Why A Career In Music Should Be Taken Seriously

I believe that there's a culture in my native UK that a music career isn't a proper one and that you should try and pursue something that's more realistic. I find this very annoying and patronizing given the amount of effort, skill, knowledge and creativity that goes into many different music careers.

Let's start with the career of a musician. There are many musicians who are gifted, talented and experienced, capable of playing many types of music to many different types of audience. This is could be a concert pianist, a rock guitarist or an orchestral musician - all with different skills and experiences but all equally talented. There are often too few opportunities for these musicians to show their talents in live venues and they often aren't paid enough for their profession, so often they have to have other jobs alongside this. 

It is equally difficult to find opportunities in music production. I have a music production degree, and the pressure to find work in this area whilst trying to find a regular income makes my lifestyle very difficult. It's very labour intensive to plan, compose and produce your own material, and competition is fierce from other producers. I feel my effort and skill should be rewarded, but I also understand that there are many other producers in my position.

Then there's the business side of music. Often artist development staff need two years to break a highly successful band or artist. It would be very difficult for these artists and bands to make a living during these two years with the cost of trying to get them to a high level of finance, performance and musicality.  

One of the main reasons people who aren't involved in music don't value it is because of their experiences of music. From childhood they may have been forced to play the recorder or a woodblock at school, neither of which are creatively satisfying and could potentially put you off music for life. Only a minority of students from my school were involved in the different bands and orchestras, so the one's who weren't involved didn't care or had no interest. It's this apathy that's carried through to adulthood and explains why many people have little value towards music and resort to piracy.

So it's important that I should emphasize this commitment and dedication people involved in music have, and no one should feel foolish for having aspirations to break into the music industry.