Empty Benefits

High-Quality music lessons.

Lessons taught by professional musicians.

Top-notch piano lessons.

If you peruse studio and music school websites, you'll see these phrases all over the place. I've come to learn that these are called "empty benefits."

Why?

Because they're not really describing or differentiating.

For example, "High-quality music lessons."

It's not like they're competing against "low-quality music lessons."

Or, "Lessons taught by professional musicians." I can't think of the last place I came across offering lessons taught by amateur musicians.

See what I mean?

It's okay for a studio or school to claim to be really good at something. But it needs to be specific.

There are music lessons for students who want to build skills over time. 

There are music lessons for students who want to compete. 

There are music lessons for people who want to learn jazz and blues. 

There are music lessons for people who prefer the convenience of having the teacher come to the house.

And there are even music lessons for people who don't really care where they go for music lessons. (He said sarcastically).

Us? We believe we're the best at:

1. Teaching with a skill-building mindset. All of our teachers. Not just some of them.

2. Providing community experiences for our students. Two recitals every month (as compared to the mainstream once-a-year), and workshops every month.

3. Giving our teachers the best pay and benefits of any community music school or studio on the South Shore. Including the ones that charge more than we do.

So next time you think about signing up for something claiming it's the best, be sure to ask that very important, specific question.

Best at what?