Advice, guides and stories on hiring musicians and planning live music for weddings and events.
Having a great showreel to display your musicianship to clients is an essential part of your Encore profile. Clients will often base their decision about which musician to book on the quality of the media on your profile, so investing in a good showreel should be top of your to-do list if you want…
This Wedding Planning guide will take you through a Wedding Day Timeline (aka Schedule), typical timings and what you need to think about in terms of music for each part of your wedding day.
After analysing hundreds of these messages, we’ve pulled together a list of 7 top tips for your cover notes which will improve your chances of being booked.
Starting to think about your wedding planning? You know you want music at your wedding but not sure where to start? After reading this guide you'll be ready to get organising your Wedding Music. Music is a crucial element in creating the vibe you want at your wedding.
Encore's priority is ensuring that musicians get paid fairly, a very common complaint and one that we're combating in a number of ways. Here's how we're doing it.
Lucy from our photography partner, Splento, offers some great industry insights into why professional photography is such an important part of any musician’s promotional material. Whether you’re a classical cellist, a jazz pianist, or a blues singer, at some point in your career you’ll need great…
One of the perks of my job at Encore is finding all sorts of interesting people forging fascinating new paths in the music world. I recently interviewed Fiona Zwieb, who has crafted a unique career as a musician’s virtual assistant. Fiona’s job covers almost every imaginable aspect of the music…
Ever wondered whether it’s worth the money to hire an accountant? Most musicians don’t learn much about accountancy while they’re in college, so it can make sense to hire a professional to keep your taxes in order. For the third instalment of this 3-part blog series on musician’s finances, I talked…
Ever wondered how to go about buying a house? Getting a mortgage can be tricky for freelance musicians – with variable incomes from sources that your bank may not recognise – but it’s definitely possible. For the first instalment of this 3-part blog series on musician’s finances, I talked to three…
Ever wondered how to go about saving for retirement? While there is a basic state pension in the UK, many musicians need to supplement it by making contributions to a private pension pot. For the second instalment of this 3-part blog series on musician’s finances, I talked to two financial experts,…
You’re on stage, about to play your solo. Your knees are shaking. Your palms are sweaty. You feel terrible – nervous, scared, already beating yourself up. You swear never to play in public again. Sound familiar? Performance anxiety happens to everyone at some point. While different people find…
In my blog A Musician’s Guide to PLI, I briefly mentioned the importance of PAT, or Portable Appliance Testing. This article explains PAT in more depth, including why it’s important and how to get it. 1. What is PAT? PAT is a procedure in which an electrician uses a combination of visual and…
