THE SOUND OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP - Leveraging the Entrepreneurial Competences of Musicians To Extenuate the Business Knowledge in time of COVID

The music industry has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with its main activities put on hold since March 2020 across Europe. It is likely to not recover fully for at least another two – three years. Those working in the music industry are now facing unprecedented financial disaster due to coronavirus. Musicians and music workers are in a social and economic uncertainty and as a consequence they feel frustrated, depressed and disengaged in the music community. The OECD June 2020 report, “Evaluating the initial impact of COVID-19 containment measures on economic activity” demonstrates the risks are high for creators, artists and those working in the entertainment sector – a group of workers who are already vulnerable. Artists could be uniquely vulnerable to psychological challenges associated with the COVID-19 outbreak through the forced separation of material, social, and mental spaces, in addition to general psychological distress related to the pandemic and unemployment.

The SOE project aimed at encouraging unemployed/disengaged musicians and music professionals to adopt a more inclusive and sustainable personal development through empowerment, self-marketing and entrepreneurial skills. Musicians and music professionals workers would be provided with a new learning path related to the development of basic and transversal skills, innovative managerial competencies and entrepreneurial spirit and to validate the updated and transferred competencies. Through the learning tools provided, they would be able to empower themselves and improve their working conditions, thus having a positive impact on their physical and mental health, and personal development. The project aimed also in helping building their resilience on how to overcome issues brought on by the pandemic.

During the project's past lifespan, the undertaken activities encompassed face-to-face and online consortium transnational meetings, involvement with the target group, and stakeholder representatives through mapping and focus groups/interviews. After the first research phase, an transnational training for adult educators closely collaborating with musicians and music industry workers was conducted. Testing activities of the developed results and the production of project outcomes actively involved participants from the music industry. Multiplier events were organized to share and promote the final results. The project transferred competencies in two phases: initially to adult educators for the creation and management of a company, and subsequently to learners. This was achieved through the production of four project results using a non-formal approach. The approach was based on the notion that music, specifically drawing inspiration from the success stories of Rock bands as best practice examples in the music business, could serve as a cue to train musicians, music industry workers, and aspiring music industry entrepreneurs in business and entrepreneurship. The choice of music genre was adaptable to the target group to ensure stronger replicability. In this instance, rock was selected based on the characteristics of the target group. A Project Cycle Management approach was employed alongside the non-formal approach based on music. This helped participants focus on real needs and provided potential solutions through their business ideas. The Training Course for adult educators closely working with musicians and music industry workers served as a testing ground for refining the project results and events.

