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Hosting A Meetup

Teaching Lessons & Classes With Your Studio

Your Studio includes a page named Meetups, Lessons & Classes where you can teach private lessons and group classes using our Meeting Service. This page allows you to create Meetups where you can teach remotely using your free, built-in Pro Zoom account, or you can use any meeting software you want. You can even create Meetups for in-person teaching.

What Is A Meetup?

A Meetup is web page that is built specifically for teaching lessons and group classes. They are single, persistent meeting places in your Studio where you and all the participants can attend remote sessions, view session recordings, discuss, and view uploaded media files (video, audio, pdf, sheet music, etc).

Made For Teaching

Different from using Zoom, Skype, or other video conferencing software by themselves, Meetups provide a more robust and seemless learning experience for you and your students. All learning resources are included in a single web page, along with access to all scheduled and archived sessions and session recordings. They also include an ongoing discussion that can be used to post videos to evaluate your student's skills.

Free Pro Zoom Account Included

The MusicLessons.com Meeting Service is directly integrated with a free Professional Zoom account that is included with your Studio. Recordings can be recorded directly to the cloud and automatically made available shortly after the session ends. There is no time limit and up to 300 participants can attend.

Use Any Meeting Software

If you prefer, you can use any other video conferencing software that you choose from the Connection Settings of any live Session.

In-Person Teaching

If you teach in person, you can still use Meetup pages as place to upload session recordings and other media files to support your in-person learning experiences. It's a great way to keep track of in-person meetings so they can be viewed again by your students as they work through the material on their own. And, if you can't meet in person, meet remotely and provide a seemless experience.

Podcasting!

Free, public classes can often times work as a podcast. Increase the availability and consumption of your free, public Meetup content by offering it as a podcast.

What Is A Meetup?

Essentially, a Meetup is a web page where you will meet with one or more students (up to 300 participants using Zoom). Each Meetup can have one or more Sessions, which are specific times when you meet.

Meetups can be public or private. Public Meetups are open to anyone, while private Meetups can only be accessed by people that you invite from your Studio's Student list.

Meetups can be free, or you can charge money for them. Meetups that cost money must be Archived when you are done with your live Sessions. This indicates that you have fulfilled your obligations and then all pending transactions will be cleared so that you can get paid.

How Do I Enable Meetings In My Studio?

You can enable the MusicLessons.com Meeting Service from the Pages section of your Studio Settings. Scroll down to the Meetups, Lessons & Classes page, use the button to toggle it on, click Save, and agree to the Live Meeting Host Service Policy. A new page will appear in your Studio named Meetups, Lessons & Classes.

Your List of Meetups

Your list of Meetups is the default view when clicking on your Meetups page. The list can be filtered by toggling filter buttons on the left. You can also view all your scheduled Sessions by clicking on the Calendar button.

Pricing - How Much Does It Cost?

Meeting Service Fees

When you use our Payment Service to sell Meetings for Private Lessons and Group Classes through your Studio, we charge a small service fee, plus a payment processing fee for each sale that you make. The amount we charge is dependent on the plan you have, which you can find in the Dashboard of your Studio Settings.

Though you are not required to use our Payment Service to sell Meetings through your Studio, we think you will find it worth the cost. Click here to find out more about our Payment Service.

For up to date pricing information and to compare plans, visit our Pricing Page.


Platform Pricing & Service Fees

You can use your Studio to provide both free and paid learning experiences through Products that you create in your Studio. A Product can be a Meetup or a Pre-Recorded Publication (a Lesson or a Course).

Though you are not required to use our Payment Service to sell learning experiences through your Studio, we think you will find it worth the cost. All your transactions are easily accessed for your accounting tasks, and your students can access their payment history as well. Click here to find out more about our Payment Service.

Free Learning Experiences

We do not charge any service fees when you offer free learning experiences through your Studio. Generally, this is how you will use your Studio if you using other payment services.

