In your family, there must be a musician, or perhaps several. And if there aren't, then you must know someone who is professionally dedicated to music. Have you ever asked them how hard it is to make a living from music? And if you have, what have they answered?

At least in my case, I have heard all kinds of comments. Some are positive, but others are not. Every musician can have a different experience, so for some, it's something they wouldn't recommend, while for others it's the best thing that ever happened to them. It all depends on the opportunities that each musician has. Some of them had the opportunity to work in important places all thanks to their talent and persistence.

But in the same way, we cannot be blind and avoid something important:

Being a musician has been one of the worst-paid professions in history, and that's no secret to anyone.

And no, we are not talking about famous artists who achieve success... We are talking about normal people who work professionally as musicians either in schools, churches, conservatories, or private concerts. Making a living from music is more difficult than it seems, however, all the people who manage to make a living from what they love… have a lot of merits.

In this article, we are going to talk about the average salary of today's musicians. But in the most realistic and updated way possible.

Before we start, you should keep in mind that a musician can perform many tasks in the professional field such as the ones we mentioned above. But depending on them they can earn more or less money. For example, many musicians work in these areas:

Mixing engineer: The mixing engineer is in charge of making everything sound good, how is this? Well, the engineer balances all the tracks in a DAW so that they sound right. The most important role of the mix engineer is to prevent vocals and instruments from clashing within a song.

Composer: The person in charge of the musical composition. A composer can transcribe his musical ideas thanks to the previous knowledge he has, however, he must follow some rules... which are:

• Rhythm
• Harmony
• Melody
• Tonal Structure

The composer generally works for large orchestras but also works for artists of different musical genres.

Uncover the latest insights on what today's musicians can expect to make financially.

Arranger: Composers get along very well with arrangers since they both write and transcribe scores constantly. But arrangers also make custom arrangements to specific parts of a song that bring the originality the artist is looking for.

Orchestrator: After a composer has an idea for a song, a movie, or a video game... The orchestrator is in charge of writing scores based on those ideas.

Lyricist: Specifically in charge of writing lyrics for songs, musicals, commercials, movies, short films, etc.

Sound designer: As abstract as it may sound, he/she is in charge of creating sounds, experiences, and emotions within a movie, a play, applications, or a presentation.

Music producer: You may already know what a music producer does, but we'll talk about the important things! A music producer is in charge of supporting an artist or a band. His main function is to guide the recording sessions either on an album or EP, guide the musicians to improve their performance, and perform the final mastering process. Of course, he does a lot more, but for this occasion, we only mention the basics.

Being a studio musician is a great way to make money and hone your craft.

These kinds of jobs always pay well since they are usually for important concerts or well-known artists.

To give you a general idea of how much they can earn... According to Salary.com (2022), the average salary of a musician is $45,133 per year, but the salary range usually varies between $34,915 and $53,909. Yes, this is not a lot of money, but remember that it is approximate.

It all depends on how many projects you've worked on in a year, or how many artists you've worked with. Many times that can double the salary, as the payouts are much larger. The music industry is complicated and you have to work very hard to get noticed…

Now, if you are a musician in the United States and you don't know how to get a job, here are some tips:

• Find available job offers:

To get a job the first thing you need to do is… look for the different available offers. Depending on your studies, whether you graduated from a music school or you have experience working in the music industry, you should find a job in which you have a lot of mastery and feel comfortable.

Working as a musician is just as exhausting as any other profession, you should be aware that it is not an easy job. Many times you will have to get up early or work long hours. Other times you will have to spend weekends working all day, but it will be one of the best experiences of your life!

• Prepare for job interviews or auditions:

In case you decide to work as a music teacher, you will probably have to do a few job interviews. In them, you will have to demonstrate the musical knowledge learned throughout your life.

You can be a piano teacher, a guitar teacher, a violin teacher, or a drum teacher, among many other things.

If you're not ready to put in long grinding hours to make a decent living then you might want to look elsewhere. Music needs to be your passion.

Remember that by being a music teacher, you are responsible for educating hundreds of people. This means that you have a great responsibility, so you must do it correctly.

• Be responsible and professional:

This advice does not only apply to musicians but to any kind of job. Why is it important to be responsible? Because you must make a good impression on the people you work for, and the friendlier you are to others, the better.

• Enjoy your work!

Last but not least... enjoy and love your job. Few people ever get to work in their dream job (in this case music) so feel grateful and do your best to enjoy every day to the fullest.

What did you think about this article? Did you like it? If so, share it with other musicians or friends!