Is it a bad time to join the music industry?

It's always a bad time to join the music industry. 

But it's always better today than it is tomorrow.

(Though I hate the pairing of 'music' with 'industry' in that phrase)

Is it a bad time to join the music industry? Yes. Always. The music industry doesn't care about anything except money.

Is it a bad time to make music and put it out to people who might like it? No. Never. Chase that instead.

There’s never been a good time, you just do it if that’s what you want to do in life.

It’s long hours, less pay, less benefits compared to most 9-5s. Whilst you’re young it’s fun, and much more varied than a regular desk job but it can be a financial setback in your mid 30s / 40s when life priorities change.

I have many friends still working evenings / weekends because media is just like that. So work / life balance is hard.

If you are passionate and you love what you do, i dont see a problem.

Don't go all in in my opinion. Have a proper paid job and you can dedicate still time to music and you won't stress with it like if your mind depends of music.

That's my opinion as home music producer, DJ and sometimes organizing events. It's a toxic industry and needs maturity in order to enjoy it. I met many famous music producers and DJs and some are not happy and some yes. Usually the antisocial ones who don't expose much in social media or overwork are much happy in real life.

Try to enjoy every step of your career and be happy, that's what most miss.

Life is theater and most people don't kow what they're doing for the most part. Having said that, like some other poster said the music "industry" can be fun in your 20's but a drag when you're in your 30's + and there's no obvious stability.

I will say one thing though, I did know a guy (more a friend of a friend though) who worked in A&R and he was an absolute husk compared to when I first knew him many years before that. This was also someone who was really "doing it" you could say, and signed what you could regard as culturally influential acts. I reflect on that sometimes and thought it was interesting; it's like the industry took his soul.

Anyway, I probably haven't really answered your question, but if you do go into it, don't try and become one of the cool kids and become a "Henry Hoover" lol.. it won't end well.

Unless you have one hell of a social safety net, if you have literally any other viable career paths open to you, I’d exhaust those options first.

This is a passion thing not a get rich quick method my friend don’t do it if you gonna do it for the money.

most of us are self taught cause we love music and we gonna make it even if AI does better than us cause we know AI can’t express emotions it will sound fake and with no meaning behind it.

Well, there’s a lot of money being made in music. Someone has to do the work around that. AI isn’t doing anything physical like setting up hardware or playing real instruments. No one is paying to go see AI perform a concert. AI isn’t out finding new artists. AI isn’t deciding to do anything on its own. Humans are using AI to do all the things you hear about it. There’s a place in there for you somewhere.

There isn’t ever really a great time to join the music industry, it’s streaming now, before that it was piracy and before that it was the majors consolidating their ownership of other labels. MTV, radio, records and cds were also going to end the industry.

That said if it’s something you enjoy go give it a shot. People have been predicting the end of the music industry for decades and it’s still going.

If you have passion and 100% focus then go for it and don't look back.

Everything seems the wrong time until you are actually doing it...then something magical happens...opportunities happen. All the time everywhere, and anytime. You just never really know. Where there is anything, problems rear their ugly heads and now you know why and how to fix it or change it. Walk in one door and soon you're going thru another door. You wouldn't know though until you are actually in it. You can read what people say, but it's always from their perspective. I sold vacuum cleaners, really expensive ones, during a recession, door to door. Guess what? I became the top sales person for the entire eastern canadian and US territory and made good coin. Basically half of North America i was the top sales rep. It happened to ge a good time or opportunity to be in it, when everyone said it was ridiculous. You never know until you do it. If it's your passion you will perservere and rise to the top if you put your soul into it...whatever it is...wherever it is....and whenever it is. I've always been an optimist with positive attitude and passion....and it works for me.

It’s always a “bad time” to join the music industry? There’s nothing rational about it. From an objective standpoint, it’s utterly insane. But if it calls you, it calls you. You have to be willing to throw rationality out the window and make your dreams come true despite the odds.

I went to school for music and took courses in music industry. None of them taught anything about SoundCloud streams or music blogs even though these were the tools artists were using to grow.

I caught a few good breaks after graduating having built relationships with artists that signed to majors and have had objectively successful careers. I was touring every year and would have at least 3-5 major label producing under these artists yearly. All of that amounted to earnings that could be considered liveable at best and barely scraping by at worst.

