Work and Jobs in the Music Industry

Tell someone that you want to get into the music industry and they'll probably go on to tell you that it's way too competetive and that you'll never succeed.  However, despite the fact that it's truly a competetive industry most people also tend to underestimate the sheer amount of music related jobs that need doing.  There is a lot more work in the music business that most people think and you don't necessarily have to be a musician either.

The music industry can be split into three main sections:

1.  The performance sector

This is how musicians make most of their money, from performing live at gigs, concerts and festivals.  Artists also make money from performance royalties for any recordings that they've performed on every time it's broadcast to an audience  Jobs for this sector include band member, promoter, band manager, sound engineer, web designer and radio DJ.  If you perform live or have performed on songs that are being broadcast to an audience then you are in the performance sector of the music industry.

2.  The recording industry

Although musicians also make money from performing they also make money from mechanical royalties every time their music is reproduced (sold).  Mechanical royalties make up for a relatively low percentage of musician's income, recordings (albums/singles) are more of a promotional tool to promote the band and so that fans can learn their songs from memory before going to see them play live.  However, a lot of investment goes into album production.  If you have a recording of one of your songs available to the general public for their consumption then you are in the recording industry.

3.  The publishing sector

Publishing companies or musicians exploit their music's copyright in order to make money.  In other words they make their music available to the public then pay royalties out of their profits on to either the musicians or an organization such as PRS (Performing Rights Society) to collect the royalties on their behalf.  Publishers also pay a percentage of the money they make from licensing or synchronization fees to the original artists (when it's used in television or a production).  Jobs in this sector include licensors, licensees, composers, performers, collection agents and administration.