So you’ve decided you want to pursue a career in the music business? Even though it seems every young kid wants to be a star up on the big stage, it takes a lot of hard work and luck to make it in the music industry. In order to be a professional musician you have to conduct yourself professionally as well. This means paying attention to the business side of a music career, being prepared, showing up on time and playing capably. You will still have to work everyday, pay taxes and budget your money. You’ll have to market yourself aggressively and stay organized. The myth that popular music is all about sex, drugs and rock and roll is nonsense. Popular music is about the business of music. After a live performance most musicians still have plenty of work to do. The stage and equipment must be broken down and by the time the work is finished, the fans and fanfare will be long gone.
The world loves music because it brings people together in good ways, but music is not free, especially for the musicians. A great relatively free tool all musicians can utilize to further their careers is the Internet. The Internet is great for networking, promoting bands, finding places to play. If a career as a performing musician doesn’t work out you might want to look at a related music field job to fall back on. More and more people are getting into the technology of the music business through mixing, recording and other computer/electronics-based music applications.
Appearances and genres are also all important in the field of popular music today, with the artists and bands that fit the current and most popular genres making most of the money. If you are playing obscure music in obscure places you can expect to play hundreds of low-paying gigs each year in order to pay the bills and there won’t be a lot left over either.
The best advice may be to simply do whatever makes you the happiest. If you feel that you really want to make a living in the music industry then you should probably just go for it. And you won’t be alone. In the United States they were over 500,000 people employed as musicians, vocalists and composers in 2008. Of those working, salaried musicians earned about $40K per year. Composers and directors earned a bit less at an average of $35K per year. In the related field of musical instrument repair, there were about 8,000 full time workers earning about $20 an hour in 2007.
Relatively few people are able to turn their love of music into an actual career compared to the number of people listening and purchasing the music. Those who can, often find the work rewarding and fulfilling. However, many musicians often must work evenings and weekends. Frequent travel is common and most musicians can’t find steady outside employment, which can be the most stressful part of a music job. To make it in the music business you have to love your job because your job will be your life.