At a Glance
New York City based music school
Within 1 year or using Noto, 110% increase in number of students
One much larger location opened
80% reduction in admin time and labor costs
About The Practice Room
The Practice Room Music School, based in New York City, serves students of all ages with both group and private music lessons. Owned and operated by Carrie, the school has grown steadily in recent years — but running the business side was becoming overwhelming. Adopting Noto resulted in a step function increase in number of students and revenue.
Industry: Music / Music Education / Piano
Size: 20+ staff, 200+ active students
Location: Based in New York City
The Challenge
Before Noto, Carrie relied primarily on Pike13, an older scheduling software. Scheduling and enrollment was laborious, group and private lessons had to be managed separately, and billing was inconsistent.
25+ hours per week spent on admin.
Multiple tools to juggle (and pay for).
Constant risk of missed payments, scheduling errors, and parent frustration.
Carrie explains:
“It was a nightmare to keep track of everything. I was switching tabs constantly and worried I was missing payments or confusing parents.”
The Solution
Carrie adopted Noto as the single platform to run her school. With Noto, scheduling, billing, and parent communication all live in one system. Features like the parent rescheduling portal and built-in CRM became unexpected game-changers.
“I can easily process payments, schedule lessons, and communicate with parents, all in one place. Parents love being able to manage their own changes, and my staff finally feel like the system works with them, not against them.”
Features Used
Scheduling
Auto-billing
Auto-rescheduler
CRM and lead tracking with e-mail integration
ACH connection
Impact
110% Growth in number of students and revenue
1 New Much Larger Location
80% reduction in admin hours (from 25 to 4 per week).
$1,200 annual savings by eliminating redundant tools.
$2,000/month saved on credit card fees.
Staff and parents report a much smoother, clearer experience.
Carrie emphasizes the emotional difference:
“I went from dreading admin to actually enjoying running my business again.”
Full Testimonial
Noto is a breath of fresh air for a music school owner like me. For whatever reason, other softwares and tools (which I’ve tried many) seem decades behind, and Noto is the first one that meaningfully changed my business.
Before Noto, I was using a patchwork of different systems to manage my school. It was a nightmare to keep track of everything, and I was constantly worried about missing payments, scheduling snafus, and miscommunicating with parents. I was switching tabs, paying for multiple tools, and losing track of things. I was using different systems for group classes and private classes, including scheduling and receiving payments, because no one system could manage both fluidly. It was a mess.
Now, everything is streamlined and organized and in one place. I can easily process payments, schedule lessons, and communicate with parents, all from one platform. It's saved me so much time and hassle. Their system even has stuff I’ve never thought about like a CRM, and an AI admin to help re-scheduling, and, the real gamechanger: a parent rescheduling portal, where they can manage their own changes. Both staff and parents are relieved to be dealing with a streamlined system that allows for the clarity and ease of use that is needed. The feedback from parents has been overwhelmingly positive.
The best part about Noto is the customer service. The team is incredibly responsive and helpful. They're always willing to go the extra mile to make sure I'm getting the most out of the software.
I'm so grateful for Noto. It's changed everything for my music school. I highly recommend it to any music school owner.
— Carrie, Owner of The Practice Room Music School