There are days I wake up with dread and anxiety because I don’t know where my next check is coming from.

I’m not saying this to discourage you or to say there’s no money in music. I know people who are set for the next 20 years off of music. But a lot of jobs in this industry are extremely volatile and you can find yourself without income at any point in your career, even after finding success. The only ticket to real sustainable wealth in the recording industry is owning a significant portion of successful masters. Everything else is a gig or an investment.

The unfortunate truth is a lot of people who have large success behind the scenes started with a lot of disposable income and time to invest. They were rich before they successful and were never worried about what happens if music didn’t work out.

Long winded rant over. But I’d say if you value a sustainable salaried career that you can build a normal life around, a music career might bring you more stress than happiness.

It’s basically the worst business plan you could have. Coming from a recording engineer of nearly 10 years. Everybody wants to do it, and only the top artists aren’t losing money doing it. So basically, unless you’re at the top you’re not making money. I have friends who get 100,000 or 200,000 views sometimes even a million. They perform live shows etc. they don’t make a dime off it.

On the engineering side of things it’s similarly bad; nobody wants to pay 300 for a mix anymore. Nobody has extra money for recording services. Understandably. So they do it themselves now. Which means it’s all work and little cash. So no, I wouldn’t get into music unless you’re willing to struggle for it.

It’s always a bad time to join the music industry :).

You should start your own record label.

I’m in an area where there’s a high concentration of gigging musicians and everyone seems to do just alright. Production can be a difficult gig to come by because so many people do home production, and professional studios usually always have tons of people to call. If production is your passion, you’re best off just getting into Ableton or some other kind of DAW now as a hobby and make it into your passion. IMO it would be very hard to pursue a career as a producer without being some sort of musician - a producer is just a modern day arranger. As for A&R, the industry is saturated. Unless you want to be making tiktoks and vying for one of the many competitive entry-level “playlist maker” careers that young people want right now. Streaming services have their jobs on lock and if you can’t code, the job options are incredibly slim. I don’t mean to sound negative but if you’re into production, consider learning some instruments and being an instructor for the next generation to have the tools to create music in the modern world. The industry itself right now is eating itself alive and TikTok doesn’t help.

theres literally never been a good time to join the music industry, its a pain in the ass. but thats life innit, build a system that works for you and do it for the enjoyment and youll eventually make something out of it.

literally everything is in transition rn, but the good news is more and more industries are pushing back on ai and its being scrutinised. maybe the money will come maybe it wont, who knows

I strongly recommend you do something that will pay the bills consistently and use it to finance your music as a passion project.

But I understand why people pursue music careers. Good luck either way

I e always told people if you can be talked out of getting into the music business, let yourself.

If you’re really passionate about doing it, nothing is going to dissuade you.

The twist here is that you’re after a job other than “rock star”, so that’s promising. I’d look into the sync licensing world as a possibility. Whereas music sales and royalties have plummeted dramatically in the streaming age, it still costs real money to place music in TV, film, commercials, and other media. There’s a tangible business model there.

I’m not expert in that area, so I don’t have much in the way of direction. Rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI have resources to support songwriters, plus they and other organizations hold expos where you can hear from industry professionals in various occupations.

Networking is key here, there’s not always a front door.

I think there's a bit of confusion about what you mean by the music industry. Most comments seem to assume you mean being a musician/artist. But I think you're talking about the other music related jobs. Record companies, publishers and other music related companies have the same sort of jobs other industries do: finance, administration, IT, HR, marketing etc., as well as roles that bridge the gap between this and other industries (synch, i.e. sales, to film/tv/advertising, etc.); dsp management (getting things on Spotify, iTunes, etc. correctly) as well as A&R (most laypeople think this is the only job there is at a music company). Producers are generally all freelance now. Same with engineers. With some exceptions. The down side is because so many people love music (seems everyone I've ever met claims that music is their "life") and want to work in it, companies can (and do) pay less than the same roles earn in other industries. The upside is at the large companies benefits are often good, the people you work with are generally smart, cool and creative, and the atmosphere is very laid back (even if the work is intense) meaning you won't have to wear a suit and tie, or heels or whatever is more formal at some places, like a bank, and you probably won't have to start at 7a.m. There are jobs out there, good ones and it can be rewarding, but it's also very competitive, and the entry level pay is generally what I'd consider criminal. Much of how rewarding or annoying it is will come down to your personality. I've never been a fan of hype and the music industry is nothing but hype. It's been a good career for me, but I'm ready to get far away from it and do something "real."

