Music production as a career can be a great field for those people that have a natural love for music and it’s creation. I say this because you don’t get into an industry like music without atleast having some sort of passion for it.
When it comes to people looking to expand and develop their careers they often wonder if it is difficult to get a job as a Music producer. This post will therefore discuss this so you understand this topic a bit more.
With that said, Is It hard to get a job as a Music producer?
Getting a job as a Music producer can be challenging because at the very least, you need skill, connections and a good resumé. Without at-least two of these things, finding work can prove to be difficult because this career path is quite competitive and even harder to get into.
It is also important to take into account what kind of work you’re looking to get hired for because the determinants of either your success or failure will be different per field.
This is why, for the purposes of this post I’ll divide music production jobs into two categories; which are Informal and Formal work.
Informal music production work
For the purposes of this discussion, informal work is basically any job that you can get into without having the need to possess any sort of formal music qualification like a degree in music or diplomas or certificates.
Some of these jobs include:
Recording studio producer
One of the jobs that a Music producer can get hired for is to be a record producer for a studio. These jobs can be difficult to find which is why you see most music producers building their own studios and running their own thing.
Getting into big record companies as a studio producer can be a challenge unless you have skill that tramps out your competition, have the right connections and have some sort of track record showing the work you’ve done.
You have to show proof that you actually can produce high quality music and this creates a challenge for most people that simply are not well connected enough or skilled enough.
Recording studio sound engineer
Record producers most of the time will also double as sound engineers.
Sound engineering is a great career that can change your life and its greatly sought after by various people.
Producers can get hired as sound engineers too if they exhibit the skill to engineer sound. However, sound engineering is a competitive field and you cannot depend on being hired and finding work easily especially if you’re a beginner with very little industry connections and skills.
In such situations, you’re better off doing your own engineering work in order to sharpen your skill and improve your resumé.
Recording Studio mix or master engineer
Another possible informal career path that you can get into as a Music producer is being hired as a mix or master engineer.
These are difficult careers to directly get employment in because they are delicate jobs and record studios will usually work with mix engineers that they’ve groomed.
This means they work with guys that usually start off as assistant sound engineers before they’re allowed to take on the full role of either mix or master engineer.
Event Live sound technician
Another option for you as a Music producer is to find employment in live sound engineering. If you have a good enough resumé, jobs in this space can be relatively easier to find but you’ll still need to exhibit proof that you actually know what you’re doing.
Most beginners will not find it easy to get accepted when they apply for these kinds of jobs because experience is one of the key components in this field.
Formal Jobs
Now that we have discussed the informal jobs that music producers can find, let’s get into the Formal jobs available for music producers.
Music Teacher
Being a Music teacher will basically have you mostly teach and impart knowledge in students than produce alot of music. For formal Jobs like this, you need a college or university degree and I simply have not heard of any people that teach in formal settings without professional formal qualifications.
This is one of the difficulties which a producer might face if they don’t have the appropriate music production qualification. They may be forced to go for informal job opportunities which could also prove to be difficult to find.
Corporate Audio Tech
Getting into the corporate world may prove difficult for someone without the necessary professional qualifications.
Granted there are a lot of formal Jobs out there, but, in this post; I chose to focus on the corporate world aswell as formal teaching because they basically cover enough of the landscape for me to get my point across.
Corporate companies may hire you as a person that has the appropriate skill in audio production to help them in setting up any events such as meetings that require good audio.
Most corporate, clients will work with very specific individuals that are either highly recommended or possess good professional qualifications.
Which means it won’t be easy for you to get into this field especially if you’re a beginner.
The Remedy
Finding jobs as a Music producer is definitely a challenge but you can always Remedy that by starting your own recording studio.
You won’t get to making a lot of money within a week but in the long run, you’ll begin to establish your foothold.
Opportunities will be aviable for you for the taking so don’t primarily rely on finding a job with your skills, focus on starting your own studio so you can work with clients and sharpen your skills as you go.
