Music Internships: A Great Way To Gain Experience

Anyone who has ever been to college, spoken to a career counselor, or searched “how to get a job” on Google will have surely heard about the importance of internships. “You should get one“ the experts say.“Internships are a great way to gain experience“.

Yeah, we know. We’ve heard this story a thousand times. But the same could be said for actually getting a full-time job. “Oh, but getting an internship can help you get a full-time job” they say. That’s true. But internships can also be very time-consuming, which may put a strain on college students who are taking a full slate of classes. Internships also tend to pay less (if at all) than full-time jobs, which can make them a less appealing option for individuals who are not financially sound.

Taking these things into consideration, you might wonder why anyone would want to get an internship. Is there a point? Or is this just a waste of time? As a matter of fact, internships are not a waste of time. In fact, there are number of reasons to go out and get one right away. Here’s why.

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How To Make A Living As A Singer

It’s every singer’s dream to have a career doing what they love, but the odds of becoming famous are, quite literally - one in a million.

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Getting Your Solo Music Career Started

This article by Kenneth Estrada y Santiago originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper

Over the last 15 years, I’ve been part of seven different musical projects. I’ve played in all kinds of bands: a shoegaze trio, an experimental metal duo, an electronic pop group, an indie rock band, an ambient octet, a punk rock quartet, and a German teen pop group.

I ended up leaving all of them. Why? For various reasons, sure, but all with the same thread of ambition attached: I had a vision for myself and my own music making that these projects weren’t entirely satisfying. I wanted to write my own songs. But most importantly, I didn’t want to fight for every single idea I had in my head anymore.

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7 Laws For Smart Songwriting

Music surrounds us every day – we hear it while driving the car, shopping in the mall, or eating in a restaurant. It has become a part of our everyday routine, and some of us can’t imagine an hour of our lifetime without a favorite song.

Music is something we aspire to. It’s something that communicates emotions rather than words. It motivates us to work, rest, cook, exercise. There’s a song for everything we do. It awakes right emotions, so that we can get more motivated.

And if you belong to that type of people, who like to sing about their emotions, you’re probably a potential songwriter. It may seem that if you have an ear for music and a poetic talent, it would be super easy for you to right a hit song.

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What To Do After Your Band Breaks Up

Being in a band is just like being in any other relationship: the beginning is exciting and full of possibility, but at some point, you might realize that you and your bandmates just aren’t on the same page anymore.

Whether it’s a build-up of small annoyances or big creative differences, it can be extremely difficult to come to the decision that it’s best for your band to break up. This is especially true if you’ve been playing together for a long time and have deep personal connections with your bandmates.

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Financial Lifehacks For Musicians

To dedicate a good amount of your time, energy, and resources on music is to accept that the financial reward rarely even doubles the sacrifice you put in. If you want to take your music seriously — even as a serious hobby — this makes some of your personal expenses a little bit harder to come by.

Whether it’s food, travel, or healthcare and insurance, the musician life is not always an easy one. However, hard is not the same thing as impossible. Here are some basic life hacks for saving money as a musician.

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10 Types Of Songwriter Jobs

This guest post by Evan Zwisler originally appeared on the Bandzoogle Blog

Songwriters have a special place in our culture. If you’re a songwriter, you’re not simply playing music, you’re imbuing our lives with a soundtrack that is evocative, thought provoking, and deeply meaningful.  

Most bands have a songwriter, or several, and most songwriters have been in a band before. But being a songwriter can be a more feasible career choice in the long run.

Here’s a look at some of the different types of job opportunities that are available to songwriters.

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How To Write An E-mail Pitch That Gets Your Music Heard

Here are the five key elements you should include to make your pitch e-mails stand out from the rest.

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15 Best Part-Time Jobs For Musicians

This post was written by Lisa Occhino and originally appeared on the Bandzoogle Blog

You were probably well aware when you decided to pursue music as a career that money wasn’t exactly going to start pouring in on day one. It’s no secret that until you’re able to earn a full-time living as a musician, you’ll need to supplement your income in some way.

