How Do You Stack Up? Compare Music Industry Salaries with New Berklee Study

Are your earnings lagging, ahead of your colleagues, or right on target?

Berklee has some very valuable information for you.

Now you can find out with Berklee College of Music’s newly released Music Careers in Dollars and Cents, a comprehensive directory of salary ranges for U.S. music positions including performance, business, audio technology, education, and music therapy.

Music Careers in Dollars and Cents was first released in 2010. Now Berklee has updated it as 2012 draws to a close, to keep the survey as current as possible.

Significantly expanded in scope, the study makes some surprising findings, while others come as no shock. Who’s up and who’s down? And what are the hot careers that are about to blow up? You can view the directory yourself right here .

Here’s more information about Music Careers in Dollars and Cents, as explained by Berklee College of Music:

“New features include updated salary and job information and more detailed salary ranges for many positions, such as TV and film score composer, music supervisor, and songwriter/lyricist. Job titles like video game composer, film score conductor, and concert hall manager that were not included in the previous edition have been added. A flowchart on negotiating a job offer and a resources section that includes professional music organizations and associations are also new, along with artist revenue trends with information from the Future of Music Coalition’s recent survey.

The study shows salaries trending upwards for certain positions (orchestral musician, assistant professor, public relations specialist), while others are seeing a decline (commercial jingle composer, A&R representative, music education administrator). Some changes are due to more comprehensive data collection, but market factors are also at work.

‘It’s important to remember, despite our best research efforts, all salaries represent only ranges, dependent on numerous variables,’ said Peter Spellman, director of Berklee’s Career Development Center.

‘There is downward pressure on many music performance salaries right now due to the slowing global economic recovery, changing perceptions of music’s value, and hyper competition,’ Spellman continued. ‘Thus, all the more reason for musicians to expand their repertoire of both musical and professional skills in this transforming industry.’

Music Careers in Dollars and Cents also includes an expanded emerging career paths section highlighting current positions that are expected to experience continued growth in the coming years. These titles include mobile music app developer, social media manager, integrated marketing, content acquisition, audio advertising producer, online video music teacher, and creative arts therapist.

In addition to emerging careers, the study covers a broad range of more traditional music-related fields, including orchestral, Broadway, and studio musician—with information on union rates and scales; choir director; arranger; conductor; instrument maker; A&R representative; artist manager; music attorney; live sound; record producer and engineer; audiologist; and music teacher.

Berklee’s Music in Dollars and Cents study, produced by the college’s Career Development Center, is the result of months of research and revisions. The report aims to be the most comprehensive and user-friendly resource of its kind—not only for the Berklee community, but for the music industry at large.”

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