Charging For Learning Experiences

You can use our Payment Service to sell learning experiences through your Studio, and you can charge whatever you want. We deduct a small service fee from each sale, along with a payment processing fee. The remaining amount is credited to your account and you will be paid when initiate a Payout from your Studio's Account Settings page.

Your service fee is based on the subscription plan that you choose for your Studio. You can find out which plan you are subscribed to in the Dashboard of your Studio Settings.

Studio Plan Subscriptions

We offer both free and paid subscriptions for your Studio. Each plan includes a set of features and data allowances. Choose the plan that is right for you and what you need for your teaching practice. View our Pricing page to see a comparison of available plans. If you have any questions about your plan, send us an email at support@musiclessons.com

Credit Card Processing Fees

A non-refundable credit card processing fee is charged to the purchaser at the time of a sale. The fee is 2.9% of the total purchase price, plus a $0.30 transaction fee.

Teachers and organizations are not charged a credit card processing fee.


NOTE: VIP Pricing is available if you are participating in our VIP program.

VIP Pricing

MusicLessons.com offers a VIP Program for qualified educators. Teachers who are in the program receive the following discounted pricing benefit in exchange for helping us build a better platform:

If you are part of our VIP Program, you will receive following discounted service fees that are deducted from the sale of any of your learning experiences:

  • Subscription Discount: 25% off any paid plan!
    Choose a paid subscription for your studio and get a discount.

  • Payment Service Discount: 10% of each sale*
    When you use our Payment Service for lessons, classes, and pre-recorded publications (lessons and courses), your service fee is calculated from your total sale price multiplied by this discounted rate.

  • Free Zoom Pro Account: integrated directly into your meetings, $149.90/year value.

  • VIP Badge: V.I.P. your VIP badge will be displayed with your profile and recognizes your participation in the program.

  • Premium Support: we will be available to help with all aspects of building and supporting your studio and you will receive the highest attention possible if you ever need help.

Please view our Pricing page for current pricing information for all our platform services.

*Does not include a payment processing fee of 3% of the total sale, plus $0.30 per transaction.


Interested in participating in our VIP Program?

Visit our VIP Program page and fill out the VIP Request form, or send us an email at support@musiclessons.com.

How Do I Get Paid?

We partner with Stripe to make secure payments to your bank account when you have a positive balance in your account. You can setup your bank account in your Studio Settings > Account page, and when you are all setup, you can transfer your balance to your bank account whenever you want.

If you have any questions about how payments are handled, please contact support@musiclessons.com or see our payouts page

Hosting a Meetup

When you create a Meetup, you are considered the host of that Meetup, which means that you will host all the live Sessions. Keep in mind that a Meetup can have any number of live Sessions.

To create a new Meetup, click on the Create New Meetup button on your Studio's Meetups page. Choose whether it's public or private, enter a topic like "Bluegrass Camp 2020" or "John Smith - Spring 2020", and click the Create My Meetup button.

Your Meetup page will be created and the next step will be to schedule sessions, set the price, make some edits, make it available, and invite people.

What Is A Session?

A Session is a scheduled time in any Meetup when a live or pre-recorded meeting will take place. As the host, you can schedule as many Sessions as you want for any of your Meetups.

Sessions are viewed in the Session Viewer on a Meetup page, which includes information about connecting to the Session as well as any recordings and uploaded media files.

By default, your Sessions will be configured as live meetings that will use the Zoom Client for Meetings video conferencing software, which can host up to 300 people at a time. You do not need to create your own Zoom account to use this configuration.

You can also choose different video conferencing software or none at all (pre-recorded) in the Connection Settings for any Session.

When using Zoom, buttons will be shown that allow you to start the Zoom meeting and interact with the Session. Recordings will automatically be processed and made available to you and your students in the Session Viewer.

When using different video conferencing software, such as Skype or GoToMeeting, you will need to manually upload your Session recordings into the Session Viewer.

Scheduling Sessions

Meetups may have any number of Sessions, which are found in the Session List on a Meeting Page. Clicking on a Session loads it in the Session Viewer, which shows various action buttons, such as a button to start or join a Live Session, as well as any recordings if the Session was recorded.

