D8.1 - Careers
D8.1 - Careers
Assignment brief:
Scenario - you may wish to progress to vocational music HE courses or to join a professional band, to start a business, begin an apprenticeship or undertake further study training in a field that may not be obviously related to your current course (but builds upon skills developed on it). To develop a career, you need to define goals and develop flexible plans.
Task 1 - Explore at least three different progression opportunities suitable for your interests and specialisms, such as:
• higher and further education
• freelance opportunities
• entry positions in the music industry
• internships
• apprenticeships
• work experience
• funding opportunities.
Task 2 - explore and develop the skills related to progression, including:
• identifying career aspirations
• creating material, such as personal statements and CVs
• collating references and contacts
• establishing short-, medium- and long-term goals
• relating musical skills to progression
• professional skills related to progression.
Task 1
Plan A - apprenticeship at degree level
Plan B - higher education
Plan C - gap year
Research on apprenticeships in the music industry:
Apprenticeships are paid training that involve both on the job training and education, allowing people to work and earn a degree simultaneously. It gives people the opportunity to makes connections within their industry and are usually guaranteed a job after they've finished their training. There are lots of different types of apprenticeships in the music industry. For example, Assistant Recording Technician, Live Sound Production, Marketing or administration. Although sometimes not working with the production of music directly, there are many creative and artistic apprenticeships that surround the music industry.
AIM is a service that offers apprenticeships in record labels and music business/administration - https://www.aim.org.uk/#/opportunities
Pros of apprenticeships:
- Apprenticeships provide financial stability as you are being paid, giving you more freedom outside of work for a sustainable lifestyle.
- Receiving on the job training gives you an in depth understanding of the field that you wouldn't usually get from only classroom learning.
- After finishing training you are guaranteed a job in your sector, or you can be given the option to continue your training at a higher level.
Cons of apprenticeships:
- Apprenticeships within the music industry are sparse and extremely competitive due to high demand (especially in more rural areas), this leads to people straying away from the music industry and often settling on an apprenticeship in a different creative industry.
- Even though you are earning money for your training, employers tend to only pay their apprentices minimum wage.
Research on higher education:
There are many options to explore with higher education regarding: course types, qualification levels, course durations, locations... ect. Most music universities offer the standard degrees in production and performance (Bachelor of music (BM)). However some universities offer broader courses to develop more specific skills. Higher education will unlock a vast amount of career routes, or alternatively the opportunity to study at an even higher level. We've had a few visits in college from different universities across the UK to share and sell to us their facilities, brand, community, student housing and campuses.
A couple universities have managed to spark my interest - dBS institute in Bristol, and BIMM in Bristol.
BIMM:
BIMM would be my first choice if i were to lean away from practical learning and into an admin and management centred career. This course would allow me to progress into employment in various creative and music industries. I enjoy managing and organising meetings and events (being chairwoman for my course) and would love to improve on my marketing skills.
dBS institute:
dBS is a university that revolves around a more performance and production based curriculum and aims to get students in the studios to create. This course would allow me to progress as an artist, make connections and produce my own music whether that's with a band or as a solo artist. Careers wise, these skills will allow me to become a touring musician or equally a recording engineer in a studio.
Pros of higher education:
- Geographically, the universities I have in mind are local and easy to travel to (bus or driving) while also being in a brilliant musically rich area.
- Achieving a degree can lead to more job opportunities with the potential of higher earning.
- Improved social life due to clubs, societies and connections.
Cons of higher education:
- The high cost of tuition fees leaves you with significant student debt which can take you years to repay.
- The music industry is competitive and jobs tend to be sparse so you may need to be more open minded about you sector.
- Most courses are three years long and I'm not sure if I have the patience for that.
Research on gap years:
A gap year is time taken away from education or careers for individuals to focus on other skills or activities. You can choose to work to save money, volunteer in nature reserves or other programs, travel to gain life experience, take courses and much more.
For my gap year I would love to volunteer for some sort of animal conservation program. This will involve careful planning to ensure I'm financially prepared. In order to do that I must work for an extended period of time to save up money to cover the registration fee, programme fee and travel expenses. Here's a programme I am interested in:
My Personal Statement for Music Business and Management:
Music has been a prevalent interest to me since I was young. My love for playing started when I began taking guitar lessons in primary school. This skill has since developed into competent bass playing where I am able to create and play complex bass lines. I’ve worked alongside bands playing covers, as well as producing original material both within the studio and performing at various gigs.
Moving away from practicality, I would like to progress into music management/business. In order to broaden my experience in this sector I have leapt at the opportunity to manage my friends band. From this, I want to develop various hard and soft skills such as communicating effectively, motivating musicians in which I am working with, pitching ideas, improving time management and learning about finance.
Studying music management at university level will help me gain skills and experience needed for me to further my career in this sector of the music industry.
As a part of my college course I have worked collaboratively with other students to market live music events by creating promotional material. This consisted of filming various videos and publishing them on the college Instagram page. Having taken media for GCSE and leaning about marketing strategies in college I was able to create an effective promotional video.
Additionally, I have led a few class meetings as chair woman in which I informed the group of recent events, organised marketing plans and began management for future live events. I found this both exciting and empowering as a woman in the music industry.
In my first year of college, I formed a punk band with my classmates inspired by the feminist riotgrrl movement of the 90s. We had composed a few original songs for gigs and also recorded and released a single on Spotify. This gave me a glimpse into the process of digital distribution of music which first sparked my interest in music management.
I currently work as a team member in a food retail establishment. I am expected to have great time management in order to work quick and efficiently and be extremely cautious of potential cross contamination of products. My time at work revolves around teamwork and initiative as we are often short staffed and hectic. These skills have helped me work with deadlines for assignments and will ease me into the teamwork side of music management.
I find it important to take care of my physical health, I do this by keeping fit and have fallen into a decent gym routine, prioritising rest days just as much as physical activity.
I am able to do both of these and juggle my college, social life and personal life effectively.
My Short, Medium and Long Term goals:
Short term:
- Finish college and receive diploma.
- Apply to Universities/Apprenticeships.
- Manage VEGA.
Medium term:
- Take gap year to travel Europe and volunteer.
- Save money when not travelling by working full time.
- Attend University/Apprenticeship and receive diploma.
- Further my knowledge of the music industry.
Long term:
- Work in the music industry.
- Play in a band on the side.
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