A My Music Staff alternative for music schools with groups and grades
My Music Staff is an excellent, low-cost tool for private-lesson teachers. When your school grows into group classes, ensembles and bands, teaches towards graded exams and serves families with several children, ClubTide gives you one-to-one and group lessons, grades with exam entries, family billing and a parent portal, in five languages and hosted in the EU.
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From a teaching studio to a music school
My Music Staff is made for music teachers and studios, from a solo teacher to a multi-teacher school, with unlimited students on every plan. One-to-one lessons are at its core: scheduling, attendance on the calendar, a student and parent portal with self-scheduling, makeups, payments and a practice log, family billing with sibling discounts, automatic invoicing with autopay and late fees, a website builder and reports that include expenses, mileage and payroll.
ClubTide is built for schools where students move up through levels and families pay for several children: music schools, dance studios, sports clubs and martial arts gyms. Next to one-to-one lessons it runs group classes with a capacity and a register, grades with readiness and exam entries, consents and documents. Staff and parents use it in English, Romanian, German, Spanish or French.
If you teach mostly private lessons on your own or with a few colleagues, My Music Staff will very likely cost you less and may be all you need. If your school runs groups, ensembles and graded exams for many families, read on.
ClubTide vs My Music Staff at a glance*
Prices are monthly. ClubTide prices are shown in your page's currency, My Music Staff prices in US dollars as published.
| What you get | ClubTide | My Music Staff |
|---|---|---|
| One teacher | $49 for up to 50 students | $16.95, unlimited students |
| Each extra teacher or staff member | Included | $4.95 a month |
| Larger schools | $79 up to 100, $129 up to 200, $179 up to 400 active students | $16.95 plus $4.95 per extra teacher or staff member |
| Payment processors | Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net | Stripe or PayPal |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | 30 days, no card |
| Contract | Monthly or annual, cancel anytime | No contract, 90-day money-back guarantee |
| Grades and exams | Grades, readiness and exam entries | Progress notes and practice log |
| One-to-one lessons | With conflict warnings | The core of the product |
| Family billing | One invoice, sibling discounts, several guardians | Family billing with sibling discounts |
| Parent access | Portal on any phone | Web student and parent portal |
| Self-scheduling and makeups | Self-scheduling on the roadmap; excused absences in attendance | Yes |
| Practice log | On the roadmap | Yes |
| Website builder | On the roadmap | Drag-and-drop, custom domain |
| Expense, mileage and payroll reports | Payroll on the roadmap; payment and attendance reports | Yes |
| Languages | App in English, Romanian, German, Spanish and French | Website in English, French and Japanese |
My Music Staff information from mymusicstaff.com (pricing, payments and feature pages), checked in October 2026. Prices and features change; please confirm them on mymusicstaff.com. Spotted something out of date? Write to [email protected]. My Music Staff pricing page ↗
An honest look at the price
My Music Staff costs $16.95 a month including one teacher, plus $4.95 a month for each extra teacher or staff member, with unlimited students. For a solo teacher or a small private-lesson studio, that is very likely less than ClubTide.
ClubTide is priced by active students, with every teacher, location and feature included: $49 a month for up to 50 active students, $79 for up to 100 and $129 for up to 200. Archived students, parents and staff never count. There is no setup fee and no contract, and you can pay monthly or annually for less.
- Every teacher and staff member included
- Every feature in every plan
- Monthly or annual billing, cancel anytime
One-to-one lessons, groups and ensembles together
Schedule one-to-one lessons, weekly or one-off, with a warning when a teacher or student is already booked. Next to them, run theory classes, choirs, ensembles, bands or early years music as groups with their teachers, room and maximum number of students. The weekly schedule creates every lesson, teachers take the register on their phone and each teacher sees only their own students.
Bill it the way you charge: monthly, quarterly or one-off term fees, per-lesson billing or lesson packs, all on one family invoice with a sibling discount.
- One-to-one lessons with conflict warnings
- Group classes with capacity and a register
- Plans, per-lesson billing and lesson packs on one invoice
Grades, repertoire and exam entries
Start from the Music grades preset or simple levels and list the repertoire, scales and other requirements for each level. Set a minimum number of lessons, months at the current level or teacher approval, and ClubTide shows who is ready. A teacher always makes the decision.
When an exam session comes up, invite the students who are ready and let parents enter them from the portal. Each entry adds the exam fee to the family's invoice. Record the results afterwards and move everyone who passed up a grade in one step, with a permanent history for every student.
- Editable Music grades and levels presets
- Requirements and progress for every level
- Exam entries in the portal with the fee invoiced
Families, consents and documents
In ClubTide the family is the account holder: one parent or several, each with their own login, any number of children, one invoice and one saved card for autopay on recurring fees. Adult students get their own account. Parents see each child's schedule, attendance, grade and progress, invoices and signed consents on any phone, without installing an app.
Consent forms are versioned and every acceptance is kept with a PDF copy. Documents such as medical certificates or insurance can be tracked with expiry reminders, and a student's data can be exported or anonymized when a parent asks. Data is hosted in the EU, in Germany, with a DPA.
- Several guardians per family, each with their own login
- Versioned consent forms with PDF copies
- GDPR exports, anonymization and EU hosting
When My Music Staff may suit you better
My Music Staff includes things ClubTide does not offer: a drag-and-drop website builder with your own domain, self-scheduling for students and parents with makeup lessons, a practice log, and reports on expenses, mileage and payroll. It also costs much less for a solo teacher or a small private-lesson studio, includes unlimited students and offers a 90-day money-back guarantee. If you mainly teach one-to-one lessons, it is a strong choice.
ClubTide is a better fit when your school runs group classes and ensembles next to private lessons, teaches towards graded exams, serves many families with several children, or needs consents, documents and a language other than English, with data hosted in the EU.
Bring your students and families with you
Put your student and family list in a CSV file and upload it to ClubTide. The importer matches the columns to ClubTide fields, shows a preview of every row, skips duplicates and only saves when you confirm.
- Columns matched to ClubTide fields
- Preview before anything is saved
- Duplicates skipped automatically
Ready for next week's lessons
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1
Prepare your list
Put your students and families in a CSV file.
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2
Import and check
Upload it to ClubTide, match the columns, review the preview and confirm.
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3
Connect payments
Connect your Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net account and invite families to save their card.
More comparisons
See how ClubTide compares with other software schools and studios use, or explore what it does for music schools.
Questions about switching from My Music Staff
Still have questions? Email us and we will get back to you.
Is ClubTide cheaper than My Music Staff?
Usually not for a solo teacher or a small private-lesson studio: My Music Staff costs $16.95 a month plus $4.95 per extra teacher. ClubTide costs $49 a month for up to 50 active students with every teacher included, and makes most sense for schools with groups, grades and many families. Check mymusicstaff.com for its current prices.
Can I import my students from My Music Staff?
Yes. Put your student and family list in a CSV file and upload it to ClubTide. The importer matches the columns, shows a preview and skips duplicates before anything is saved.
Will families' saved cards move over?
Saved cards cannot be copied between software providers. Families save their card again in the ClubTide parent portal, either when they pay their first invoice or from the payments page.
Does ClubTide have a practice log or self-scheduling?
No. ClubTide has no practice log, and lessons are scheduled by the school rather than booked by families. It focuses on lessons and groups, grades and exams, attendance, family billing and the parent portal.
Can ClubTide build my school's website?
No. ClubTide has no website builder, but you can link to your online enrolment form from any website so families can sign up.
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