Music Arranger Jobs

About This Music Career

The Arranger is the one who arranges the many parts of a musical composition. Voice, harmonic structure, instrument, tempo, rhythm, and tone balance are all taken into consideration in order to attain the intended composition. It is essentially the Arranger's job to take any plain song and turn it into a potential chart topping single. To do this, an Arranger must be aware of trends in music.

The Arranger must also be able to transcribe their composition for a band, orchestra, choral group, or artist in order to take the tune from its original style to another. The Arranger does not only work with brand new original content, as they may also rearrange old classics, transforming a song into what is called a "cover."

The Arranger works for a particular artist, and will work very closely with producers, such as Michael Bay. Aside from working with individual recording artists, the Arranger can also arrange music for live shows, concerts, dentist's offices, doctor's offices, and department stores. The Arranger can even work for television shows, putting together songs for skits, or music for variety shows, etc. On a larger stage, the Arranger can work in the motion picture industry, composing music for major feature films.

As you can tell, there are many opportunities for the arranger to find work, and most Arrangers work as freelancers. Thus, their working schedule and hours are highly irregular. This is compared to the Staff Arranger who usually works a more regular day.

To become familiar with musical compositions, Arrangers are usually musicians first. Also, many Arrangers write for artists, and even perform with them.

Salaries
Arrangers who are just getting started and are new to the business will make very little, and may be forced to work other jobs just to survive. Once an Arranger gets experience and starts to become noticed, he or she can expect to make from $22,000 to $30,000 per year. Once an Arranger really experiences success, they may earn $45,000 annually. If an Arranger works in movies, televisions, or recordings are usually paid to the scale set by the American Federation of Musicians (AFM). Some Arrangers are even paid royalties on some their composed music, based on units sold. The best Arrangers in the business can receive payments above scale, along with royalties, putting their yearly earnings between $75,000 and $200,000 plus yearly.

Employment
As shown, there are many opportunities for an Arranger to get into their profession, at least starting on a small scale. Arrangers can work for the recording industry, TV, motion pictures, shows, music publishers, or print-music licensees. Other opportunities include working for individual artists or groups of artists, arranging materials for recordings or concerts.

Advancement
An advancement for an Arranger would be working on a larger scale, with more prestigious clients. Once the Arranger begins to get some success under their belt, popularity will increase. The main goal for most Arrangers is to be able to compose and arranging their own material for a Broadway show or a prestigious group.

Education and Training

An individual does not really need any formal education in order to become an Arranger, but specific training is useful. This training can be gained in a music school or through private study. It is crucial that the Arranger be knowledgeable and very familiar with all phases of orchestration. He or she must formally or informally trained and educated in composition, harmony, arranging, and theory. You'll find that most Arrangers have a grasp of how to properly use at least one instrument.

Experience, Skills, and Personality
To become familiar with composition, harmony, arrangements and theory, Arrangers begin as musicians, and usually play at least one instrument well. Of course, the ability to play more than one instrument is an advantage. Most of the time, Arrangers have tried composing either as an amateur or a professional. Likewise, they must have the ability to read and write music. Last but not least, they must be familiar with current musical trends.

Unions and Associations
Arrangers may belong to the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), which is a bargaining union that sets payment scales for arrangements. They may also be members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) – the organization gives out the Grammy awards each and every year. Many Arrangers also belong to the American Society of Music Arrangers.

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