Musicians' work preferences: teaching or playing?

Silvia Sacchetti (University of Trento)
Andrea Salustri (Sapienza University, Rome)

Abstract

Starting from the intrinsic value of doing music understood as a merit good that may be exchanged on the market, the aim of this work is to analyse with economic methodology the interactions that the teachers of the Trentino Music Schools (TMS) have established on the one hand with the Province of Trento with respect to their teaching activities, and on the other hand with the organizers of cultural events with respect to their artistic activity. In doing this, we assess the contribution that the local institutional context and the cooperative nature of the schools have made to their professional and human development in terms of improved economic stability and professional growth. The research is based on a survey that allowed to collect 141 questionnaires filled in by the teachers of the TMS. Based on a preliminary descriptive statistical analysis, the research proposes an evaluation of musicians’ satisfaction for their teaching activities, as well as of their professional vitality, following an ad hoc evaluation scheme elaborated by merging previous authors’ contributions (Sacchetti & Borzaga, 2021). The analysis encompasses musicians’ teaching and professional performances, the economic characteristics of the production processes in which they participate (the total cost model), the interaction between social and individual motives, and the resulting level of vitality and satisfaction. The “performance pitfalls” observed in the quantitative analysis are considered as starting points for more in-depth analyses of the 'conducts' that may have determined the observed results.

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