A Career as a Professional Singer Essay Sample

📌Category: Business, Career, Entertainment, Music, Musicians
📌Words: 1268
📌Pages: 5
📌Published: 03 February 2022

“A strange art - music - the most poetic and precise of all the arts, vague as a dream, and precise as algebra.” said Guy de Maupassant, a famous French author.  I have never been all that interested in having a job that requires me to wake up and do the same mundane routine every morning that would then lead me to doing the same activities and projects all the time. I would much rather be doing something fun that I truly enjoy. As of right now, that looks to be something in the field of music, specifically being a professional singer. Therefore, throughout this paper, I will be discussing the career of music performance and be specifically looking into the field of being a professional singer. 

There are several common misconceptions for choosing a career in the field of music including: the need to be talented, professional lessons are necessary and that they must be started at a young age to ensure success. Though these are definitely helpful in this career they are not necessary, and success can still be achieved without either of them. A more correct idea of what this field looks like depends on whether a person wants to be an independent artist. There are really no prerequisites or specific experience or educational requirements required for people who want to be an independent artist. 

While different music companies may have slightly different expectations and rules, there is a typical baseline for the working conditions and qualifications of professional singers. These can change depending on how popular the singer is. For example, a singer who is more well known and popular may be required to put more time into their practicing and work longer hours for longer periods of time, or at least for as long as they remain popular. A professional musician working forty hours a week typically earns around thirty-five dollars and eighty-six cents per hour which then adds up to $68,851.2 per year (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2018). While there are no postsecondary education requirements for singers that are interested in popular music, it is not uncommon for professional musicians and singers, especially in classical music, to have a bachelor’s degree (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2021).  

Important qualities needed to be successful in this career path include dedication, interpersonal skills, discipline, musical talent, physical stamina, and promotional skills (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2021). Dedication is of the most essential from this list because without it a musical performer's chances of success are extremely low. A person needs to be unafraid of rejection and not take it to heart when they are told “no” over and over again. They need to be willing to try again and again and again until they are given the opportunity they have been looking for. Interpersonal skills and promotional skills are important because the performers need to have the ability to work well with a variety of people that are frequently changing whether it be to perform with them or to get a contract or deal with them. These skills are especially important for both professionals that work as independent artists and those that work for private companies or entities. 

Everything so far has been from the perspective of a company, but what about from the perspective of an actual employee of one of these music companies? An interview with Miranda Mulhlland, an award winning Canadian musician, record label owner, and festival founder, shows just how difficult the life of a professional musician can be even in the event that they are successful. She talks about the challenges that professional musicians are having to deal with. Among them are financial struggles, time management, and what is known as the “value gap” (Jewell, 2019). In terms of financial struggles, many lesser known artists struggle to end up with fair deals and returns when it comes to online platforms sharing and allowing for consumers to hear the artists creations (Jewell, 2019). On top of this, the time that they spend marketing, engaging and connecting with people, reporting, recording, and posting all take up significant chunks of time from the day leaving less time for musicians to be creative and actually create music(Jewell, 2019). This can end up hurting them and their careers. Finally, the “value gap” plays a big role in the current realm of musicians, with the large difference that can be seen between the revenue generated by music-generating platforms versus the revenue generated by the people who created and invested in the creation of the work (Lawrence, 2019).

This makes it clear that if a person were lucky enough to become extremely popular quickly, then they can make a lot more money and not necessarily deal with a lot of these common problems since they will have people looking for and asking for them to perform rather than having to look for people and try to convince them to allow them to perform. 

Before, it was briefly mentioned that physical stamina is a good quality to have in this field due to ever changing schedules. It is even more important when a singer or performer is going on a tour because of the fact that they need to be able to keep on top of their training and learn to quickly adapt to changes in time zones. This is one of the most exciting aspects of being a professional singer in my eyes, as travelling has always been a goal of mine. I want to be able to travel as much as I can and I think that this would be a great way to do that.

Much of what touring looks like for an artist depends on whether or not they are being sponsored by or work for a record company or if they are independent. If they are going on behalf of or with a company, then the company acts as a sponsor for them and will usually pay for accommodations and activities that they are required to participate in. On top of this, the artist is often given or made aware of an important schedule that they are expected to follow to the best of their ability. On the other hand, if an independent artist is touring they would be responsible for finding a way to get the funding they need for the trip whether they do it with their own money or make a deal with a company or brand. They would then be in charge of all of the planning and scheduling as well as making sure that they keep on top of said schedule. Another big difference between the two would be that if the singer is signed with a company, especially a more popular one, they do not have to worry about getting people to come and see their show by themselves because the company will likely advertise the performance for them. On the other hand, independent artists have to spread the word of their performances on their own, which largely happens through social media. 

Even after learning all of this information, I would still love to go into this field and I believe that I have many of the qualities that I would need in order to be successful. Some that I likely still need to increase my likelihood of success even more would be promotional skills, willingness to put myself out there, and my ability to recover quickly from being rejected and be ready to try again. I feel I now have a more solid understanding of the field as well as a good idea of how I should go about starting to learn certain skills I need and fine tuning my existing skills. 

References

Jewell, C. (2019, August). The harsh reality of life as a musician: An interview with Miranda Mulholland. WIPO. Retrieved October 8, 2021, from https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2019/04/article_0004.html. 

Study.com. (n.d.). Take online courses. earn college credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers. Become a professional singer: Education and career roadmap. Retrieved October 8, 2021, from https://study.com/articles/Become_a_Professional_Singer_Education_and_Career_Roadmap.html. 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2018, March 30). 27-2042 musicians and singers. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Retrieved October 8, 2021, from https://www.bls.gov/oes/2017/may/oes272042.htm. 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021, September 8). Musicians and singers : Occupational Outlook Handbook. Occupational outlook handbook. Retrieved October 8, 2021, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/musicians-and-singers.htm#tab-6.

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