With an incredible knack for numbers, Stephanie Belcher is one of the music industry’s premier economic and financial educators.

She has an innate ability to interpret and define the complex world of financial management, economics, and tax accounting for emerging and established creatives.

Belcher became fluent in the language of financial management after spending nearly two decades working in artist management, booking, promotions, and marketing. She’s also served as an accomplished business manager, marketing and economics entrepreneur, and tax accountant for 10 years.

“After moving to Michigan and regularly attending concerts, I started to hear there were musicians who needed their taxes done,” said Belcher, who’s based in Livonia, Mich. “More and more people kept coming to me for advice, and I absolutely loved helping them.”

Now, she’s ready to share her music, financial management, and economic expertise with artists, musicians, and creatives through a new online course and mastermind group.

Through the online course, interested participants can subscribe to Belcher’s content, which includes videos, chat sessions, online workshops, and other tools for those wanting to sharpen their financial, economic, and business knowledge while working in the music industry.

“I’ve come to embrace my role as an educator for financial information to creative people, and I enjoy it because it allows me to combine emerging music, financial management, and economics while connecting with people,” she said.

Belcher decided to launch the content after working in tax accounting in Chicago and metro Detroit. Over the years, she’s added a roster of local artists, musicians, and creatives to her client base.

“I want creatives to understand how they can manage a windfall or get out of debt,” said Belcher, who’s faced her own financial challenges with managing student loan debt. “They need to learn how to properly plan, budget, and manage their expenses before they embark on an artistic journey.”

Before becoming a financial and economic educator, Belcher attended Indiana University and majored in telecommunications.

As the assistant director of marketing for the school’s Union Board, she helped bring John Mellencamp, Matt Nathanson, Howie Day, and Ani DiFranco to campus for student shows and identified rising local acts through the annual Live From Bloomington festival.

During the summers, she interned for CBS Radio Cleveland in promotions and developed a love for live music, having seen bands such as The Allman Brothers Band, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, and moe.

While building her music industry experience, Belcher took courses in accounting and microeconomics at Indiana University, but didn’t think twice about it.

“Every time they would have us compare supply and demand and price elasticities, I was doing it with music. Economics sparked something in me that’s still a flame today,” she said. “It’s been 15 years since I started developing those skills, and I keep thinking about elasticities and the supply of music we have now.”

After graduating from college, the economics and financial side of music stayed in the back of Belcher’s mind while she worked in production, promotions, marketing, and booking for record labels, venues, and music websites throughout Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Colorado.

For Belcher, the proverbial dots between music, financial management, and economics connected while working in tax accounting.

Today, she serves as an Area Coordinator for the Detroit Institute of Music Education (DIME). She teaches student about the domestic music market, artist discovery, and self-employment.

“My lesson plans take real-world scenarios in the classroom so students have a foundation of experience for their careers,” she said. “I’m thrilled to see how I can continue working with those students and how I can reach a whole new set of learners through my online course.”

To receive for “Business Management for Musicians” email updates from Belcher, click here.