You can schedule new Sessions anytime that your Meetup is not archived. Typically you will do this when you are configuring your Meetup the first time. To do so, click on the green New button above your Session List. This will open the Schedule Sessions form that allows you to schedule multiple Sessions at a time.

Setting the Price for a Meetup

Editing the price of a Meetup can be done in the Schedule & Price toobar button, or by clicking the Edit Page button in the toolbar and then clicking on the edit price link next to the price.

The Set Meetup Price dialog will open that will allow you to change the price.

If you want to meet with the same student(s) on a recurring basis, you may want to charge them multiple times.

Getting Paid More Than Once for Classes and Private Lessons

You can charge your students more than once in the same Meetup by creating Payment Periods. You can do this by setting the price of your Meetup after you've already completed sessions. When you create a new payment period, your students will be required to make another payment to access new sessions that you schedule in the future.

A Meetup can have any number of payment periods, and a payment period can have any number of Sessions. This gives you a lot of flexibility in how you charge your students for lessons. For example, you can charge them each time you have a lesson, or you can charge them for multiple lessons within each payment period.

After you create a payment period, and then schedule one or more Sessions, your students will see a button that allows them to purchase access to them. You can create any number of Sessions in a payment period, so it is up to you to decide how to structure payments and Sessions with your students.

Editing Your Meetup

Meetups require some editing before you can make them available to your students. You can edit your Meetup page by clicking on the Edit Page toolbar button at the top of your Meetup page. This will show some edit links that you can click on to edit various parts of your Meetup, like the Topic and Description.

Making Meetups Available

Until your Meetup becomes Available it cannot be seen by anyone. When you are ready for people to see it click the Availability button in the Toolbar at the top of the page and select Make Available. Public Meetups require additional information to be entered (see below) before they can be made available.

Making Public Meetups Available

Public Meetups must include a description, targeted ability levels, and at least one scheduled Session. Once this is done, you can make the Meetup Available to be purchased or accessed for free.

Making Private Meetups Available

No changes are required before making a Private Meetup available, though you can add any information that you want your participants to see.

Private Meetups require that you invite people in order for people to participate. People you invite will be added to your Participants list.

Lesson Requests

You may also get a Lesson Request from a MusicLessons.com Member. In this case, you can use the Meetup's discussion to decide on a schedule and price. After you've agreed, set the price and schedule your Sessions. Once this is done, you can make the Meetup Available for them to purchase (or participate for free).

Invite People To Your Meetup

Since Meetups are generally considered live events, you will want to invite people to participate. You can invite people to your Meetup by clicking on the Share button in the Participants tab on any given Meetup page.

If a Meetup originated from a Lesson Request, you do not have to invite the student because they will already be added to the Meetup. In addition, when you create a private Meetup from your Students & Followers page, an invitation will automatically be sent.

NOTE: The Share button is only enabled after your Meetup has been set to available.

Participants

As a host, you can see all the participants that are invited, watching, and attending your Meetup. Clicking on a name will open a Member Information modal that provides information about that person's access to your Meetup.

Issuing Refunds

Click on a member to open the Member Information modal. Click on the Issue Refund button to issue a full refund.

Granting/Revoking Free Access

Click on a member to open the Member Information modal. Click on the Grant Access or Revoke Access button. When granting access, the member will receive an email that you granted them free access. If you revoke access, the member will not be informed.

Session Viewer

Each Session is rendered in the Session Viewer on any given Meetup page. The Session Viewer is a feature-rich display that includes information and controls to interface with video conferencing software, as well as recordings and other uploaded media files.

If you are using Zoom, recordings that you make during your Zoom meeting are automatically transferred to your Meetup page when they are ready.

If you are using Skype or any other video conferencing system, or none at all, you can manually upload recordings directly into the Session.

