Career Help!!

[Gordonswitzer]

Hello every body! I just graduated high school this spring and i moved to the phoenix area to attend school at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences.....BUT, i dont know if this is the right choice. i know its hard to bust into the industry so i figued a degree might help but im getting alot of mixed messages as to whether i need it or not. the 18k price tag on the school is also making me cringe because i dont know if i'll be able to get a job afterward. Mind you I have experience with playing, recording and writing music. Sooooo how did all of you who have jobs in the industry get those jobs and do you have any advice for a confused young musician. Im open to any help i can get and thanks in advance.

[Dennis Gray]

My advisor in college told me only a doctorate in music would get me a teaching job that was secure. Anything less would leave me vulnerable to be "Rolled" out of my job by anybody with a doctorate.

He said, "If you can play, go play. You don't need a degree to do that."

I did. I hit the Mobile, Alabama bar scene and played top 40 rock, country and pop hits for low wages for 20 years.

No regrets.

[Styrofoam]

If you want to sustain a career, and actually make enough money to live off of, don't pursue a career in the music industry. Now is not the right time. Put your money towards something else.

[Dancebass]

Hmmm.....that school may start to look like a rip off after a while. Most people in the industry (other than attorneys) have a simple Communications Degree that you can get almost anywhere.

 

The way you get (in) is through your internship. Get on line and find internship offers from labels, entertainment law firms, or radio stations in your area. Do what you have to do to get one. When you do get one, work harder than all the other interns combined. Make yourself indispensable to them.

 

Don't forget that you are young and free. You probably have fewer commitments than other people. That is your most valuable asset at the moment. Good food and plenty of sleep at your age is for pussies.

[BlueStrat]

The real money in the music business is in the business side of it, not the music side. I'd go into it with that in mind. People with business degrees are the ones doing the marketing and promotion. People with law degrees negotiate contracts and often end up becoming talent reps. People with accounting degrees handle all the money in the record business.

 

I know, it doesn't sound as glamorous as being a performer or even a recording engineer, but if you want a long term career in the music biz that earns a stable income, it's likely going to be in a behind the scenes job.

 

FWIW, recording engineers make a pittance compared to the other guys I mentioned. And, having recorded 3 albums in a studio, I can see where it could be the most boring job in the world after awhile.

[cherri]

Wow if you're the same Gordon I met last spring at MHS, this is a small world indeed!!!!

 

I'm very glad you enrolled in college. Can I suggest that you speak to an academic advisor at the school about your concerns? They can show you areas to apply your degree that you may not have thought of yet.

 

There are opportunities in sound and production besides the popular music world. There's a soundtrack for everything these days. You can't walk around the mall without experiencing a sonic assault in every store. Movies, TV, plays, video games, live events like skate competitions, it's endless. After you complete your degree you could hook up with the movie production company right back in the Stee, wouldn't that be ironic?

[Kramerguy]

get a degree in anything but liberal arts, music included.

 

lots of good jobs in biology related fields, and engineering is always a safe bet.

 

Anyone can do music on the side, but getting a degree on the side later in life is a total pain in the ass.

[Scafeets]

Go back and read what BlueStrat said.

Again.

He's is very correct. There's is absolutely no percentage in spending the time and money to get a certificate in anything music or music industry related. If making a decent living is your goal, get an education that will give you marketable skills, not certification. Whatever industry you end up in will transform itself over and over in the next 25 years. If you love music and are willing to gamble on living hand-to-mouth, follow your heart. If you love music and don't care what your job title/industry/profession is, get an education in something you're good at (like words, pictures, numbers, etc.) and play music on your own terms form 5PM until whenever.

If you must make a big steaming pile of cash in the entertainment industry, go to business school or law school.

[3shiftgtr]

I've said this elsewhere on HC, but since gordonswitzer asked, gordonswitzer will read it:

If you don't HAVE to do it, a career in the music business is the most egotistical, self centered, soulless, shallow, non-thinking, brain dead, thing a person can do.

 

But if you HAVE to do it because you absolutely KNOW that is why you are here on earth and the art inside of you HAS to come out at all costs, then you will be rewarded with a life's journey of epic proportions.

 

Dude, the music business has some of the most disgusting humans alive as it's gatekeepers. And there is virtually no middle class. A living wage is only made by the most aggressive, talented, hardworking, cats with miles and miles of experience. Choose wisely and with confidence.

[sabriel9v]

 

If you want to sustain a career, and actually make enough money to live off of, don't pursue a career in the music industry. Now is not the right time. Put your money towards something else.

 

 

I disagree, if you really love music and are passionate about it, go for it. I abandoned the pursuit of a music composition major because I felt it would take too long and be costly, but I really regret it.

