So you want to become a professional musician? I’m not surprised. The UK music industry is a vibrant, creative, and exciting environment in which to work, and professional musicians across all genres are widely admired and respected for their hard work and skill.
However, establishing a successful music career can be challenging in such a competitive scene. This article will give you a head start, with the best advice to help you break into the music business and become a professional musician yourself.
Important Steps to Help You Start Your Music Career
The dawn of the internet and social media has created a wide space of opportunities in music. However, to achieve your goals in your new music career, you must consider the following tips and steps.
Think and Act Like an Entrepreneur.
To become a career musician, you have to take music as a major time career. You will have to go all the way and take the risks. To get a profitable music career, your music must become your business.
Every business deserves a business plan. Therefore, you have to create a music business plan. You can use some online resources to get the right templates.
You know exactly what you want.
To create a career out of music, you will have to know what your intentions are. Outline your goals as clearly as possible. Create milestones and highlight the various required steps to take you to your dreams.
Build Up a Fan Base
Every successful musician has a fan base. The dawn of social media has made this very easy for musicians. Create a very large audience on your social media platforms, show them your capabilities, and gain their trust, and they will be ready to support you when the time comes.
You need role models and mentors.
The best way to achieve success in a particular endeavor is to make sure that you have someone who is already successful in that field. The role of role models and mentors cannot be over-emphasized.
Seek advice from successful people on how to make more money with your music career. Gather their ideas and create a plan of action with them.
Improve your selling skills.
The business of music may not be like every other type of business. You will need specialized knowledge in music marketing and sales to break through in the 21st century. This means that you’ll have to learn how to take advantage of the Internet and how to market your musical brand in the most profitable way.
To get these skills, you can take advantage of free and paid online music marketing classes.
Take action.
From the list of tips we have given above, you must have gathered some lines of action. Compile these actions into a single list and start working on them as soon as possible. To help you get more motivated to take steps, assign a date to every single action and make sure you fulfill them on the set date.
Take advantage of the Internet.
With the Internet, you can achieve more goals with a small amount of money. You do not need so much money to promote your music anymore. You can do all that with the help of the Internet. Take advantage of every provision the Internet has for your music career. launch a campaign, build up a fan base on Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, Facebook, and so on.
Create a budget.
Have a proper understanding of what your expenses should be and create a budget. This will help you make smart decisions. You can consider employing an agent if you do not have one. An agent will help you make more money from your music while you focus on improving and advancing your skills.
These are the major steps to take if you want to become a career musician.
How to Become a Professional Musician
Perhaps you have not advanced your skills enough to be called a professional in music. These tips will help you.
Choose your role.
Picking the right role in music is very important. Your preferred role should depend on your innate abilities and passion. You can choose to become a singer, play a certain type of instrument, or go into music production. Every single musical role is lucrative; you just have to know how to market your skills.
Choose your niche in music.
Choosing a niche should not be very hard. Your niche should not differ from the type of music you already love from your childhood. After choosing your niche, you must learn the best and most profitable marketing strategy for your niche. Identify the right instruments to master, identify the right audience, and cultivate the right set of skills.
Improve Your Music Skills.
This involves learning and developing the right set of skills. Identify the right set of instruments to learn and master them. Since you have already picked your role, you should know how to best play that role. This is where practice and experience come in. To become a professional musician, you will have to spend hours building yourself to perfection. Make time, resources, and choice sacrifices to be the best at what you do.
Pay for Special Classes
One of the best ways to improve your skills is to invest in them. Pay professionals to teach you the best practices. That way, you will have good constructive growth. You can study at a conservatory, go for guitar lessons or vocal classes. This particular step will enable you to move to the apex of your skills.
Earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Music.
Getting a very good certification could earn you a great deal of growth and respect. To get into a specialized undergraduate program in music, you will have to pass a musical audition in that field. You can go into the following areas as a music major: opera or voice, music therapy, jazz studies, percussion, etc. The following will be included in your course work; music history, music education, world music cultures, modern popular music, etc.
Top-Paying Music Jobs
If you haven’t made a decision on how to make a career out of music, The jobs below have been proven to be more lucrative in recent times, going by their average per annum earnings;
- Band leader-$103,000 per year
- Choreographer- $83,000 per year
- Music Producer-$74,400 per year
- Music Professor-$56,000 per year
- Artist Manager-$46,000 per year
- Music Therapist-$44,000 per year
- Music Teacher-$43,000 per year
- Music Director-$41,000 per year
- Singer-$40,000 annual salary
- Audio Engineer-$39,000 per year
How Long Does It Take to Become a Professional Musician?
There is no fixed duration of time to earn professionalism in music. In fact, the musician’s growth is continuous. For some people, it takes between 3 and 10 years to become professionals. For others, it may take less than that.