Top Music Careers: Beyond Center Stage

Musicians and music enthusiasts are usually looking for one thing: a stable career in music. You see, being passionate about music isn't enough. It requires all of us to identify our talent(s) within this passion in order for us to find stability. In fact, many of us find that center stage isn't where we're happiest and that's where our other talents serve us best. So if you're wondering what options are available to you then keep reading. From sacred music to artist management, here are the top careers to consider in music:

Sacred Music

Before we even start, let me just address that regardless of your faith (or lack thereof) there is a difference between working and worship. Sacred music is a great way for young musicians to get real working experience, network with local artists, and provide a trained skillset to services for people who are worshipping. Most importantly, it provides us consistent income as musicians.

Catholic Churches typically pay for Cantors (soloists who lead the service), and weekly choir members can be a mix of paid and volunteer singers. Protestant denominations (Episcopalian, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.) typically do not have a Cantor, but they place more importance on choir singing and anthems. The most lucrative times of the year are Christmas and Easter - that’s usually when singers and instrumentalists can make more money than usual, but jobs are available throughout the year. 

Synagogues are not spaces I have direct experience in but there’s plenty of cross-over: the High Holy Days and other holidays throughout their calendar are comparable to Christian churches in terms of work available and pay. Judaism tends to have more holidays and multi-day celebrations that don’t conflict with the Christian calendars, so multi-faith singers can get plenty of work. Because singing in Herbrew is a requirement here, these spaces typically pay a bit more than their fully English-language counterparts.

A note about Mosques, and other religions - I just don’t know. I have no experience with  Eastern music or their religious services but can imagine as an even more niche skillset (here in the US at least) it could be lucrative. However, I won’t give any input one way or the other. 

Composer/Songwriter

For the record, Composers are songwriters and Songwriters are composers. Professionally speaking though, their trajectories tend to look a little different: 

A composer is typically into larger works and projects like video games or movie scores or has a foundation in 21st-century ‘classical’ music. This person likely has very formalized training in scoring and arranging. Some names you’ll recognize in this category are Nobuo Uematsu, John Williams, Hanz Zimmer, and Jake Heggie. 

A songwriter is more free and loose. This track is usually reserved for contemporary music like Pop, Rock, R&B, etc. Songwriters don’t need to focus on writing an entire work but instead on individual songs that contribute to a larger work, like an album. Sometimes the performer does songwriting mostly independently, partially, or not at all, and are interpreters instead. Songwriters do not need any formal training although there are now contemporary music programs if you’d still like a formal degree. 

Studio Artist/Enginneer

Working in a recording studio is a fantastic way to get consistent work. Studios will hire musicians to record on albums. These people don’t go on tour with the artist, they aren’t official members of the band either. A studio artist’s only job is to be in the studio. 

On the other side of the studio glass is the audio team. These individuals typically have training in audio recording and music technology and function to get the best sound out of the artists for mass production and digital releases. It’s a very skilled job with a great paycheck if you’re great at it. 

Arts Administration

This is where we begin to transition away from art-making to art-managing. Hundreds of non-profits and organizations have a mission to bring art - in any form - to the masses. All of them, however, need people who understand the industry to keep the show going - that includes marketing, business development, operations, IT, finance, and a host of other jobs depending on the mission, all needed from a music perspective. Don’t sleep on these options that can provide total stability and financial freedom (plus health insurance) while still keeping you in the field you’re passionate about. 

Stagehand/Crew Members

From your local community theater to Broadway, stagehands can make a lot of money professionally. The title of 'Designer' typically gets the praise but it's their team of hundreds who actually accomplish the goal. People have to operate the stage lights, a team is responsible just for getting actor's in and out of their costumes, another team makes sure every prop on stage is properly placed. For a real life example, look to The Metropolitan Opera in NYC - they have full- and part-time teams of carpenter's, costume makers, hair and make up professionals, stage managers and their crews, light operators, "hidden" music specialists who help cue the artists with the conductor, etc. The unsung heroes of the theater are the most important.

Music Journalist

Strong writers to the front because this one’s for you. Any topic you think you’re interested in relating to music is going to have an entire industry behind it. For example, if you’re a heavy metal guitarist you’re probably going to know a lot about different types of guitars, strings, pickups, cables, amps, pedals, and any new technology. This is true for any instrument in any genre - and someone has to write about all of it. Aside from retail and product spotlight, there are also journalists for magazines and blogs on music education, arts & culture, music technology, stage productions, and community organizations. Just thumb through your favorite magazines and check out the authors who write for them to see where your talent takes you. 

Music Critic or Reviewer

Sticking with our writers but narrowing down to those who are super opinionated about what other people do, this one is for you. Today we’ve combined critics and reviews to be synonymous with each other but the truth is that these writers are not the same and differentiating them could be the key to your success:

Before we get into the Critic, we have to understand what a critique is: a detailed analysis and assessment of something. This implies a comparison is being made. But what are they comparing to? The job of a music critic is to provide a written critique of a performance that is historically informed and compared to the legacy of the work as a whole. Simply put, a critique of Die Zauberflöte or Carousel is going to compare the singers, staging, set design, and costumes, to those that have come before it, usually since its premiere, which in this case would be 1791 and 1945, respectively. It’s not rooted in the individual’s personal opinions of the performance, although that is part of it. The writer has a deep, historical understanding of the work, and the people who have done the roles before and will compare the performers to them. Moreover, their goal is to label the performance as positive or negative based on its historical tradition and evolution over time, with objectivity. Again, this applies to all genres and presentations of music.

Reviews, on the other hand, are far more subjective. They are the writer’s personal opinions of that particular performance or presentation. In this, there isn’t a requirement to be historically informed or so beholden to the original productions. That being said reviewers are not ignorant people. They know the show, they know how it should go, and they have expectations that we aim to meet. 

Critics and Reviewers are a Venn Diagram with a lot of crossover. They should be thought of as two perspectives of viewing the same object, each perfectly aware of the other.

Brands & Corporations

I’ve touched on this a couple of times already but some people are perfectly happy working 9-5 behind a desk and there is not a single thing wrong with this. 

Again, any job you can think of - IT, Finance, Marketing, Operations, HR, Retail - is needed for music businesses. The important thing is that you find the right company and culture to work for. Music is a fragile hobby for people so corporations are either proactive or reactive in how they deal with problems and how they treat their people. Fun fact: you want the proactive ones. 

Talent Management

Managing an artist is a niche area with a broad scope of responsibilities. The most common titles are typically Agents, Managers, and Publicists:

An agent’s job is to get an artist work, period. They scout and find opportunities for an artist and usually have a portfolio of clients they work with. You find them work, pass it along to the artist, they say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, and the wheel keeps spinning. If it’s a ‘Yes’, an agent goes through the extra step of negotiating the contract on the artist’s behalf. A good agent understands the artist, what they’re capable of, and what opportunities get the artist in front of the right people. 

A manager, on the other hand, likely only has a few clients compared to the agent’s bulk load, but they focus on the overarching trajectory of the artist. While scouting and finding opportunities for the agent to negotiate, they’ll also ensure the artist has a sustainable career, often planning 5, 10, 15+ years into the future. 

Finally, a publicist is the artist’s first responder. Simply put, they make sure an artist has fans. From press releases, setting up interviews, media and promotional tours, social media, etc. You might love an artist for their work but you’ve heard of them because of their publicist. 

There’s an ocean of opportunity out there so catch your wave and ride it!