[Styrofoam]

 

I disagree, if you really love music and are passionate about it, go for it. I abandoned the pursuit of a music composition major because I felt it would take too long and be costly, but I really regret it.

You can still pursue music, and have a passion for doing so. I'm simply saying that because of massive online piracy, now is not the right time to forge a career in the music industry. If labels don't make money, artists don't make money. If artists don't make money, engineers and producers don't make money.

 

ISPs must first tame piracy to restore the 'industry' part of the music industry.

[Scafeets]

 

the music business is the most egotistical, self centered, soulless, shallow, non-thinking, brain dead, thing a person can do.

 

 

I wouldn't go that far. Having been on both the talent and business side of the "Music Industry" and having been in a few other "civilian" professions since, I can tell you that pretty much every industry is rife with JOs and bloodsuckers. Perhaps the biggest differrence is that in other fields, the opposing sides are equally matched, while in music it is, unfortunately too often, the unsophisticated, uneducated musicians on one side and people with busness chops on the other.

 

The other element -- and this goes for both entertainers and business people -- The entertainment industry has a lot more substance abuse going on, and this tends to make people act like assholes.

[Kramerguy]

 

You can still pursue music, and have a passion for doing so. I'm simply saying that because of massive online piracy, now is not the right time to forge a career in the music industry. If labels don't make money, artists don't make money. If artists don't make money, engineers and producers don't make money. ISPs must first tame piracy to restore the 'industry' part of the music industry.

 

 

There are career paths available without the piracy issue hanging over your head. I agree there are fewer avenues and opportunities than ever before, but TV and film (publishing), production careers (again in tv and film), and performance related careers (orchestras, symphonies, talk show bands, etc..) are all options for aspiring musicians.

 

But yes, the old avenue of a "rock band" working their way up to a major label and arena gigs is pretty much a dead dog. Only if you can gain your own following, manage, market, and sell yourself to that point, can you survive on it, and at that point, you won't need a label. THere's a few bands who've done this- check out a band called "Army of Freshmen" - they worked for years to get label attention, and when they finally got it, turned out they didn't need it.

 

it's a DIY world out there now.

[BlueStrat]

Only if you can gain your own following, manage, market, and sell yourself to that point, can you survive on it, and at that point, you won't need a label. THere's a few bands who've done this- check out a band called "Army of Freshmen" - they worked for years to get label attention, and when they finally got it, turned out they didn't need it.

The downside, of course, is without the major label's marketing machine, bands like AoF have a shelf life of about a year. Not that most of the major label bands had that much higher longevity , but they did have some. But at least these bands won't be in debt up to their eyeballs, either, so maybe it's just as well to say 'we were famous for a year and owe no one anything' as to say 'we were famous for three years and still owe 150k'.

[sabriel9v]

 

You can still pursue music, and have a passion for doing so. I'm simply saying that because of massive online piracy, now is not the right time to forge a career in the music industry. If labels don't make money, artists don't make money. If artists don't make money, engineers and producers don't make money. ISPs must first tame piracy to restore the 'industry' part of the music industry.

 

 

I still don't agree with you. I initially wanted to go to school to study music composition so I could become a classical and jazz composer and arranger. I can still do that, but now I think about the fact that I had a scholarship that would have paid for all those courses and more. I pursued a degree in politics and I work with a non-profit (it's very satisfying). But some part of me always wonders what if...if the OP really loves music he should just go for it. The struggle is that much better and even sweeter when you're having fun.

[Synonym Music]

 

If artists don't make money, engineers and producers don't make money.

 

Eventually, though some artists use it to scam.

 

I didn't choose to not become an artist because I thought it was the most risky position in the music industry. They're all {censored}ing risky to varying degrees.

[3shiftgtr]

I wouldn't go that far.I can tell you that pretty much every industry is rife with JOs and bloodsuckers. Perhaps the biggest differrence is that in other fields, the opposing sides are equally matched, while in music it is, unfortunately too often, the unsophisticated, uneducated musicians on one side and people with busness chops on the other

 

O.k., I was being a bit demonstrative there. But I've been on both sides too, and the main difference I have found is not 'business chops'. It is intention. Take the touring biz for example; getting screwed is part of the gig. In the touring biz, no pays are usually the promoters goal and it is up to you to head it off at the pass. And you'll still get hosed when the money is sitting right there. Usually, mid level band owners have been screwed so many times, they just pass it along. You just accept it and move on because it costs too much to get your pound of flesh back.

 

In the 'civilian' business world, the goal is to build relationships where both businesses involved need each other. In music, that is rarely the case.

 

Not saying that there aren't a bunch of great people out there in the biz. It just takes a while to find them. In my case, a long while....