So I worked for record labels, music publishers and collection societies in my 20s whilst creating music on the side. I enjoyed this a lot, it was great fun, I met and worked with amazing people and it was a blast... one downside is I didn't make much too money haha but it was good fun. So If you are going to try and get into A+R I'd recommend now is the time (in your life) because when you hit your mid 30s - well I can only speak for myself, but I don't want to go out to a gig every night of the week! (I have a few mates in the industry who still do though.) A+R can also be quite competitive, and until you get a bit more seniority you're not paid amazingly well (compared to other departments), it's a pretty cut throat sector of the industry, but saying that a very cool and interesting job...though I imagine it's changed a lot with social media compared to how it used to be.

Production is very difficult to make a stable, decent living from, though it's not impossible. Personally, I think it will get even harder as AI improves and in a few years anyone will be able to make music with limited training.

Though to be honest, you're 21, I'd say go for it for it now, give it 2-3 years and if you love it stick with it, if not you can always change. It gets a lot harder to change at 35 and start again when you have larger commitments like mortgages and family.

I think all industries are going to be massively shaken up my AI over the next 10 years - pretty much anything in the digital domain. So I don't know what isn't going to be volatile!? Nursing, healthcare, construction, teaching are a few I think off the top of my head that should be relatively safe for a bit...but who knows.

If you love it, and are extremely dedicated, you'll find a way to make it work. There's always opportunity for people who work ridiculously hard on something they love. Just if your goal is to make a lot of money in this industry, you'll be in the minority of people who actually succeed at that.

Its a sport and you need thick skin

It’s not a dumb decision if you’re not dumb about it. If you wish for it to be your life then you’d have to accept that a dream that does not involve good work is a delusion. It’s enviable to be 21 with internships - I’d say keep going! Explore the horizon!

Just because of evolving technology it wouldn’t stand to reason that the music industry is in poor condition. In fact, the industry is doing better than ever! The people involved, however, aren’t. Your play is to get ahead of others by playing the long game in a way that makes you singular. And don’t complain even to yourself about industry changes, if there weren’t we wouldn’t have an industry to begin with.

As for myself, I see the writing on the wall that being a music producer might not be the single best fit for me; I’m writing everyday and drawing out the roadmap of everything I wish to do, and getting in the music industry might not work out the way I first intended. But I’m devoted to what gives me strength. See that you feel similarly about the choices you make, whether or not you ‘make it’.

The music industry is just a subdomain of other industries, think of it like that. It’s a great time to be in it because you actually are expected on some level to be a generalist. Don’t get too caught up in labelling yourself, just act above the noise and your reputation will build itself.

You are going to have a hard time in any oversaturated creative market. That doesn't mean it can't be done, though, you just need to be prepared that you will most likely have to grind your ass off to carve a slice of the pie for yourself. I personally came to the conclusion pursuing it career wise was too risky, so for me it is just my hobby and I've become mentally okay with that fact

Never buy into any sort of fear mongering. Theres running across the street instead of walking when you see a car going a little to fast, and then there is buying into media fear mongering, and basing very important life decision on them. You get what im saying, nothing will wipe out an industry when so much money is involved, the one thing in life you can always depend on is the greed of man.

You know that saying, something like the people who made the most money during the gold rush were the ones who sold shovels? You can apply this to a lot of your life, i believe production, mixing, in this industry is some what similar. Everyone wants to be a musicians and a star. The production equivalent, i believe, is selling drum loops, melodies, everyone wants to make beats, but not everyone has the talent/dedication to do the work themselves.

Not to hijack, but I'm sort of in the same situation. I've had a career already, and I'm NOT young; but I just applied and was accepted to a university here to pursue an "audio studies" bachelor's degree. I've been wondering the same thing. "Am I making another mistake getting THIS degree?" That's my current question after racking up $60k in student loans for my first bachelor's (that has never done anything for me whatsoever).

I'd love to mix music, but I just don't know of any industry these days that's "stable." Or, at least, one that I'd want to go into with quite a few orthopedic issues.

