New Skills for New Artists

New Skills for New Artists (NS4N) addresses an identified gap in the training of musicians and similar performers. To date, the education and training of such people has solely focused on the musical and performance skillset associated in the mastering of a musical instrument (artistic skills). This approach to training musicians has not in essence changed for decades. The advent of the information society, where the market place for musical or performances has now become global, has fundamentally altered the musical industry. Similarly, the marketing of musical, whereas it was paper based less than three decades ago, is now mainly through Internet based media technologies. Music success is now as dependent on technological and business skills (basic transversal skills).A paradigm change has therefore taken place and musicians now face a much more commercially oriented environment in which exist. Embracing of these new changes is very important if a young-adult musician wants to be financially self-sustainable. The project partnership strongly complements the sector needs, with the participation of two music conservatories, an entrepreneurship centre of excellence and a private sector research partner, with strong experience in technological learning and the development of the Cultural and Creative Industries. Together these partners will research and develop targeting training modules focusing on transferring addition new skills to artists to better equip them to become self-sustainable in a fast changing environment.The project therefore addresses fundamental new changes in the training of musicians, equipping them to have a range of non-artistic necessary skills to succeed in the modern musical environment. NS4NA aims at tackling a distinct lack of digital, communications and entrepreneurial and business skills in artists and in particular providing training in business development, e-marketing and digital distribution of works, especially for unemployed and non-professional musicians, independently from their background (whether they are autodidacts or trained musicians).NS4NA aims to enhance the readiness of young artists by creating comprehensive and sustainable modules of interdisciplinary training –combining art, technology and business skills/entrepreneurship− that can be successfully replicated across Europe. In that framework, and according to the needs identified for the sector, the general objectives of the project are to:- Connect artists with today’s tools, opportunities and challenges- Design and test an interdisciplinary training programme that connects business, marketing and entrepreneurial skills with digital skills- Create and set the basis for a sustainable lifelong learning training programme ready to be transferred and mainstreamed in training institutions in Europe.The project's overall outcomes are aiming at:- Increasing digital skills of musicians towards the production and distribution of their work.- Increasing business and marketing skills to musicians, in order to improve the sustainability of their self-employment initiatives and projects.- Promoting innovative practices in music education in general and entrepreneurship education in particular promoting structured cross-border cooperation;- Enhancing quality and relevance of the learning offer in musical education through the development of new training and learning modules in business and entrepreneurial skills - Increasing employability and earning potential for musicians in general. The main expected result is a standardized training programme, available under OER standards and replicable in any European institution offering training in performing arts or business skills. In that framework, the project will produce the following key deliverables (Intellectual Outputs):- IO 1: Benchmarking of the current digital tools and technology in the field of music and the performing arts, and of existing related training materials, as well as protocol of learning targets.- IO 2: Interdisciplinary Training Programme containing 3 Modules:a. M1: Technology for Performing Musiciansb. M2: Entrepreneurship and Business & Project Developmentc. M3: Digital Marketing, Communication and Social Media- IO 3: Final document: Teacher and trainers’ guidelinesFrom a quantitative perspective, in the testing phase of the modules, the partners will train some 90 final beneficiaries (musicians/performers of between 18-30 years old) in Belgium, Ireland and Spain. The results will be transferred to at least 160 intermediary beneficiaries and decision-makers (training, business, cultural, technological, etc. institutions) through multiplier events and communication activities.