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No matter what you decide to do with your talent and passion for music, it\u2019s essential that you rein in expectations in order to set a clear career path for yourself. Want to make a living by touring and writing music? That\u2019s phenomenal, but you might need to have a flexible definition of what it means to \u201cmake it\u201d as a songwriter and performer. <\/span>This 2012 article<\/span><\/a> about the band Grizzly Bear talks about how some members of the world\u2019s most popular and celebrated indie outfit can\u2019t afford health insurance. \u201cI\u2019d like to someday own a house, and be able to have children, and be able to put them through school, in an urban environment that one enjoys living in,\u201d laments singer Ed Droste. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n When massively successful artists like Grizzly Bear have a hard time paying their bills it\u2019s probably time to redefine what it means to make it in the music industry. If you\u2019re new to music and deciding where to take your talents and passion, this doesn\u2019t mean that you should give up on your aspirations. Instead, it\u2019s essential to look forward with an open and creative mind. There\u2019s opportunities to be found and money to be made for musicians ambitious enough to seek them out. In this article, I\u2019ll talk about some of the different options for music careers out there. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n If I had a few dollars for every time someone told me to try to get one of my songs in an Apple commercial, I\u2019d probably have a nice side career going. Yes, every day hundreds of songs get placed in commercials, movies and other forms of media, and it can pay certain songwriters a great deal of money in some cases. But aside from the hefty competition from tens of thousands of songwriters trying to do the same thing as you, there\u2019s other reasons why getting paid for licensing placements is becoming a tough and nearly impossible gig to make money on. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n These outlets do sometimes pay a small fee if your music shows up in one of their shows, but you might have to split that money with everyone in your band, your manager and your publishing agency if you\u2019ve got one. I recently found out that a song I co-wrote was in a few episodes of a small cable series in 2013. My old publishing agency didn\u2019t bother to tell me, but I heard the news four years later from a royalty management company called ASCAP. My cut of $53 dollars waiting for me in my account. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hugely lucrative licensing placement opportunities out there do exist, but as television, movies and other forms of media diffuse and expand, they\u2019re getting more and more difficult to find. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Songwriting is one of those music careers that was fairly common and prominent 50 years ago but is getting rarer and rarer these days. The music and entertainment industry used to rely on songwriters and composers to do everything from creating catchy jingles for toothpaste commercials to writing smash hits for pop icons. Even something as trivial as Saturday morning cartoons often employed a composer and dozens of musicians to create the show\u2019s soundtrack and sound effects. Today, songwriting and composition careers look much different. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Labels, publishers and other agencies still hire songwriters, but not at the level they once did. The music industry used to run on a model of seeking out talent and developing bands and solo artists over an extended period with a multi-album contract. Part of this development included labels having their signed artists record the music of employed songwriters. The modern music industry is now in a tailspin because the money it heavily relies on from album sales has all but dried up with the emergence of music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and a myriad of others. Labels still make major deals with artists, but only major acts with proven followings are worth the financial risk of signing. In an effort to survive, songwriting jobs have been falling by the wayside to save labels money.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n But there are still jobs for songwriters and composers to be found in the music industry. Labels rely on talented songwriters to work with major acts when they work on new albums. It\u2019s common for major pop stars team up with dozens of songwriters for songwriting, but getting access to these opportunities is tough.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The film and TV industry still hires composers, but these coveted jobs are few and far between. But while there are less high-paying jobs for songwriters and composers now than there used to be, there are more platforms and opportunities than ever before to get your original music out there in front of people. Interested in film scoring? Record some demos of your work and post them online. A small indie or student film might be looking for some music that sounds like yours. Want to collaborate with some like-minded songwriters but you live in an Alaskan town of 212 people? If you have an internet connection, you\u2019ve got access to thousands of songwriters who post their music online!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The internet has taken away many traditional music industry jobs, but it\u2019s also given songwriters and composers an unprecedented amount of freedom, creative independence and connection with music being written all around the world. If you want a career in songwriting or composition it can absolutely happen, but it might have to be one of two or three jobs you hold down to make ends meet unless you\u2019re extraordinarily lucky. Fortunately, 2017 is an amazing time to launch music careers!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\nLicensing placements<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"music](\"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/shutterstock_638298262.jpg\")
Let\u2019s say you or your manager somehow gets the attention of a major media outlet like MTV. <\/span>Someone in charge of music programming for the show <\/span>Teen Mom<\/span><\/i> loves your music and wants to use it a song in an upcoming episode of the show. Think you\u2019re in for a major payday? Think again. Like in so many other areas of the music industry, major media outlets like MTV now have programs to save money by paying for music placements with \u201cexposure.\u201d Basically, the deal is that they\u2019ll play your song and you get to brag to your fans about it on Facebook. Not really a good way of paying for health insurance let alone propelling music careers. <\/span><\/p>\nSongwriting and music composition careers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"songwriting\"](\"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/shutterstock_426158068.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPerformance careers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"live](\"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/shutterstock_410629084.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"music](\"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/shutterstock_638169112.jpg\")
Not all music education careers require teaching degrees. There\u2019s plenty of lucrative opportunities out there for experienced musicians who are willing to lend their time and patience to students. Teaching music lessons can be a side gig or a full-time job for those who look for opportunities. A freelance music teaching career is ideal for musicians who frequently tour and perform because you get to be your own boss. And music teachers who frequently hit the road to perform have an added level of professional credibility with their students. <\/span><\/p>\n