FAQs & Support

Have access to our resource collections within minutes with our easy sign up process:

1. Head to Plans & Pricing, explore our range of memberships and find the right one for you
2. Select Get Started under your preferred plan and choose whether you’d prefer to Pay Online monthly or annually via PayPal (for instant access) or Pay by Invoice annually (account activation approved once payment clears)
3. Enter your school name and press Continue
4. Fill out the information form to complete your registration. When asked for Account Username we recommend entering either your name or “teacher”, followed by a dash (-), and then your school name – for example, “mrsjones-summerfieldhighschool” or “teacher-summerfieldhighschool“
5. Also input any coupon codes you may have to receive discounts
6. Click Place Order and become a Musical Futures Online member!

To access all the great content inside Musical Futures you first need to log in to your account. Visit the Log in page and enter the email address or username and password you used when you setup your subscription.

If you can’t remember your password, don’t worry, as long as you have access to the email address linked to your account you can reset it at any time from the Forgotten Password page. This will send a special reset link to you in an email. Follow that link and you’ll be prompted to set a new password.

When creating a new password our website site will show you how secure it is. The more secure the better to help protect your account against unauthorised access. Be sure to set a password that is unique to this site.

If you signed up to our Premium or Ultimate membership plans you have the option to create a separate Student login that is linked to your main account. This Student login can access all the same lesson content, but has no access to subscription settings or other sensitive account details.

Here’s how to create the additional login:

1. Click the School button at the top of your Account Dashboard.
2. Copy the account invite link shown on the page or enter the email address you’d like to associate with the new account to send out an invite email. This email address must be different from the one connected to your main account, however, it is not required by students when they log in.
3. Log out of your main account.
4. Paste the invite link you copied from the School setup page or follow the link in the invite email and fill in the account setup form. Enter a Username for your students to use when logging in – we recommend entering “student”, followed by a dash (-), and then your school name – for example, “student-summerfieldhighschool“. Input a unique email address (different to your main account) and password of your choice. Students only need the username and password in order to log in.
5. Click the Register button the complete the setup and be automatically logged in to the new Student account.

You can now share the username and password with students to use when logging in, which they will do at the same Log in page. If you ever need to remove student access simply return to the School Setup page and use the controls provided there.

If you require the password of your student account changing please contact us in the first instance with your new password at info@musicalfutures.org and we’ll process your request as soon as possible.

Once logged in to your Teacher or Student account you can view all the resources that are available as part of Musical Futures Online from the Account Dashboard. Resources are grouped into 6 main collections, but you’ll also see some of the most popular lessons highlighted on the dashboard too.

Every resource has a contents page that shows a list of the individual lessons within and each lesson has a dedicated page within the site. This simple structure makes it easy to bookmark and share links to the content you want to return to or to share with your students.

Lessons are presented as a combination of text, images, video and audio clips that can be played back directly in your browser. We’ve designed Musical Futures Online to work well in most modern browsers and across different device types, so if you have a good internet connection and a device released in the last 5 years you should be all set – but you can read more about the minimum system requirements in the Technical Help section of these FAQs.

If you ever get lost in the site you can always click the Browse Resources link in the main menu at the top of the screen to return to your account dashboard.

This website should work well on most modern devices, but for the best experience we recommend using one of the following browsers:

• Chrome 80+
• Edge 81+
• Firefox 78+
• Internet Explorer 11
• Safari 12+

For playback of streaming video or audio content a reasonably fast and stable internet connection is also required. We recommend a minimum of download speed of 5Mbps to get the best experience when playing back video content.

Cookies

Our website uses first-party cookies to keep you securely logged in as you move between pages. These cookies are created by our website and are an essential part of how your member account works. If your browser blocks or deletes first-party cookies, you may not be able to log in or stay signed in. You can check your browser is accepting the cookies needed for login using our Cookie Test page. If the test shows a problem, you’ll usually need to adjust your browser’s privacy or cookie settings before trying to log in again.

If your IT department blocks certain websites and services as part of its security or content filtering policies you may need to ask them to unblock or whitelist the domain names Musical Futures operates on so that you can fully access all the content.

This website’s content is delivered from:

• musicalfuturesonline.org
• assets-musicalfutures-online.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com
• vz-23e1cf01-e53.b-cdn.net

Some supporting content is provided as downloads.

