Is Music Production Still a Viable Career Path?

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Choosing a career path is a big deal, and one that requires a fair bit of soul-searching. There is the desire to pick a career that you love and get fulfilment from, but you also need to be realistic. Will the career path offer the salary you need for the lifestyle you envision? Will there be jobs available in that career path? What does the future look like for this career?

For those considering a career in music production, it’s certainly an exciting venture. The problem is that, like so many other careers, there is the question about whether music production is still a viable career path. In our modern, AI-driven day and age, AI-generated music appears in everything from blockbuster films to popular music-themed online slots. This raises the question of whether humans are still needed and, if so, for how long and which tasks. To answer this, let’s dig a little deeper and explore whether music production is still a viable career path.

What Do Music Producers Do?

Before we look at how viable the career path is, let’s look at what music producers do. The music producer is responsible for all the technical aspects of creating music. This includes audio editing, working with artists to better their sound, advising on song selection for an album, producing live events, listening to demo tapes, and more.

As a music producer, you may also be responsible for planning performances, arranging facilities and equipment at the venue, working with marketing teams to ensure they capture the sound and message of the artist, operating equipment like the mixing deck, and more. In some ways, you almost need to be a jack of all trades when it comes to the behind-the-scenes details of making music.

How Do You Become a Music Producer?

Where some jobs require many years of schooling and a special degree or title, music production is more flexible. While you can certainly become a successful music producer without any type of training, it can make your career path more difficult.

Instead, try looking into an HND level or degree that specialises in multimedia, music, sound engineering, or music production. At the very least, it will provide insight into what you need to know in the job. It will also make your resume look a lot better compared to those without any formal training.

What Is the Current Job Outlook for Music Producers?

As a music producer, you can open your own business, or you can work for others. Some employers include big brands, podcasts, record companies, theatre companies, and the publicly funded sector. It’s common to work as a freelancer in this career, but there are also fixed-term opportunities. Larger companies generally tend to offer more stability.

In terms of salary, music producers make £25 to £55 per hour on average when starting. As you gain experience and advance in your career, you can charge as much as £200 per hour. And if you get to world-famous levels like Rick Rubin or Dr. Dre, the sky is the limit.

That said, it’s important to be realistic about the opportunities available. This is considered a highly competitive field where there can be more producers than work available. That means you need to work hard to get noticed and build your portfolio. Don’t expect to earn a degree in the field and instantly land a full-time position upon graduation. It rarely works like that in the industry.

What Is the Future Outlook for Music Producers?

Looking into the future of music production, there is one thing that people should take note of: you absolutely need to be creative. It’s simply not enough to have a degree and assume you’ll succeed. Because it’s such a competitive industry, you need to find ways to stand out. Not only that, but the more skills you can offer to clients and employers, the more attractive your resume becomes.

Industry experts also emphasise how important music industry internships can be. Whether your internship is done through school, or you do one on your own, this is a great way to get hands-on experience and make incredible contacts.

What Role Is AI Playing in Music Production?

At this point, most people are pretty familiar with how much AI is capable of. Unfortunately for all its good, it also poses a very real threat to the very livelihood of many careers. Music production isn’t immune to the reach of AI, and it’s making a lot of artists very uncomfortable and even scared of what the future holds.

AI can create content in mere seconds, separate sound elements within a track, create sound-alike vocals, and even write lyrics. For all the scary what-ifs that AI poses, there are also some benefits. It can make producing music and editing faster, smoother, and crisper than ever before. Ultimately, the goal of AI shouldn’t be to replace humans. Rather, it should be about using AI to be more effective and efficient. The question of whether it will make a career in music production less viable is unfortunately a bit fuzzy still.

Conclusion

You can study all the statistics, speak to those in the industry, and look at things with a realistic viewpoint and still not have a clear answer when it comes to music production. No matter what career path you pick, there will always be an element of chance because we can’t predict the future. We can make educated guesses, but that’s about as good as it gets.

It comes down to how much of a risk-taker you are, how passionately you feel about music production, and how much work you’re willing to put into it. For some people, it will still end up being the ideal path, regardless of what may happen in the music industry in the future.