Is it money or music that “makes the world go round?” The answer, probably, is both, or to be more precise, musicians need money to make their music. Unfortunately, the economics of music—especially classical and experimental music, but other genres as well—are daunting for most people who aim to be professional musicians.

Meet Ye Jin Min. She’s a violinist, a composer, a singer, and a conductor. She is as comfortable and proficient performing classical Western repertoire as she is creating experimental music that defies categorization.

Ye Jin is also an entrepreneur. She wants musicians to be rewarded not just by the cheers of happy audiences, but also by the opportunity to earn a living making music. In that spirit, she has launched Unboxed Musicians, which aims at creating sustainable, creative ecosystems for musicians and composers. Although still in its early days, it’s possible that her imaginative new business model could have a huge impact on how music is made globally.

In this episode of New Thinking for a New World, Ye Jin shares her thoughts about making music as well as about making musical business.

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The best way to understand and appreciate music is to listen to it. In a companion episode, Ye Jin Min — The Music, hear three pieces imagined, composed, and played by Ye Jin Min with help from some of her friends: Vinyl Road, Honey, and Four Moons with Koriobots.

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ABOUT OUR GUEST
Ye Jin Min is a South Korean violinist, composer, and multi-disciplinary artist who has appeared globally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Deeply engaged with contemporary music, she focuses on interdisciplinary collaborations and creating novel concert experiences. She brings this vision to life through her creative venture, Unboxed Musicians, which aims to make contemporary-classical music more accessible to diverse audiences.

Current projects Ye Jin is undertaking include producing Mini Music Box, a children’s contemporary music series, and contributing as a singer, violinist, and composer to Red Helicopter: An American Rock Opera. Her innovative work with Unboxed Musicians won the 2025 Yale Creative Entrepreneurship Prize. Beyond the classical realm, she continuously expands her artistic boundaries as a singer-songwriter and producer.