R1 GROWTHCOOP coordinated the task of preparation & creation of the target group and stakeholder engagement plan. The plan was created to have some guidelines for a common approach in the identification, research, and mapping of the target groups and stakeholders. The partners carried out focus groups and/or individual interviews with the target group of adult learners, adult educators, and stakeholders to provide a deeper understanding of the learning needs for the sector, economic challenges, and working conditions that the training tools would respond to. A minimum of 8 participants per country were reached (48 in total). The option to carry out focus groups, single interviews or online surveys depended on the local context and needs of the participants. The data gathered from A1 and A2 contributed toward the content of the training tool, regarding the key skills and competences for the target group to develop and the best methods for delivering this. Therefore, each partner produced a national report based on their findings, summarizing the results in each partner country for GROWTHCOOP to review all data and produce one overall report drawing conclusions on both the tools' structure and content with partners' input. Following national report conclusions, IMC coordinated the design of the learning tool's structure and set of learning objectives with partners' input. Once a first version of the training needs was ready, the training activity (C1) served to train trainers and to fine tune the content. The significance of this activity in achieving project objectives was substantial. During the LTTA, participants, including partners responsible for specific project results, acted as both trainers and trainees. This dual role facilitated a comprehensive understanding of the project, ensuring coherence in training materials and preventing overlap. The LTTA directly impacted the quality of project outcomes by preparing participants to conduct national pilot workshops effectively. The trained participants were geared towards conducting workshops for musicians and music professionals. This target audience comprised both unemployed and employed individuals seeking competency validation and requalification, particularly in basic/transversal skills and entrepreneurship. The long-term perspective involves these trained participants acting as multipliers, integrating project products within their organizations. Post-training, participants provided opinions, comments, and feedback on project results through a questionnaire prepared by the internal evaluator, CFAT. This feedback was valuable for further improvements in project results. Some of the materials developed in the previous phases, were "translated" into a pilot version for each partner to implement a local pilot training. The trainers trained in the training activity of C1 transferred in a non-formal way to other colleagues these competencies and discussed on how to improve its content. Each local training was attended by at least 15 musicians and music professionals. In the case of Italy, CFAT carried out the piloting activities with support from PRISM. This combination of different methodologies facilitated the understanding of entrepreneurship, strategies to run a company and be more resilient in creating new business ideas and in the use of these new managerial (but also basic and transversal) competencies in their work and also in their everyday life. An evaluation of the training led by CFAT aimed to collect feedback on the pilot training's success and challenges, in order to define the final version of the training tool. For each pilot activity, signatures list, pictures and video, evaluation and final report were produced. Led by IMC with a contribution from all partners, the tool gathered methods and learning resources collected in the previous phases and was finalized based on the outcomes from the national trainings. The training tools were produced in digital form and are available in all partners’ languages on the project website. R2 The second phase of the project aimed at creating an open learning portal (open educational resources-OER) for adult educators of disadvantaged musicians and adult learners (musicians and music professionals) to find and swap resources about entrepreneurship and its value in innovation, basic/transversal skills, the business field, and non-formal education. The Online Learning Platform provides a complete supported learning experience on entrepreneurship with a specific focus on the music industry, by providing teaching and learning materials made freely and openly available for adults and other potential end-users. Overall, the platform aims at fostering further exploitation of the learning materials and experiences gained within the project to a wider learning community within the cultural and creative sectors and more broadly, to civil society. Before developing the platform, the lead partner (I&F) of this result included specific requests with the other partners, as to better set up contents and mutually fix technical aspects related to the platform development and ensure an easily accessible, user-friendly online learning platform, adapted to the target group. Based on the results of A1, the Learning platform was developed as an online interactive platform designed to be used both on PCs and mobile devices. It was developed in all partners’ languages. It also acts as the main project website. I&F led the transfer of the content into the Learning platform following specific learning objectives with input from all partners. All partners took part in the validation process of the platform and provided feedback. For this activity, CFAT, who led Quality and Evaluation, supported the internal validation among partners. After internal validation, partners carried out an online testing period with the adult learners. Each partner carried out a workshop to test the platform with at least 10 musicians and music professionals. Once feedback was gathered from all partners and the target group of adult learners, the Platform content was adapted according to the findings, and the program was finalized. R3 PRISM coordinated the development of a video documentary, serving as a learning tool that synthesized the contents of the Training Tools and especially the project cycle management and the history of rock music. The aim was to capture content closely related to music videos, seamlessly integrating and supporting the more theoretical training path to ensure adaptability with the target learners. Some of the stakeholders and music professionals involved in previous phases of the project were actively involved in the creation and dissemination of the documentary. This ensured their participation not only in the production but also in the promotion of the final product and the project overall. Additionally, a condensed version of the documentary, presented in the style of a trailer, was produced for use and presentation during various multiplier events. In this context, the result had a dual purpose, serving as both a learning and a communication tool. The video, produced in English with subtitles in all partner languages. It was developed by PRISM with the involvement of a music expert, an external video documentary expert, and music professionals who collaborated in formulating the script and structure of the documentary. Each partner contributed to the initial version of the documentary by giving feedback and discussing the first version of the script. Based on partners' feedback, a final version of the documentary was produced, ensuring cohesion and effectiveness in delivering the intended learning outcomes. Both the full and trailer versions of the video were uploaded to the learning platform and featured during multiplier events. A targeted promotion strategy, including social media channels, press releases, and network platforms in the education, creative, and cultural sector, was organized. R4 Enoros, as the coordinator, executed the creation of the PROTOCOL, a procedural document encompassing all crucial elements of the newly established learning approach and training path. Based on the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), Enoros, with input from partners, formulated a scheme within the framework to validate the competencies. The Protocol also outlined procedures for certifying competencies acquired through the identified methodologies, enabling trainers or professionals using the training tools to request certification from an external certification institution for their new competencies. Hence, the Protocol was implemented with a focus on serving as "validation/certification guidelines." To prepare the Protocol, an investigation into rules, institutional approaches, and best practices in the realm of non-formal competency validation at both national and European levels was conducted. Enoros, with support from partners and specific trainers who led the piloting activities of R1 and R2, produced a procedural document encompassing key aspects of the newly created learning path for validation and certification as recognized competence. Prism, having delivered several projects on this theme within the music field, provided specific feedback to Enoros and partners during the protocol's creation.