Dec 1 / Stephen Choate, MHA, MT-BC

The Boom of the Micro Practice: The Good, The Bad, and The Risky

Music therapists across the country are leaving traditional 9-5 arrangements, passing on conventional employment, and pursuing their own ventures as solopreneurs. Increasingly, these young professionals are opting for freelance work that offers them flexibility and variety. Welcome to the boom of the micro practice.

What Is a Micro Practice?

A micro practice is a small music therapy business, owned and operated by a single individual. This could be a single-member LLC or a sole proprietorship and could even include a subcontractor or two. They are often mobile and may not maintain a physical location.

The Data

In full disclosure, I should note that I operate as a micro practice myself. Over the course of my career, I've implemented programs from scratch, served as an agency administrator, and owned a large music therapy practice. But for several years now, I’ve chosen to practice independently. The model has allowed me to serve a specific client base that often lacks access for music therapy, though it comes with real challenges and costs.

According to AMTA workforce data, music therapy business ownership has increased from just 9% in 2012 to 27.5% in 2021 (AMTA, 2012–2021). In addition, the numbers show many of these businesses are extremely small, averaging just 1.3 employees (AMTA, 2021). This means that not only are music therapists moving into the private practice space as therapists, but as owners of small, independent practices. And upon a further look, a second trend emerges.

Research suggests this growth is largely driven by a specific segment of music therapists: those early in their careers. A 2024 study revealed that 23.4% of the 507 surveyed music therapists (all within their first five years of practice) were working in self-employed or private practice work settings (Meadows et al., 2024). This data, as explored later in this article, correlates with low retention rates for music therapists across the board. And the micro practice boom may just be a response to the root causes of that issue.

The Appeal

One of the strongest appeals of starting a micro practice is the remarkably low barrier to entry. For many, a guitar, reliable transportation, and a laptop are all they need to enter the market as a provider. This accessibility appeals especially to young professionals who have cited a lack of job opportunities as one of their most pressing challenges (Meadows et al., 2024).

Rising living costs and stagnating wages in salaried music therapy positions have also made traditional employment less financially attractive. And while most people enter employment arrangements with larger businesses for a sense of security, broader trends like the recent debacle in Florida may have shifted the perspective of just how safe those jobs really are.

In contrast, private contract work offers the illusion of higher pay rates, especially when calculated by the session. For new professionals balancing student loans and basic living expenses, independence has its allure.

There's also the psychological and lifestyle component: autonomy. Micro practice therapists enjoy the ability to choose their client base, manage their own schedule, and design services tailored to their strengths. Many early-career therapists place a high value on flexibility and personal wellness, and a solo business allows them to prioritize both - assuming, of course, the business is successful.

Social media has further empowered this trend. Therapists with savvy marketing instincts can quickly build an audience and client base. In fact, many solopreneurs expand their offerings to include CMTE courses, paid memberships, downloadable resources, or "music therapy-adjacent" services like social media coaching for other clinicians or even small business coaching. This diversification not only boosts income potential but could help fulfill a well-evidenced desire for creative, multifaceted work (Bruscia, 2020).

The Downside

Despite the appeal, there are significant downsides to the micro practice model.

The most immediate is risk: with a small client base and few resources to fall back on, losing a contract or key referral source can jeopardize one’s entire business. And when working as an employee, therapists are covered by the legal and financial umbrellas of the business that hired them. If a client gets harmed and sues, or if an insurance company audits their documentation and pursues a clawback, the business is liable. Small practices seldom have the resources to survive such events.

But one of the primary reasons therapists take on this risk is the idea of higher rates. And while those contract rates may look attractive, their hidden costs make the benefit less clear. Self-employment taxes (an additional 7.65% of income), insurances, subscription software, instruments, marketing, and ongoing professional development come out of pocket.

Additionally, the therapist must not only provide care, but also handle every aspect of business operations: compliance, scheduling, billing, marketing, service recovery, documentation, etc. And the time spent on those responsibilities isn’t compensated directly. Many new business owners learn that, while their session rate may be higher than an hourly rate as an employee, their hourly income after taking all these administrative tasks into consideration isn’t much different than if they had simply taken a job. Additionally, they might have worked less overall and assumed far less risk.

And then there’s the issue of maximum capacity. Many solopreneurs also face a ceiling in terms of growth. Without building systems or hiring staff, most micro practices are not scalable. They exist as an extension of the therapist’s time and energy. This means they are neither portable nor transferable. If the therapist moves, becomes ill, or needs to pause work, the business effectively halts.

Finally, and perhaps most concerning, is the issue of burnout. Micro practitioners trade their time for money in a highly linear way. As self-employed therapists, they have no paid holidays, no vacation days, and no sick time. If they don’t work, they don’t get paid. This creates direct pressure to maximize clinical hours and can quickly lead to exhaustion. So, in a field where burnout remains a chief reason for which people leave, we are also seeing a shift toward models that could accelerate that risk.

The Implications

The micro practice boom is not inherently negative. It reflects creativity and professional ingenuity. But it also exposes the gaps in the field’s employment infrastructure. In fact, it may be a direct result of them.

A 2023 study identified the top reasons for leaving the field as limited job opportunities, professional isolation, and the ongoing demands of advocacy (Branson, 2023). And according to national certification data analyzed by Oden (2021), 64% of board-certified music therapists have been in the field fewer than 10 years, with 43% in their first five-year certification cycle. The profession has a glaring retention problem, and owning a micro practice may be seen as the key to longevity for this new generation of therapists.

Many micro practices are led by very early-career professionals who may lack consistent access to supervision or structured mentorship. Some offer consulting or training to peers after just a few years in practice. While the entrepreneurial spirit can serve as an asset, some of these situations can raise questions about sustainability, the depth of expertise being passed on, and the ethical implications of novice professionals serving in such consequential roles.

The micro practice could be a viable path for some to overcome the obstacles that have been holding back our field for years. But it is not for everyone. And even in the cases of those for whom it is well-suited, support from the community is essential. Bolstering micro practitioners with mentorship and education could help the field keep some of its brightest practitioners and increase retention for the field as a whole.

Conclusion

Micro practices are here. They are quickly becoming the default path for early-career music therapists navigating a shifting clinical and economic landscape. This evolution demands a professional reckoning: will we invest in these young therapists with mentorship, business guidance, and ethical guardrails? And even if we do, will they accept it? Without collaboration, we leave them to chart the future of the field alone - risking burnout, fragmentation, and a profession shaped by its least experienced voices, without the benefit of experienced guidance.

References

AMTA (2012–2022). American Music Therapy Association Workforce Analysis Reports.

Branson, J. L. (2023). Leaving the profession: A grounded theory exploration of music therapists’ decisions. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 23(1).

Bruscia, K. (2020). Entrepreneurship in Music Therapy: Building the Future of Independent Practice. Music Therapy Perspectives, 38(2).

Meadows, A., Eyre, L., & Gollenberg, A. (2024). Workforce characteristics, work satisfaction, stress, burnout and happiness of early-career music therapists in the United States. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 24(1).

Oden, J. (2021). A descriptive analysis of music therapy employment from 2013 to 2019. Music Therapy Perspectives, 39(1), 78–85.
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