Music Careers

We’re the Authority on Music Career Information & Research

Since 2010, we’ve been interviewing experts in the music business to uncover the details of their careers. The juicy bits. We do this to help give you a deep understanding of what each music career is, how much money you can make, how to get started, and more. Sites such as Wikipedia, Entrepreneur, Medium, wikiHow, and many others reference us in their own articles. Our insights are that good.

Which careers in music pay the most?

When we think of high-paying music careers, we often think of superstar performers who rank in annual salaries in the millions. That’s certainly true for some of the biggest acts in the world, the musicians who’ve won the Music Industry Olympics and are on top of their game.

You can also make a decent living with some careers in music that have a more straightforward path. Not every music industry success story is a Taylor Swift or Jay-Z-level mega talent. In fact, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to have a great, financially-fulfilling career in the music business, no matter where your interests lie.

These are the music careers that pay the most:

• Singer: Top-earning Singers earn $170,000,000 annually
• DJ: Top earning DJs earn $46,000,000 annually
• Music Producer: Top earning Music Producers earn $19,000,000+ annually
• Songwriter: Top earning Songwriters earn $883,000 on royalties for one song
• Concertmaster: Top earning Concertmasters earn $622,000 annually
• Opera Singer: Top earning Opera Singers earn $200,000+ annually
• Publicist: Top earning Publicists earn $200,000+ annually
• Concert Promoter: Top earning Concert Promoters earn $187,000+ annually
• Entertainment Attorney: Top earning Entertainment Attorneys earn $186,000+ annually
• Orchestrator: Top earning Orchestrators earn $175,000 annually
• Director of A&R: Top earning Directors of A&R earn $150,000+ annually
• Mastering Engineer: Top earning Mastering Engineers earn $143,000 annually

Through our career profiles, you’ll learn about so many more amazing careers in music. There are more than 130 different music career articles on our website…so you can easily find the role in the music industry that best fits your unique interests and skills!

Is music a good career choice?

We get it. The days of high-flying record execs are (mostly) gone. It’s a lot harder for artists to make money from streaming than it was with physical music products like vinyl and CDs. Like most industries, the music business is constantly evolving. That means there’s a lot of room for independent artists to find financial success and for career music professionals to grow in the industry and create new sources of income.

So, if music is your passion and makes you happier than anything else you could do in the world, then yes, music is a good career choice.

That said, knowledge is power. It’s important to know about the education and skills required for careers in the music industry, the salary and work lifestyle you can expect, and how to get a foot in the door.

That’s why we’re here. As the most comprehensive educational site about music careers on the web, you can rely on our experts’ opinions and advice on what working in the music business is really like.