Well if you don't have a problem with becoming an influencer and uploading content and making videos entertaining people like an internet clown like that girl who plays the electric guitar and makes horrible electro music but she's relevant and you are not (by now) because she's a public figure and you are not (yet) so go for it. Let's be honest, let's say an artist needs a producer, who is going to be selected, you or busyworksbeats? Even if you are 1000x better than him, he is well known. This is attention economy. Become relevant, acquire currency. So start uploading videos and go for it.

As opposed to never..... Just do what you want to do man

Treat it as a hobby and if it becomes more than that, congratulations :)

Stop taking advice from strangers online and follow your own dreams!

No one knows your full potential except yourself, and even so…if you truly put the time and passion into your work…you will more than likely surprise yourself as well…

You can push yourself farther than you think, if you truly have passion and place yourself in the right positions to make things happen…then good things will happen.

Don’t slow down and keep going, no matter what!

Dream true and Dream Big!

Your potential is as endless as you want it to be…

With peace and love! ✨🖤✨✌🏻

If you’re obsessed enough you will find yourself doing it anyway. The music industry is for those who are crazy enough to do it because no one will believe in you until you’ve already accomplished certain milestones

On the contrary, I think this is the best time in history to join the industry. We are living in times when you no longer really need to be signed to a major label and sign off so much of your freedom just so you have a chance at success. You can blow up through a simple sound on TikTok.

The tools and apps at our disposal have also never been this good. Streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify give you the opportunity to spread your music further that you could ever imagine. There are apps that allow you to learn and master production like never before from the comfort of your own bed. Then there are platforms that allow you to upload what you create and even allow others to listen and give opinions like SoundCloud and Fasttrak.

Then thanks to social media, we are in tune with what is trending and what people want or expect to hear much easier. Basically, everything is just here for us to utilize to the fullest and I think we would.

I'm in a similar situation. Have pretty much schooled myself for free and about to start college online next week for music production at full sail university. Check it out if you haven't already. If you're considering a career in music then you're already proclaiming to be different by the lens you View a career as. To me I'm not trying to spend the rest of my life doing something I hate. I'd rather do something I love and have faith in the lord to bear the fruit I need to do what he intends me to do. There's multiple ways to generate money off music, beats isn't the only demand in the industry. Sync licensing is a legit income. If you're talented at all and have any kind of hustle in your blood, if you can't use your craft as a start up investment and use it as passive income to establish stability, then there's a problem. Work from home, on your own time, multiple sources generating income, more time with the family, freedom to practice your craft and share it with the world? Yeah sign me up. Don't fall victim to negativity. Anyone who says it's not worth it, are lacking in self confidence and faith, prolly tone deaf too lol

Streaming services will continue to find ways to funnel money around into the major labels pockets. So unless you’re an executive at Sony, WB or Universal it’s going to be increasingly tough. With their massive investments in these services they’re manipulating the pay structures and royalty pools more and more to diminish the “middle class” of working musicians because capitalism.

That being said, don’t ever not chase what you want to do. Get Donald Passmans book All About The Music Business and start there.

You can work in publishing which is everything from a&r to writing songs, to upstreaming those songs to artists, to some pretty intense data analysis (working with registering works through cwr files to collect performance and mechanical royalties for a song in each individual territory) to even accounting. So like you can get a “normal job” that is in the industry if you so choose.

That being said, artists on these larger labels will need publishing, they will tour concerts, they will need people who can help them write songs. There are plenty of “behind the scenes” jobs or even more office type jobs in the “music industry” that have stability and longevity, heck even a career. And honestly, they’re wayyyy more chill than working corporate somewhere else and have cool benefits like shows and merch and records and such.

Yep Consider the Royalty payments coming back into the industry from streaming services then throw AI on top.

This is why we need young passionate people in the industry. To stop the old bean counter’s ruining it.

If we said yeah, would you still do it?

It's not a bad time to join per se, but every young person trying to get involved in the industry thinks they are going to jump right into production or A&R (I was one of these people once myself lol). Lots of competition for those roles and labels are going to hire someone with much more experience than a 21 year old to do those things. Its a big industry behind that with lots of niches. I got into accounting for bands, which I never dreamed of, but I love it and work is consistent and pays well and I work with some really awesome clients.

