<p>What kind of jobs can I do in the future, if study music as a major? I'm also planning to go to grad school. What about music management? Are the salaries low..?</p>
<p>I'm not really sure what you want to study in music as a major. My son is in school for music, majoring in jazz studies, trumpet performance. My understanding is that everyone who is a music major must have some instrument, or voice, as their major area of study. With that being said, I would question your desire to major in music if job salary is your highest priority. Any of the arts are questionable at best with how much "money" you can make. There are so many areas to go into: performance, teaching, directing, management, agent, arranging, etc. I believe that your desire to be in the music industry has to be first and foremost, and the passion needs to be there. As you continue your studies, different interests will emerge to help you formulate which path to take, if you are unsure, leaning towards a couple of areas. Or undiscovered talents become apparent, such as arranging or composing. I can only share that my son has never spoken about the salary his path will take, only the avenues that he will be able to pursue musically. Give this some thought before making your decision. If the passion is not there to devote yourself to music, perhaps focusing on business or education with a minor in music would be more appealing. The hours spent studying, practicing, rehearsing, performing, take extreme dedication, and only that person that lives, eats and breaths music, will be able to forge ahead, without complaint, and succeed in this difficulty arena.</p>
<p>Thank you for the reply! I do have a passion for music, but probably taking a minor would be a better choise. And studying that what I like is the most important thing anyway, not the salary :)</p>
<p>Musicians invented unemployment.</p>
<p>How true. It's just so sad that our society does not give the credit or due, with respect to salaries to those that pursue the arts. These talented people spend endless hours perfecting their craft, have spent "thousands of dollars" to train, and in the end, can spend much time on the unemployment line. On the positive side, they are usually happy to continue to pursue their craft, and are grateful for any and all employment opportunities. I wish the best to all of our talented artists, musicians, actors, etc.</p>
<p>look into Music Industry (the whole music business angle) for a possible second major or Music Education for teaching. University Southern California and Syracuse to name two have those options.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
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<p>If they play an instrument people will pay too see (guitar, drums, piano) or are really good (good enough for orchestras) then they get jobs and can make ends meet. But if they are just not good enough to make an orchestra, or play an instrument noone will pay to see, then they need to get another career. Equate music to baseball. Many people play baseball as children then the numbers slowly drop as kids get older all the way through high school and college. In the pros you only have the best of the best, some .001% of kids who started out playing it. If musicians would keep the same mindset, then it wouldn't be so bad. Unless they have money to burn, or are in the top one half of one percent in their instrument, why someone drops 40,000 a year to major in oboe performance is beyond me.</p>
<p>Even the top players can struggle. Many members of professional symphony orchestras have to teach privately to supplement their saleries. And many orchestras are constantly trying to make ends meet themselves. Many of the top symphonic players find themselves renegotiating contracts every 4- 6 years. I have a relative in a high placed position in one of the top orchestras in the country, and 5 years ago when they were on strike he was out playing on the street.
And if you don't get one of those top positions, and are freelancing, you will have times like June and December when you are turning down jobs, but many months inbetween where the times are lean.
Go into music performance only if you can't imagine your life without the ability to perform. Otherwise, do something else, and take advantage of the many opportunities non-professionals have to perform.</p>
<p>The realities of employment that you all have discussed is the reason that my eldest son (a jazz drummer) has decided to play music as an "extracurricular" in college while majoring in pre-law. He'd like to be an attorney for the music industry (freeing the world of Napsters I guess).</p>
<p>ElliottsMom, there ARE jobs in that exact area. Without being too specific, a man in the audience of a show my D was in, approached us this summer about sharing about my D and her performance with a well known Broadway producer. The man (in the audience)'s current occupation is a high level executive in charge of Anti-Piracy for the largest music company in the world and his degree is in law. He has also represented some stars in this business. So, there is someone who has done a variety of things but he actually is dealing with Anti-Piracy in the music industry and is a lawyer by trade. When I read your post, it was like an exact match to what this man does. I read about it a bit since my D has been in ongoing contact with him after this encounter, and so I was interested in what he does, though he explained his background in terms of who he has represented prior to what he does now, etc. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>ElliottsMom - Where does your eldest son go to college? We have friends whose son is a drummer and wants to go into the music business. They are looking at Belmont.</p>
<p>My son is currently at a community college and is in the process of auditioning and transferring to Pt. Loma Nazarene College in San Diego. It's not really a powerhouse for music or law, but is respectable. He is unwavering in his desire to go to a christian college.</p>
<p>My husband has a degree in theory & composition and my D is about to finish a master's degree in cello performance and her boyfriend just got a D.Mus. in composition. In other words, how to make a living at music is a very real question in our family. My husband has been: a musical theater music director, composer, conservatory administrator, accompanist, newspaper music critic, NPR music commentator, piano salesman, and classical programming consultant, not necessarily in that order. The boyfriend entirely supports himself (in Manhattan, no less) with several part-time teaching and accompanist jobs and a very lucrative sideline as a Finale-based music copyist. As for daughter, I'll let you know in a year. At the moment she plans to survive on freelance gigs, teaching, and hopefully an administrative job in a music-related business such as publicity or artist management. I think the main thing is to keep on keeping on. Lots of musicians can't stand the life and switch to steadier non-music work, but I've known a number of people who have managed to continue to play music as a semi-professional sideline.</p>
<p>What is music copyist? :confused:</p>
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and only that person that lives, eats and breaths music, will be able to forge ahead, without complaint, and succeed in this difficulty arena.
[/quote]
I know a few instances where people just happened onto a great job opportunity by sheer luck (of course, they were prepared for that opportunity, too.)</p>
<p>A copyist turns compositions into music parts for the individual instruments. It used to be done by hand but is now done on computers. Many older composers have never learned the necessary programs (they're very complex) so they hire the job out.</p>
<p>Unless you are one of the handful of players at the very pinnacle, the kind who get Avery Fisher Career Grants and sign with music management companies at age 18, you need to be prepared to hustle a living for yourself. It is possible, but you can't be the sort of person who is easily discouraged.</p>
<p>A music copyist is someone who takes a composer's rough (often handwritten) score and readies it for publication. These days, it usually involves entering the composition into a music publishing program like Finale and arranging everything on the page to conform to the standards of the publisher. It is kind of analogous to using a desktop publishing package when laying out a book or magazine article. It can be very detailed and painstaking work requiring some knowledge of computers, music and graphic arts.</p>
<p>In many cases, the music is not sent to a third-party publisher. It goes directly from the copyist to the performers or back to the composer for self-publication.</p>
<p>Very interesting about the music copyist. My son used Finale in early high school, and switched to Sibelius around 11th grade. Then he took a great music technology class and sampled some other programs. It seems like anybody familiar with some music and theory could do this. Where do these music copyist folks work? Do they freelance? What is the range of pay for this service?</p>
<p>Many freelance, a few work on salary for major publishers. The freelancers can work anywhere they can get access to a laptop, a cell phone, a printer and an overnight shipping drop box. I have a friend who gets the occasional job at $40/hr, but it probably varies quite a bit depending on the type of client you attract and how much you can get done in an hour. To do it well and profitably takes quite a bit of knowledge in several fields as well as a very good eye for detail.</p>
<p>Thanks BassDad. I'm just sort of surprised that composers don't just learn these programs and that there is a market for this service.</p>