Keep making.
Practice is important, but so is finishing things. Finish the song. Record the demo. Play the open mic. Post the performance. Complete small creative cycles.
You do not need one perfect path to belong in music.
Some musicians tour. Some teach. Some write songs after work. Some produce records, play weddings, compose for games, run sound, lead choirs, score films, stream performances, or return to music after twenty years away. A sustainable music life can be built from many pieces.
Keep listening.
Your musical vocabulary grows when your listening grows. Study music outside your era, culture, instrument, and favorite genre.
Keep connecting.
Music careers are built through people: bandmates, teachers, engineers, bookers, venues, fans, collaborators, producers, and communities.
Keep learning the business.
Rights, royalties, contracts, booking, promotion, audience-building, and money are not separate from your art. They protect your ability to keep making it.
Build from several streams instead of waiting for one break.
Performclubs • concerts • weddings • theater • session work • worship • events
Createsongs • scores • arrangements • beats • production • sync • commissions
Teachprivate lessons • schools • workshops • online classes • coaching
Supportlive sound • recording • management • booking • repair • tech • administration
Build Directfans • memberships • merch • downloads • livestreams • crowdfunding
Career imagination
There are far more jobs in music than most young musicians ever hear about.
Berklee Online’s career explorer catalogs more than 170 roles across performance, recording, technology, live music, education, business, media, health and community work.
On Stage
Artist • band member • orchestra musician • pit musician • backup singer • touring musician
Behind the Glass
Producer • recording engineer • mix engineer • mastering engineer • studio manager
Behind the Song
Songwriter • composer • arranger • orchestrator • lyricist • music supervisor
Behind the Show
Live sound • tour manager • production manager • booking agent • concert tech
Behind the Career
Artist manager • publicist • label roles • publishing • A&R • digital strategy
Beyond the Traditional Industry
Teacher • music therapist • game audio • music technologist • journalist • arts administrator
Learn where music money comes from.
Performance royalties, mechanical royalties, sound-recording royalties, direct sales, licensing, live fees and teaching income are different streams. You do not need to master everything at once—but you should know what questions to ask.
Your health is part of the career.
Hearing, hands, voice, mental health, sleep, sobriety, finances, relationships and basic stability matter. MusiCares provides support for people working across the music community when life gets difficult.
There is no expiration date on being a musician.
You can return after raising a family, after a different career, after illness, after burnout, or simply after life pulled you elsewhere. You do not have to recreate who you were. Bring the life you have lived into the music you make now.
Today’s 10-Minute Music Challenge
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Ten minutes is small enough to begin and long enough to discover something.