The key is finding jobs that provide some financial stability, but also flexibility so you can still play gigs, rehearse, write, and go out on tour.

While having a side job that’s related to music is awesome for obvious reasons, many of the best jobs for musicians are actually in completely different fields, allowing you to dedicate all of your creative energy to your craft. The 15 jobs for musicians below are far from an exhaustive list, but use this as a starting place to see what jumps out at you or sparks an idea.

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3 Reasons Why Your Music Career Fails Even When You Have A Lot Of Musical Talent

3 Reasons Why Your Music Career Fails Even When You Have A Lot Of Musical Talent

By Tom Hess

You must build your music career in many areas besides musical talent if you want to succeed. Here are the main reasons why musical talent isn’t enough:

1. You Don’t Know How The Music Industry Really Works

People call the music business a business for a reason. You become successful in your music career when you learn how to make yourself valuable as a potential business partner for others in this industry. This involves learning how to earn a great living from music alone so you don’t need to work full time at a non-music day job just to get by.

2. You Don’t Have A Way To Leave Your Day Job And Earn Money From Music

One of the most common music career traps you need to avoid is getting stuck working 40 hours per week at your day job while your music career slowly fades over time. To avoid the frustration and regret that comes with this, you need to learn how to create multiple sources of music-related income.

You don’t have to rely on a single paycheck to pay your bills when you earn money from many sources at once. When you understand how to make money from many sources in a passive manner, you gain both time AND money. This way you have more time to pursue musical projects and grow your music career.

3. You Take Advice From People Who Are Not Professional Musicians

You’ve no doubt received tons of music career advice from people who never made it in this business. Although these people mean well, it’s a very bad idea to follow the advice they give you. For instance, a lot of people say that working in the music business is a very unstable way to make a living. They tell you that you must go to college to get a degree as a backup plan. Following this advice only leads to you spending less time with music and more time in some other field (with added student loan debt).

Want to reach your music career goals faster? Read the concepts of this music industry article to learn how to stay away from the most common pitfalls that prevent musicians from succeeding.

About The Author:

Tom Hess is an online guitar teacher, recording artist and music career coach. As a music career coach, he helps musicians from many countries break into the music industry. On his music instruction website you can find out how to become a pro musician and learn how the music industry works.

3 Reasons Why Your Music Career Fails Even When You Have A Lot Of Musical Talent

Songwriting And Building A Sustainable Career

1. As a songwriter, what type of environment do you find you write the best in? What sorts of things or tools do you need around to be in the right headspace to write?

I have a home studio I work from, which can be both convenient and distracting. You basically never have to change out of your pj’s, although extremely comfortable, it can slow the process down. I actually love to write in new locations, i.e other people’s studios, writing spaces, in nature, etc. As far as tools go, another person is usually preferred  in the process for me. I thrive off of collaboration and other artists’ energy. Having a piano and guitars laying around is great too, as I write differently depending which instrument I have in hand. I used to rely on being inspired to write, but when you are trying to make it your path, you really have to become consistent and productive.

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How To Return To Music After An Extended Break

You may be curious but nervous about the idea of returning to playing music after such a long break. Is it even possible, or have you lost years of valuable skill building?

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5 False Claims About The Music Industry That Hurt Your Music Career

Want to grow a successful career in music much more quickly? Don’t accept these false claims about the music business:

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8 Soft Skills Musicians Have That Employers Want

When people study music, they learn much more than simply how to sing or play an instrument. Most of us can’t become professional musicians as adults, but the time spent on music adds up to much more than “just a hobby.” Musicians gain a number of soft skills that are helpful in any type of career. As opposed to hard skills, which consist of specific knowledge and skills needed for a given job, soft skills are equally important abilities that allow you to interact well with others and complete work successfully, and they’re in high demand.

Having soft skills makes you more competitive in the job market and increases your chances of success in any position — even if you’re self-employed! Whether you end up in a music-related career or not, you will be more prepared to tackle future employment challenges by having these 8 soft skills learned through music.

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