing visionary life and self-realization in the world, and openness to changes and new opportunities. The idea behind this is “music entrepreneurship.” The chapter's discussion on music entrepreneurship includes asking questions about what the reality behind the music industry really is and what the problems associated with music education at the college level are. The chapter also asks: how has the College Music Society (CMS) addressed the current state of music education? The chapter then identifies the importance of music entrepreneurship in navigating in the music profession.

In this chapter, Wilson describes the reasons he abandoned his early and highly successful musical career to study more music. Wilson realized that despite his high-rolling success as a bandleader and arranger, leading and working with premier jazz artists of the day, he did not feel right. Musically and artistically, he felt that he had not attained all of the technical skills or artistic diversity that called to him as a composer. He wanted to study more. Wilson's long-range goals included preparing himself for scoring motion pictures, composing for symphony orchestra, and cultivating his skills as a composer and orchestrator. Thus, he “woodshedded” during this period, studying and analyzing the works of composers such as Stravinsky, Falla, Ravel, Debussy, Bartók, Kabalevsky, Rodrigo, Beethoven, and Khachaturian.