L'attirail

Getting into the music industry can be a hard road to travel, but if you are a voiceover artist you may have the upper hand over your competition.

With the right talent, education, training and qualifications you can overcome your competitors and become a DJ for a radio station, a radio broadcaster, an announcer covering the news, provide the voice for advertisements or even get a coveted position hosting a music show on one of the biggie networks like MTV or CMT. It’s advisable that all voice talent have representation from an agent and retain the services of a reputable and well-known voice company to promote you.

Disc Jockey

It’s true DJs play music, but they do a lot of voice work too; they report the news, sports, weather and talk about the community, do the voice-overs for commercials, and talk with guests. Being a good D.J. takes talent, personality, and technical know-how. Most DJs have a background training in communications, broadcast journalism and have had coaching in public speaking, drama and voice. The job market for this type of work is highly competitive. Many DJs have representation like an agent or voice company where they post their profile and a voice sample. Bigger cities pay more than smaller ones. The pay ranges from the lowest paid 10%, who make less than .55 an hour, to the mid range paid from to an hour, and the top 10% being paid more than an hour. Most DJs do the job for the love of it, not for the pay.  Read more...

Having a career in the music industry does not mean you have to have a great voice or musical talent. There are a lot of careers within the industry that require other skills such as marketing, promotions, and design. Your dream to be a part of the music industry does not have to be crushed just because you cannot sing or a play the guitar or drums. The industry has a lot of opportunities to be involved with music, fame, and stardom. Here are some jobs to consider if you want to be a part of it.

If you are really passionate about some of your favorite bands or artists, being a promoter may be the job for you. Promoting bands can be a lot of fun and is a great job for someone with a lot of passion, an outgoing personality, and who loves live music. Promoting bands can be as simple as handing out flyers for their next concert, or as complicated as maintaining a website for the band. Music promoters’ jobs are to promote concerts.

If you like to be in control or naturally take on the role as a leader, you may want to consider being a music agent or artist manager. These jobs require a lot of organization, keeping up with schedules, and making things happen for the band or artist you are managing. You have to keep an artist’s best interest in mind to ensure a promising and successful career. A manager takes on a lot of responsibility, especially business opportunities, so that musicians can focus on creating and recording music. An agent works with promoters and managers to plan and implement concerts and live music shows.  Read more...

A music studio contains more equipment than just microphones and a keyboard. To produce a world class album, you need to get the best sound out of the artist and the music. One person whose job it is to do this is the music recording engineer.

When I think of an engineer, I think of an architect or someone who tinkers with wires and circuits all day. In the music business, they use a different type of engineer. He is called a recording engineer and his job begins as soon as the artist starts to sing.

The area that the recording engineer occupies is called the digital audio workstation, or DAW. This workstation contains all of the technical gadgets an engineer needs to fine tune the sounds he hears. The engineer works with the artist to lay down the best sound they can get. This may involve the artist recording certain parts of the song several times until just the right sound is achieved.

The recording engineer may have additional teammates to collaborate on the performance. They are mostly a part of larger projects with big budgets. Smaller projects use the recording engineer in several roles to compensate. Learning all aspects of music engineering can help you land a job in a smaller studio that needs a multi-tasking engineer.  Read more...

Have you always dreamed about working with music, but weren’t sure where to look for jobs in music and the music industry? The good news is that there are a lot more jobs in music than most people think. Performing positions include working with a studio band, playing with an orchestra and playing with a band at weddings, dances and local clubs. Outside performing, there are many other jobs in music that help support musicians from education through selling their music. The bad news is that those jobs in music are a little harder to find than most jobs. If you’re hoping to score yourself one of those jobs in music here are some hints and tips to help you along.

1. Yes, you’ll find some jobs in music in the newspaper ads.

Look under Professional in the Sunday job listings for the best luck, but ads for companies hiring in the music business are few and far between. You’ll have far better luck if you subscribe to some of the industry’s professional papers and magazines. If you’re looking for a job teaching music, for instance, regularly check the job listings in papers aimed at teachers and education professionals.

2. Internet job search sites are a good place to find jobs in music…  Read more...