If your IT department blocks this, or blocks the downloading of particular file types, again you may need to ask them to apply an exception for those same three domain names.

Before you start using Musical Futures Online in the classroom you may want to check that your IT systems support our learning platform.

You can do this on our dedicated Test Page

You don’t need any special software installed to access the majority of our content, which is published as HTML web pages with embedded JPEG and PNG images, MP4/WebM video files and MP3 or Wav audio files.

PDFs are used for some supporting content, which should be supported by most modern operating systems without the need for installing additional software.

In the rare case that a video doesn’t load, we’ve probably recently updated it which may mean you need to clear your cache for it to load. Clearing your cache is done inside your internet browser – follow the instructions below depending on which internet browser you’re using:

• Google Chrome

1.  Open Chrome.
2. At the top right, click More (or the 3 vertical dots).
3. Click More Tools > Clear Browsing Data.
4. At the top, choose a time range. To delete everything, select All time.
5. Next to “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files,” check the boxes.
6. Click Clear data.
7. Refresh any MusicalFuturesOnline web pages you may have open.

• Mozilla Firefox

1. Open Firefox.
2. Click the menu button  and select Preferences.
3. Select the Privacy & Security panel.
4. In the Cookies and Site Data section, click Clear Data.
5. Remove the check mark in front of Cookies and Site Data.
6. With Cached Web Content check marked, click the Clear button.
7. Close the about:preferences page.
8. Refresh any MusicalFuturesOnline web pages you may have open.

• Safari

1. Open Safari.
2. Click on the Safari drop-down menu and select Preferences.
3. Click the Advanced tab. Select the Show Develop menu in the menu bar checkbox and close the Preferences window.
4. Select the Develop drop-down menu. Click Empty Cache.
5. Note: You may want to also clear your browser history.
6. Refresh any MusicalFuturesOnline web pages you may have open.

• Internet Explorer

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click the Tools menu in the upper right corner (depending on your version of the browser, it will either be labeled “Tools” or will appear as an icon of a gear).
3. In the drop-down menu, choose Internet Options.
4. On the General tab, and in the Browsing history section, click the Delete button. This will take you to a menu where you can decide what to clear from your cache.
5. At a minimum, make sure that Temporary Internet Files and website files and Cookies and website data are selected. Also consider clearing Preserve Favorites website data.
6. Click Delete.
7. Refresh any MusicalFuturesOnline web pages you may have open.

At Musical Futures we are serious about user privacy and security. We value the trust you put in us when you choose to use our service and you can be assured that we have put in place the appropriate technical and operational policies to make Musical Futures a safe experience.

At all stages we aim to collect the minimum necessary personally identifiable information and only do so in accordance with relevant data protection regulations. We also know that transparency is important, which is why our Privacy Policy sets out in detail what information we collect, what it is used for and how long it is retained, along with any third-parties that may be involved.

Our website is hosted in the UK, in an ISO27001 certified and PCI compliant data centre. Naturally all your interactions with Musical Futures are protected by strong SSL encryption and our platform actively scans for and proactively blocks threats such as malware and brute-force login attempts. A policy of isolated server roles also limits the spread of any potential compromise to a single area of our platform.

Sometimes automated emails aren’t accepted by your organisation’s email host, so please check your junk folder.

If you still can’t find the email, please get in touch with us at info@musicalfutures.org

• Musical Futures Online (Pay Via PayPal) subscription billing periods are either a month or a year.
• Musical Futures Online (Pay Via Invoice) subscription billing periods are for a year.
• Pay Monthly or Annually Via PayPal? Unless cancelled (you will need to do this from your PayPal account) your subscription will renew automatically at the end of each billing period (monthly or annually depending on what you have chosen).
• Pay Annually Via Invoice? You will receive a renewal notice in advance of your current subscription end.  Your subscription will not renew unless you complete a new order for the upcoming 12 month period.
• To find out information about your subscription please navigate to the My Subscription
• In this section you can see your billing period and your current package.

You can update your email address on your Account Details page.

Once you’ve entered a new email address and clicked “Save Changes,” the new email address will take effect straight away. For added security an email notification is sent to previous address confirming that the change has occurred.

