Career Study

By: Zane Skinner

Musician (music performer)

• Musicians have a fun career full of entertainment and cheer. Yet there is a dark side to it. Most of the time, part-time schedules and intermittent unemployment are common.

• Many musicians supplement their income with other jobs on the side.

• Many times, musicians discover their love for playing music early on in life and begin to learn or train their skills in order to progress in the field.

Salary

• Due to the wide range of difference between musicians, and the problem that no musician is guaranteed employment for long periods of time, annual salary is hard to determine. But the average musician can earn anywhere from $6.00 to $60.00+ an hour.

• Most of this depends solely on the ability of the performer and the feedback from those listening.

Required education

• Well, unless you plan on teaching the music you are playing to people, the only real required education to perform in a band, is none. Though it does pay off to have at least a high school diploma if you plan on going very far.

• Really all you have to do is practice your skills.• This can be done in your room, your yard, in a

schools band, in choir, or pretty much anywhere you can harbor your skills and play.

Job Location

• Musicians have a career full of traveling if they know what they are doing. If you make it to play shows, then your job locations is where ever you can get a spot at. Many musicians go on tours when they “make it big” and travel to other countries around the world to share their music and give everyone a chance to meet them in all their glory!

Benefits

• Musicians can benefit from their career both financially and personally.

• Financially, if they get the right gig, because the more people that show up, the more money is thrown up and put right in your pocket.

• Personally, because musicians are always making friends, traveling, meeting new people, and making people happy with entertainment for their ears. It means a lot to a true musician to know that someone, somewhere, is enjoying the music you created.

Drawbacks

• All Musicians face drawbacks in their career at some point. Whether it be that only a few people showed up and paid to see your show, or that no one likes your music anywhere and your band goes no where.

• That and the constant work that must be put into creating a CD with 15 songs on it to keep your payroll coming in.

Job opportunity

• Sadly, obtaining a job in the career field is very difficult. • First, you must become noticed by someone either passing

by your garage band or by a record company viewing your set at the show you’re playing at.

• Then, after being noticed, you must become signed with that record company in order to get your music out in the world for people to listen to after buying your cd. (unless you choose the cheap road out and go with uploading your songs to iTunes)

• After all of this mess, you now must hope your music stays popular so people keep buying your cd.

Part-time/Full-time

• Most musicians will typically start out part-time.

• This means they need another job to sustain them because their “music career” hasn’t quite picked up yet.

• After they start making some money, the can usually go full-time with a record company to “make it big” and go on tour.

Hardcore kids

• This is the career field that I am currently pursuing.

• I will soon be out of high school with my diploma and on to a record company to play my own music and “Make it big” because I love to play music, and I always have.

• And I'm rather talented if I do say so myself• Be ready world, here I come with a guitar in my

hand!

End

• And that is the run down of how a musicians career life will go.

• If that sounds like something you’d like to do, get out there and get your instrument/microphone and take your music to the entire world.