Places to make a living with audio or music

There are a tremendous number of outlets and tangents in order to make money in the music industry. There are more tangents than you would believe at first.

You can be a synthesizer sound designer and engineer who actually makes the patches in a keyboard. The same type of job can be for new plugins and virtual instruments that are coded by sound designers. Any retail item that sells in stores has a history of sound, and you can work for these companies or create your own brand of products. These include guitars, amplifiers, keyboards, headphones, speakers, guitar FX pedals, DJ equipment, virtual effects and instruments, and any type of APP. Sometimes, a sound designer ends up starting his or her own line of equipment because they have seen it and connected with it at the ground level.

If you want to be a music engineer, this involves more inside-the-studio work and working with many types of artists. In this role, you will be mixing live rock bands or recording tracks with rap, R&B, or reggae artists. Your job is to get the best sounding mix. You need to be able to work well with many types of personalities. Although not technically producing (it can be that too), music engineers get paid to mix or master songs. The figures can easily get into the thousands if you are a reputable engineer that delivers a crisp sound. If you are interested in reading music and playing an instrument, you can join an orchestra in many places of the world. You can also be a concert pianist or conductor. You may work in the department of forensic audio, as you see on many legal TV series. You may be a consultant who designs the best sounding rooms for recording.

When you enjoy sharing your knowledge with others, you can become a teacher in elementary school, high school, or college, as a professor. There are also many new audio schools where you can become an instructor. You can also be a music tutor of some type of niche.

If you are curious about the inner workings of human ears, you can become an audiologist. Though not actually making music, you are helping people to use their ears or install hearing aids for those who need it, allowing them to hear all the sounds in the world. Of course, you can become an artist and make it big and become famous in a variety of ways. You can harness the power of the Internet to build your own brand and then create a buzz with a major label. As far as being a composer goes, we have already reviewed the lucrative nature of songwriting and publishing.

You can also be an in-house music composer at a variety of places. Large advertising agencies usually have an in-house composer or sound designer/engineer instead of using production music. There are many different types of DJs, including but not limited to those who perform at weddings, clubs, bars, private parties, karaoke, bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs, cruises, and amusement parks. Many DJs take the leap into the production world, where they end up being producers and composers.

A producer doesn't necessarily make the music, but he or she is the main manager of the final master recording. He or she can be the one working side by side with the recording engineer and guiding the song in the right direction. Nowadays, we do refer to major talents as producers, for example, Dr. Dre and Timbaland.

Recording studios hire recording engineers, studio musicians (who specialize in playing a certain instrument, for example, flute, piano, or guitar; providing background vocals; and so on), and mixing and mastering engineers. Composing for major films, for example, what Hans Zimmer does, is absolutely amazing. In this case, you will be scoring the music to specific scenes in a film. You can earn a lucrative living this way, especially if the film makes it to broadcast TV.

Any one, regardless of age, gender, or nationality, can make it as a composer. As long as you can create songs that enhance audio-visual messages, you will have a place in the music industry. Usually, you will want to write songs about lost love, found love, happiness, sadness, and anything that needs to match a brand, promotion, or mood.