Nina Perlove - The Internet Flutist

In the 8 years that I went to music school, one of the most impressive and memorable flute students I met was Nina Perlove. She played well, worked hard, and always seemed like a rising star who knew where she was going. She looked great too - something I'm sure I took careful note of as a college boy. 20 years later she still looks great - hasn't changed a bit, in fact (in contrast to me, I've gone and grown a bit of a beard). She's Dr. Perlove now, and is enjoying a nice career with solo concerts, masterclasses, a teaching position, and a serious case of internet celebrity.

In addition to her own website, Nina has mastered the distribution miracle that is YouTube. She records a variety of self-produced videos focusing on flute playing, including performances, instructional videos, and most notably, live lessons that are delivered via Skype video conferencing.

What I love about this is the degree of empowerment and enablement that has been given to individual musicians thanks to largely freely available tools like YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Skype, Twitter, and easy web publishing. There have always been Dr. Perloves, loaded with musical talent, ambition, and charisma, but only in the past few years has it been possible to reach audiences of hundreds of thousands to millions without major investments in expensive media forms and lavish marketing. Nina is one of the first classical musicians I have seen who instinctively grasp how to speak to the internet and how to amplify the message once it is out there.

Aside from a larger audience for teaching and performing activities, internet fame can be good for other reasons. Nina's website, RealFluteProject.com, sports affiliate advertising, including Amazon, SheetMusicPlus, and Google ads, much like this site. Clearly a musician's opportunities aren't limited to the direct products of their playing and teaching. Nina is also available as an internet strategy consultant to musicians who are developing their own online voice.