If you can’t remember your password or need to update it, don’t worry that’s simple.

As long as you have access to the email address linked to your account you can reset it at any time from the Forgotten Password page. This will send a special reset link to you in an email. Follow that link and you’ll be prompted to set a new password.

When creating a new password our website will show you how secure it is. The more secure the better to help protect your account against unauthorised access. Be sure to set a password that is unique to this site.

If you require the password of your student account changing please contact us in the first instance with your new password at info@musicalfutures.org and we’ll process your request as soon as possible.

• Once you’ve selected your plan, you’ll be asked whether you wish to pay monthly or yearly.
• Monthly subscriptions are available for online payment via PayPal only
• Annual subscriptions can either be paid online via PayPal OR if you wish your school or organisation to be invoiced, please include the following information:
  • Name and email address of your finance person/department
  • A Purchase Order Number – not all schools/organisations require this, but please check before placing your order
  • Without all the invoicing information we will not be able to process your order so please ensure you have filled out the relevant fields

Once you have cancelled your subscription, you will need to ‘repurchase’ a new membership. If you’ve paid via PayPal, you can opt to pause your membership from within PayPal and then resume it at your convenience, but once cancelled you have to repurchase (as though starting from new).

To do this, log in using your existing credentials, then head to Plans & Pricing and select the membership you’d like. Input your school name (as before) and click continue. Complete the details and select “Pay Now”. If you’re experiencing any problems, email info@musicalfutures.org and we’ll do our best to assist you.

To change or cancel your automatic payment with Musical Futures Online, log in to your PayPal account, go to your Profile and select Payments, then click on Manage Automatic Payments.

To change your monthly membership plan to a different membership plan, e.g. from Standard to Premium or from Premium to Ultimate (or downgrade), you must first cancel your existing monthly membership before purchasing the new membership plan. 

This can be done by:

• Logging into your PayPal account, go to your Profile and select Payments, then click on Manage Automatic Payments OR
• Alternatively you can login to your Musical Futures Online account, go to Your Account, then click on Manage Your Membership

Once your existing monthly membership plan has been cancelled, you will need to purchase the membership you would like to switch to. It is not possible to upgrade or downgrade without completing the cancellation process or purchasing a new monthly plan.

We recommend switching your membership plan at the end of the current billing period to ensure you get maximum usage of your existing plan before upgrading (or downgrading).

If you need any assistance with any of the above please contact info@musicalfutures.org in advance of the required switch (minimum 7 days). We will then cancel your current membership for you leaving you free to select your new monthly membership.

All resources included in your plan remain accessible as long as you have an active subscription.

All content is restricted to online access with the exception of any supporting resources such as pdfs (where appropriate) and audio samples (music technology resources)

We aim to keep our content regularly updated and to this end we are constantly working to add new resources and ideas to assist teachers and those working with young people in music.

Our mission has always been “By teachers, for teachers” with our network of Champion Teachers feeding into suggestions and ideas to develop their own students musical development.

If you’d like to make a suggestion for future content – whether that be an addition to our Playalong Library or our Instrumental Songbooks, then Get In Touch and we’ll do our best to meet your request!

Adding a Bookmark

You may notice the orange Bookmark button in the top-left of each resource page. To add the resource to your collection, all you need to do is click the button!

Viewing Your Bookmarks

To access your Bookmarks, head to your Account dashboard, and in the top row of orange buttons, click on Bookmarks. From here here you can view your chosen resources.

All our content is reviewed before publication on our website it ensure it meets our high standards – however, we are only human, and sometimes mistakes are made.  If you spot something that’s not right, then drop us an email to info@musicalfutures.org and we’ll make any necessary corrections as soon as we can!

Resources can be shared in Google Classroom, although students will require a login to access webpages. Student logins are included with Premium & Ultimate memberships and, for simplicity, they are set up using a single username and password to be shared by all students of your school.

Once logged in, students can access any link you have shared with them through Google Classroom.

Ultimate members have access to resources that can include downloadable content for student use, for example, the sample packs found in In The Style Of. In this case, you should download the content first – this will download as a zipped file. Then, upload the zipped file to your Google Drive and share it with your students using Google Classroom. From here, students can download the zipped file themselves and then unzip it once it’s successfully downloaded by double-clicking the file.