Connection Settings

Each Session has a group of settings that specifies how everyone will connect. These are your Connection Settings. You can access these settings when viewing a Session by clicking on the Connection link, which will open the Connection Settings Form.

Default - Zoom Integration

By default, Sessions are configured to be hosted as a live meeting using the Zoom Client for Meetings video conferencing software, which supports up to 300 people at a time. You do not need to create your own Zoom account to use this setting.

Using Skype

Choosing Skype allows you to enter either a Skype user name that will generate a Skype Call Button, or other instructions that you may have.

Other Software

Choosing Other allows you to enter any video conferencing application that you want to use, along with instructions for your participants. You may optionally include a download link to the meeting software.

Pre-Recorded Sessions

Choose None when you plan to upload a pre-recorded video of your Session.

Starting a Live Session

If you are using the integrted Zoom software, When you are ready to start your session, click on the Start Session With Zoom button. This will ask you to confirm that you want to start the Session, and then will provide you with a link to open the Zoom meeting.

If you are not using a different video conferencing software application, click on the Start This Session button to indicate that you are starting your Session. Though this is not required, it will provide your student(s) with some feedback that the Session has started.

Uploading Media Files

You can upload media files (audio, video, pdf) directly to a session. They will appear below any recordings of the session, and they will also appear in the Files Viewer.

To upload a file, click on Upload Media in the Session's context menu.

Recording Files

If you are uploading recordings of a Session, click the context menu for the uploaded file and choose Set As Recording. This will move the file to the top of the Session and specify it's importance.

Files Viewer

All the files you upload for any of your sessions will appear in the Files Viewer, which can be opened by clicking on the Files tab

To upload a file, click on Upload Media in the Session's context menu.

Uploading Recording Files

If you are uploading recordings of a Session, click the context menu for the uploaded file and choose Set As Recording. This will move the file to the top of the Session and specify it's importance.

Archiving a Meetup

Archiving a meeting indicates that you consider it complete and that you have fulfilled all your obligations to anyone who has purchased access to it. Any new Sessions you may add in the future are considered follow-ups.

Archiving a Meetup will clear all "pending" purchases, meaning that they will post to your account and the amount credited will be available for your next payment. After a Meetup has ended, any new purchases will provide access to recorded sessions, the discussion, uploaded files, and all other information that was shared in this Meetup.

Purchases of archived Meetups (Meetups that have ended) fall into the same fee structure as our Publishing Service. Purchasers of archived Meetups are not assessed a participant service fee.

Turn Your Meeting Into A Podcast

Free, Public Meetups that have been made available can be turned into a podcast by clicking on Enable Podcast in the Availability menu item in the Toolbar at the top of your Meetup page. You can choose whether to include video, audio or both.

Uploading a Photo

You will also need to add an image to your new podcast by accessing your Meetup's Show Administrator information and controls that are shown at the bottom of your Meetup page. Click on this link and then click on the Podcast tab. This is where you can upload a podcast image, which should be 1400 x 1400 px. This is also where you can access your feed URLs that you will need to provide to when submitting your podcast to the Apple Podcast Directory and other podcast directories.

Managing Media Files

By default, Session audio or video files are not included in your podcast. This allows you to edit files prior to them being added, and gives you an additional decision point before the file is shared with your podcast listeners.

To add audio or video files to your podcast feed, click on Add To Podcast in the file's context menu.

Receiving Lesson Requests

Private lessons can be requested by MusicLessons.com members using the Meeting Service. When you enable the Meeting Service, a Request Lesson button will be shown in the header of your Studio that allows to members to request a lesson. When this happens, a new Meetup page will be created and that member will be added to the participants list.

Next, you and the student will communicate using the Discussion to agree on a price and schedule. Then you will edit the Meetup page accordingly by setting the price, scheduling at least one Session, and then making the Meetup Available to be purchased (or available for free).

How To Get Additional Help & Support

Please email any questions or problems you encounter to support@musiclessons.com. We will do our very best to respond quickly. In most cases, we should be able to respond within an hour or two.

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