The highest-paying jobs in the music industry

13 September 2018, 12:44 | Updated: 14 September 2018, 08:46

With a wealth of jobs to choose from, here is a list of the music industry’s most lucrative professions.

The thought of embarking upon a career in the music industry can seem daunting. It is an industry often portrayed as unstable and the people in it poorly paid. But fear not: there are well-paid jobs in the industry that can sometimes roll into six-figure salaries.

1. Film / TV music supervisor

   Film and TV music supervisors are responsible for managing the overall budget for the project's music. You would need to understand and work with copyright issues and legal limitations, liaise with record labels, composers and musicians.

2. Music Therapist

   This is for those equally interested in science and socialising as they are in music. Music therapists work in healthcare and education and the 'office' can be in hospitals, community mental health agencies, rehab clinics, prisons, disability centres amongst others. If you're in the UK and working for the NHS, the starting salaries range from £26,041 to £34,876 (band 6) but more experienced therapists can earn from £35,000 to £60,000.

   

3. Record label / Tech company professional

   Apple Music, Spotify and the like are fast-paced and competitive areas of the industry, but their salaries can reflect the hard work. Plus, record labels and tech companies often take the time to scout out new talent and develop the careers of new artists, alongside coordinating the record production, manufacturing, distribution, marketing and promotion.

4. Music lawyer

   Copyright law and trademarking is an essential element of music production. Artists can be charged an enormous amount of money for plagiarism, and this is where lawyers specialising in copyright come in. You could easily earn £50,000, and be working with highly influential musical clients.

   

5. Booking agent

   This salary all depends on the income of the artists you book. Booking agents work with managers, venues, record labels and festivals to get the best shows possible for their artists. In return they work on a commission of between 10 and 20 per cent of the artist’s fee. So depending on who you're working with, you could earn a pretty penny.

6. Video game audio creator

   There are many jobs available in this field; composer, sound engineer, orchestrator. You could be taking home anything between £22,000 to £50,000 for a project, depending on the scale of it. Composers also earn extra from writer's royalties if their music is bought or streamed.

   

7. Producer

   TV, radio and stage producers plan, write and coordinate multiple aspects of live and programmed shows. Scripting, directing and editing are all a part of this. You’ll have to be good at multi-tasking if you want to take on this challenging role, but with experience the salary can be rewarding.

8. Music teacher

   This is one of the most important jobs in the music industry. The salary is also very respectable; dependent on experience and location, the average annual salary for a music teacher in the UK is £36,227.

   

9. Road manager

   If you love to travel and want to work in the live music industry, this job is up your street. Road managers work on national and international tours for artist and organise everything from arranging travel to managing show budgets. Although it sounds like a lot of work, road managers responsible for large tours of in-demand artists can earn a six-figure salary.

10. Bioacoustician

    Probably unfamiliar to the majority of us, bioacoustics is a growing field of study in music and science. It focuses on the study of the physiological and psychological elements of listening to and producing music.

    

11. Promoter

    This job is high-risk, high-reward. Averaging a salary of £30,000 – £50,000, promoters work with venues, agents and record labels to plan shows for artists. The potential success of building a career for an up-and-coming artist or band can be rewarding, but these artists can end up being poached by other promoters.