Alternative Careers For Musicians

Alternative Careers For Musicians

Are you familiar with the benefits of finding alternative careers for musicians?

Since it becomes more evident that the music business will no way resemble the setup of yesteryear, many musicians are left trying to determine how they could create a sustainable, or lucrative career in music.

Though album sales are on the decrease, there is no decline in alternative occupations for musicians.

The idea that any emerging artist could become the upcoming multi platinum recording artist is very possible thanks to the internet and platforms such as YouTube.

However, save for very rare cases, there is simply not the amount of demand in music that makes the essential environment for a celebrity to grow the old-fashioned way.

Being Independent

Previously, artists who broke through at the high level had the relations or the advertising team smart enough to mould the musicians to sound and look precisely how labels need them to.

However, now you can stick to your own style as an independent artist.

As the do-it-yourself Musician movement grows, musicians are constantly gaining more understanding regarding how they could sustain a career in music without needing to register to a record label and market over one million copies.

There is a seemingly unlimited way for musicians to use their understanding of any and every aspect of music to make a sustainable livelihood doing what they love: Music.

Below we have summarised the ideas about alternative careers for musicians for you.

1) Licenses

Music licensing is a superb opportunity for any aspiring artist to get paid for their listed works to appear in film and Television.

Helen Austin, an artist who has dedicated her livelihood in music to licensing her functions has put together an excellent article on laying out the four Steps to Film and Television Placement.

2) Live Performance

The live performance sector would be seen by many as the new focus of the music industry.

Even though ticket giant Live Nation recorded a drop in ticket sales in previous summers, the live performance scene surrounding the emerging audio scene has been flourishing.

A brand new trend for musicians, particularly in the upcoming hip hop scene would be to forgo signing with a record label, just to sign with a major booking company who can efficiently act as the liaison between the artist along with other, well-recognized artists and venues.

3) Studio Session Musician

There is always a demand for highly trained, highly qualified musicians to step in and add support on an album.

This ranges from freelance work to working contractually with a major label.

However, as the demand is high, so is the competition – in order to work as a studio session musician, you MUST be able to read music at a fluent speed and be able to adapt your playing to suit the needs about the client.

4) Band Manager

In addition, depending on your level of experience you can work as a band manager.

The negotiation skills and business understanding accumulated from your years as an artist can very valuable in this role.

There are quite a few different levels based on pay grade and set of skills for a  brand new band manager.

5) Online Music Brand

Finally, there is also the option to become an online music teacher and use your brand to coach and train other budding musicians.

Think about it, you may already have a following who look up to you as a role model.

With the right set-up, you can earn a steady income from this while giving back to others.

On a higher level, you can move into becoming a music business coach for higher fees.

Feeding into this, if you keen to grow your brand and have fun with it you can create merchandise such as t-shirts and items with your own logo/picture to sell exclusively to your fans.

In closing, these are some of the simple ways to keep your creativity and explore alternative careers for musicians.

Faithful in your success!