A&R is dead since social media follower counts and basic analytics does that job for you now. Production you’ll have to grind and grind and grind and keep playing the lottery with every email you send and usually adapt to sounds you think artists will want rather than your own unique sound. It’s a cutthroat industry

Bot so much a bad time as a bad idea in general. It’s probably the best time for the average person to have a shot at it. But it’s not in any way reliable or advisable.

Of course, I’m built quite differently and shall succeed with aplomb.

Yes, but don't let that stop you.

The answer to the looming BS and lower success rates is, and will always be "bitch I'm the SPOT, I blow the block up." And then 10,000h of diligent study.

Go for it - you’ll only be 21 once - just always have a contingency plan for what to do after.

I was a ‘professional’ musician in my early 20s and now have a decent, stable job in a bank in IT (it’s very chill and my colleagues are all wonderful). I’d say that most of my interesting colleagues have either tried to make it as musicians, athletes, artists, dolphin guides or whatever.

It’s always a bad time.

What music industry?

Do it if you love it and have fun with it! Dont focus too much on "the right time". Logicly the right time is right now!

Music and music industry are two completely different planets

If you sit around waiting for a "good time," to do something, you will never accomplish anything

Yes. A&R is 100% dead and what do you hope to do as a "producer"? Is the goal to be 1 of 20 on some new pop or hip-hop/R&B record?

The industry is in shambles and look no further than the point you already made - AI. Sure, the labels are going after AI companies to reel them in a bit, but AI is already and will continue to be employed to create new "artists" and "songs". It's all trash and the end goal is to only make money, never art.

The focus on the purchasing of back catalogs should also give you a huge indicator of where we are - new music is completely devalued and will never carry the weight of a "legacy" artist. The old songs are still recognizable so they're easy targets for advertising and TV/movie placements. And that brings me back to my first point about A&R being dead. Labels don't want to develop new talent. They want to know how many TikTok followers you have and how you latest "content" is tracking, not how you're talented or, unlike in the old days, if you're a pretty face on a body with zero talent to speak of. It's just about social media numbers. They want influencer types so they don't have to do any work.

I'm on the wrong side of 40 so take what I have to say with any weight you choose. I'm in the industry and have been doing music my entire life. I have the experience and 1st hand look at all of this.

Get out while you can and find something else to do. It's just not worth it anymore.

The collapse has come and gone but why does that matter? Most musicians are getting paid as little now as they ever did to make music. People don't make music to make money they do it because they love making or performing music.

If they can figure out how to pay the bills with it thats all most musicians have ever needed and if you are creative and good enough (even if you arent these day) you can figure out some way to make money.

Yes

This is the best time in the history of humanity to produce music, and a very difficult time to make a career from it.

I highly recommend that you start your own independent record label.

Always

My grandparents were professional live musicians until their 70s, my dad was raised a musical child prodigy. He’s an extremely talented award winning musician who made a career of producing. Even with his talent and coming up during the cutting edge of modern music production, he’s still had a number of lows. And his highs were non stop work. Nights and weekends in the studio.

Our whole family is musical because of their heritage, but He strongly discouraged all of us kids from pursuing it professionally mainly because it’s too unreliable. Many other reasons, but that was the big one. Also, you do something enough, it becomes a chore like anything else.

We took his advice very seriously.

Yeah , na , youre fucked. No need for people like you. Pretty soon therell be a generation of kids who dont even know what spotify is, nevermind cds and mp3s.

Well, you dont just "join the industry" or "dive head first" Interning is a lot different, because you do free work, that they would take anybody thats willing to work for free, especially if youre not actually overseeing projects, and instead just shadowing and learning. You have to start, with yourself, small projects, getting recognition, your name out there, and its not looked at is "in the industry" unless youre working for, or signed to a company or label doing large projects, and/or have recognition as somebody that people want to work with. If you want to produce, start producing, it has nothing to do with an industry. Make the music you want to make, and if it takes off, it takes off. Its not a good, or realistic view to have, that youll be "jumping into the industry".

A long stable career in music is rare as hell.

There is no making it in the music industry unless you are truly lucky or that good that you fly your way to a lucrative position or blow up and do tons of shows. If youre okay with the possibility of working your whole life for menial gains go for it, thats what were all doing.

There is no music industry.

Do not do music if you want to make money, because you won't make money.

Do music because you love music, do something else for work.

With AI on the horizon and already what has happened with digital media, I would run far away.