Top 5 Jobs in the Music Industry

The music industry is one of the largest industries in the world and is mainly focused on the entertainment sect. In recent years, the industry has undergone a massive change in terms of its channels and platforms. Obviously with these changes, people now have new responsibilities for the different jobs that have come about these past few years. This article will be discussing these jobs and how much you can potentially make out of them and some tips on how to get them too. The industry today has revenue streams of about $54 billion with most of it coming from music streaming. As a lot of you may know, the medium of music sales has been undergoing a transformation from physical to digital. Most music sales these days have been through digital streaming platforms such as Youtube and Spotify, and Anghami. It’s easy to see how this could create quite the amount of jobs.

Music Producer

The first job we’ll be talking about is a music producer. These people are the ones behind almost every song. Most famous artists often have producers who compose their music and work alongside them to create their vision of what the artist wants the song to be like. The producer is more often than not the reason why the song either does good or bad. It’s very seldom that we see an artist grow out of nowhere with music that is extremely good with amazing vocals and productions. In which case, we have the music producer to thank for that.

Getting into music production will require a huge investment however and a large load of risk to take on. A recording studio is often needed as well as a creative and inspired mind. Such a skill is hard to learn and it can define who is a good producer and who isn’t. It’s also important to keep in mind the fact that you won’t be getting stable pay and most of your income will be inconsistent. The positives of this job is that your own hard work, networking efforts, and skill will be what gets you a job, as well as being your own boss and working around your own schedule.

Salary: Inconsistent, the average is about $70,000 a year, however the distribution is quite flat.

Recording Engineer

Similar to a music producer, a recording engineer is the person behind all the tech related issues in the studio. The sound engineer is often responsible for sound manipulation and fixing any sound related issues as well as knowing how to set up the different tools in the studio, both physical and digital. It’s very often that the sound engineer takes over for the producer in certain situations and as such needs to be well equipped with a creative mind in addition to their tech-savvy characteristics.

Getting this job will require competence in many different tech fields as well as knowing a few people in recording studios that could use such assistance and expertise. With this, you’d be looking at a more stable pay depending on which studio you work for as revenues will often be different for each recording studio.

Salary: Depending on the producer you’re working with you’d be looking at about $72k average with a more even distribution than music producers.

Artist Manager

An artist manager is a person who works on a different front. Unlike engineers and producers, they are not included in the music production process or its development and instead work around the social aspect of production. Some of these responsibilities include planning, organizing, directing, and negotiating. The manager is often behind most of the artist’s decisions, while they may not get as much press or notice from the public, they often have to work just as hard if not twice as hard as the artists themselves. This makes this job and the person working on it very important.

This job requires tremendous amounts of leadership skills and charisma and is often seen as a heavily networked position which requires years of knowing the right people to enter it. While it pays a good sum, it is very stressful and socially draining.

Salary: The average salary is $75,000 and is pretty consistent, the bottom 10% make $43,000 which makes this job pretty normally distributed.

Tour Manager

As artists grow, they may eventually decide to go on tour to different countries around the world. This can be very draining, especially considering the amount of reservations that need to be made, as well as the promotional efforts that have to be made. Nonetheless, this is entirely the responsibility of the tour manager. Everything to do with transportation, accommodation, scheduling, and financing is up to them.

The role requires a good grasp on financial management and accounting, as well as communications. As such, high levels of networking will be required as well as being qualified in terms of financial education. This job is more often than not temporary and will only have openings available when an artist or a band is planning to go on tour, making this job pretty scarce.

Salary: You’d be looking at about $2,500-$10,000 per week for theater/arena-level touring

Music Teacher

This job is pretty common as most schools and universities have music related courses that would require teachers or instructors. Being a music teacher has quite a few responsibilities, especially considering all the teaching skills that is required. Your own skill will be less relevant in this profession as it is heavily centered on teaching certain concepts to others. If you’re at a high level course in a university, you could be looking at more practical instructing which would require quite a bit of technical skill. Depending on your specialization in either theory or practical studies, youd be looking at different responsibilities.

Getting this job shouldn’t be too tough assuming you have the necessary qualifications, getting into an educational institution could provide you with a stable salary + additional benefits. However, you could go on the self-employed route and be a private music tutor which is often done as a side gig as opposed to a full time job due to the irregular payments.

Salary: Depends on if you’re self employed or employed by an institution, as well as the rate. Private instructors usually go for $30-$120 an hour depending on experience and the average salary for a music teacher is about $44,000

Conclusion

Finding a job in the music industry comes in many levels and it really depends on many factors. Finding a job in some positions in the music industry will require a certain level of networking and experience. Some jobs are paid by hour, some are irregular bulk payments, and some are regular salaries. The regular salaries are often seen in jobs where you’re being employed by a producer or an artist as a permanent or semi-permanent position. If you’re looking for more marketing advice or articles on current issues in the music industry, make sure to visit our blog to read up on more articles like this!