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As a musician, how do you prepare for a career in the music industry?

The music industry is a vast place, with opportunities in almost every turn. A young musician (such as myself), can easily get overwhelmed with the amount of work available in the world. Personally, I want to be as versatile as possible in the industry, being able to work in any environment to make a living doing what I love. What is the best way to prepare for a full-time music career? #music-industry #keyboard #organist #general-career-advice-for-young-people #professional-music

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Ken’s Answer

Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities related to music is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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Anna’s Answer

I think the key is to explore all the things you can do with music beyond being performing and really think deeply about the benefits and tradeoffs of each. How predictable do you want your income to be? Are you OK with a lot of risks or do you like to prepare for what's coming? Do you want to travel every once in a while? All the time? Do you want a home and a family close by? Do you enjoy teaching? Do you enjoy performing? Or composing?

That can help you identify what types of careers will be a fit for your lifestyle in the long run. I had a friend who has had many different careers he's explored in music. He was a performer and recording artist but it wasn't predictable enough. He's managed musicians and worked for venues. He's trained other musicians and taught classes. He worked in events doing corporate events and large private events. People can find jobs recording music for movies, video games, ads, television. Working in production or recording is very popular for people who specialize in music technology. The music business includes work like marketing, distribution, and more. You may find you want playing music to be a hobby and something more predictable or lucrative where music is still in your life every day to chase as a career.

Preparing for each of those is a different process but you should build out familiarity in many of these areas. I know a few people working in the music industry and most have a diverse skillset, they know how to market themselves or their peers well, learn the business of it all and who the money flows between as content goes from an idea to consumption, get familiar with technology, understand how t o put together a website or a business plan, learn how to balance a budget. Look into the legal requirements, for example to play in Pike Place in Seattle you need a permit but it creates an instant community of older musicians around you - http://pikeplacemarket.org/permits-applications. Understand the laws behind royalties and how people actually make money and structure deals around this stuff.

Anna recommends the following next steps:

Join local music associations, bands, clubs and network with others
Capture recordings and photos at events and begin to save them to build out a portfolio
Ask lots of questions, the old guys in the biz are wealths of knowledge and know all the mistakes to avoid
Be appreciative to anyone that helps you along the way, the music industry is a small world and people remember each other
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