When the first music school started using SpeedAdmin in 2006, the goal was simple yet ambitious: make the daily administration of music education easier, more transparent and more efficient. It was a practical mission born from real needs.
That idea worked. What we now call SpeedAdmin Legacy became the trusted foundation for schools across Denmark and, later, across Europe. For nearly two decades, it has been part of everyday life for thousands of administrators and teachers—bringing structure and overview to a world built on creativity.
Much has happened since then.
Over the past two decades, digital expectations have changed dramatically. Users now expect intuitive design, mobile access, instant communication and self-service options that fit seamlessly into their daily lives.
SpeedAdmin has grown alongside these changes. What began as an administration system has become a community platform: a 360° solution connecting every stakeholder in the learning process. Teachers manage schedules and teaching materials. Parents register children online and stay informed through digital portals. Students explore opportunities and communicate directly with their teachers.
At the same time, music and art schools have evolved their ways of working to meet new requirements—from policymakers and parents to teachers and partnerships with local schools and institutions. It’s an exciting evolution, but it also brings new challenges.
Bottom line: schools need systems that are not only efficient, but also flexible, accessible and inspiring to use.
Nearly 20 years of continuous development means constant innovation. It also means layers of features, integrations and adaptations—built to serve hundreds of schools across multiple countries.
That growth created unmatched functionality and flexibility, but also complexity. To keep innovating and truly meet the expectations of the next generation, we needed more than an upgrade. We needed a fresh start to carry forward what we’ve learned while embracing new possibilities.
This is why we built SpeedAdmin Play!
SpeedAdmin Play! isn’t a replacement for its own sake. It’s a re-imagining grounded in everything we’ve learned since 2006—how music schools work, what administrators need, what inspires teachers and how digital tools can empower creativity and community. We asked ourselves: What would a platform for music and arts schools look like if we could start over today?
To guide that work, we set four value goals:
With Play!, we wanted to move from reactive to proactive. Instead of waiting for new needs to emerge, we designed a system ready for them—anticipating how schools will evolve and what users will expect in the future to come.
To turn those goals into reality, we defined core concepts that shape how Play! is built and used:
Each concept is grounded in years of feedback to make daily life easier for everyone involved in music and arts education.
Technology evolves fast. Sometimes improvement isn’t about adding more—it’s about starting fresh.
That’s exactly what we did with Play! We rebuilt SpeedAdmin on a modern, scalable and flexible foundation—with a new data architecture, updated frameworks and a future-proof design that supports continuous innovation.
This foundation doesn’t just improve performance and security. It enables us to deliver features faster, connect data more intelligently and adapt to new educational trends—from interdisciplinary learning and community outreach to accessibility and digital creativity.
SpeedAdmin Play! is more than a new version of our software. It’s our vision for the future of music and arts education. It helps schools reach more people, engage new generations and make cultural education more accessible—through better workflows, modern tools and new ways of connecting teachers and learners.
Play! represents everything we’ve learned—and everything we believe the future holds. It’s built not only for today’s users, but also for the schools, students and communities of tomorrow.
Legacy was one large application. Play! is a set of modular building blocks with clear interfaces—so it’s faster, steadier, and easier to grow.
What’s different?
• Frontend: Legacy reloads whole pages; Play! feels like a modern app with instant updates.
• Test Driven Development: With SpeedAdmin Play!, we have significantly increased our focus on Test Driven Development.
• Data & integrations: Legacy ties add-ons into the core; Play! is API-first, so integrations can be added or swapped safely.
• Security: Clear roles/permissions, audit logs, optional 2-step login and stronger safeguards.
What are the benefits?
• Faster, smoother everyday use (far fewer full page loads).
• Greater reliability: a problem in one part doesn’t break everything.
• Quicker, safer releases with continuous improvement.
• Ready for the future with modern tech and release practices.
• Stronger security and easier compliance.
Ultimately, Play! represents more than technology.
It’s a reflection of what we believe in: that digital tools should support creativity, not replace it. They should simplify administration so teachers can teach, and students can learn — not spend hours navigating systems.
We’ve reached our first major milestone: a strong foundation based on modern technology, smarter data models and a design philosophy focused on simplicity and growth.
But the journey continues. The vision behind SpeedAdmin Play!—and the many ideas from our community—will keep driving us forward. Rather than a fixed destination, Play! is an ongoing journey with more and more schools on board, building a community that continuously supports and lifts music and arts education to the next level.
A system that grows with your school — and plays in tune with the future of music education.