Schooling/Career Decisions In the Music Biz

[MadMax]

Do you guys really think it's that grim, even for very talented people?

I knew the situation was pretty bad from some internships before I started looking at schools two years ago, but I'm hoping in (hopefully) four years when I graduate things will be different, but in the mean time I'm going to work my ass off and be the best damn student I can.

Is there really no hope, even with Barack?


Stanley, you can't die!

It's worse than grim... but if you really have the passion, insanity and where-with-all to suffer the storm... then you might have a slim chance... at best... of making an existence wage.

Here's the ugly truth.

In basic music audio; track and mix, it's a flood of everything from millions of consumers with software and absolutely no talent – to a select minority of large conglomerates that are gasping for air on their deathbed... and tens of thousands of people and shops in between.

The numbers of multi-manned shops has always been small... but those shops are the ones that are gasping for air and just barely hanging on. Which really means, there's so little work out there, that you better be someone's son, have the chops from hell, write, arrange, play every instrument there is, and make the best damned coffee this side of Paris to even have a chance of bagging a part-time job... much less kikin' someone out of their chair and moving into the driver's seat.

This leaves you with either opening your own gig, or opening your own gig. By that, I mean you either got the bucks to open a pro shop, or you don't.

If you got the bucks.. something on the order of $250k, you can open a decent shop and joint the ranks of the thousands that are in that market. The more money, the better.... e.g. room, gear, marketing, advertising, etc....

If you ain't got decent money to open a shop, then you're down in the trenches with the tens of thousands of folks that are buying some decent pro level and mostly pro-sumer gear. But realize that in 50 states, you're talking tens of thousands of other shops you gotta compete with.

Of course, there's also the actual millions of individuals out there that own consumer grade, and even some pro-sumer stuff, that are less and less likely to come into a shop that is just barely even better equipped than they are.

Not to get all politics, but generally, the Demopublican's are usually less inclined to support small business than the Republicrats. With the "economic stimulus package" that's being formed, I still don't see any measurable advantages of opening a one man shop, and more likely, it'll mean a lot more burden on a small business to expand and hire. Mainly because of what they do with healthcare and placing the burden on the small business owner to provide coverage.

If they do it right.... BWAHAHAHAHAHAAA... like that's possible???... Then small businesses might stand a chance, but I just don't see anything but more taxation and eroding dollar value for at least a couple of years before the recovery even begins to take hold for the majority of the country.

When the nation's unemployment rate hits 6-7 percent, with tens of thousands of layoff's happening every month... it ain't gonna be pretty. Fewer people working means more dependence of government resources... with less and less people contributing to the government coffers... they have no choice, (in their minds... such as they are) but to raise taxes on those that are still in business or working for a company.

[Thomas W. Bethel]

Has anyone graduated or from Ohio University with an Audio Production degree or currently attending the school for it? I'm about 75% sure i'm going to go there next fall but trying to be 100%. If no students or alumni, has anyone heard any pros or cons about it? One thing I don't really like about it is it's required for you to minor in music to major in Audio Production. I wanted to minor in something else, but if it's worth it I don't mind. Thanks

I am an OU Graduate class of 1966. My major was Radio TV. Best college education you can get. They not only teach you about your major but, at least when I went there, they also teach you how to study and how to find information. If I did not learn anything else those two "subjects" were worth the price of admission. Minoring in music is almost a given for audio engineering. I took 8 years of classical piano before attending OU and I wish I had taken more courses in music.

Best of Luck!

[jashwicka]

Thanks. If I attend OU I'm either going to major in Audio Post-Production or Music Production. The big reason I want to get a degree is so I can make a decent living. I want to record artists too but I don't think I need to get a degree just for that.

I've read all the posts about how it's getting really hard to make a living in this industry but I mean, talk shows, news shows, stand-up comedy, Daily Show, Colbert Report and tons of others need people to run audio right? Would I be right to assume that they would be more likely to hire someone with a college degree?

Any advice would help. I'm struggling with deciding whether to go to college at Ohio University or moving in with a friend out in San Francisco. He wants to start a band and also help me buy some equipment and try to start recording bands and maybe doing sound at shows for some extra money.

Thank you.

[matthewvandenham]

So lets say I take music production as a minor, what would be a good choice for a major that would sort of run along the same lines as audio engineering? i..e what is a stable industry (to put food on the table + roof over head) that would also compliment my skills with audio technology and music?

My issue with picking a program is that my skills are all music and computer related...so audio engineering would be perfect for me, but I don't want to enter this profession if it is so competitive that there is no money to be made.

what is the strongest job market to be in for technology and music enthusiasts? or which college/university programs would align with my computer and music skills if audio engineering is out of the picture?
thanks

[MadMax]

what is the strongest job market to be in for technology and music enthusiasts? or which college/university programs would align with my computer and music skills if audio engineering is out of the picture?

Accounting

[Thomas W. Bethel]

To be perfectly BLUNT about it...If I had a son or daughter and they decided that they wanted to be an audio engineer I would seriously try and discourage them from becoming one, even though I have made a very good living off audio for 40 years.

Today your chances of making it as an audio engineer are going down and not up. When I got into audio there were not very many audio engineers around. There were no schools turning out mega classes of young, eager, well trained audio engineers and for the most part you learned audio by apprenticing yourself to someone who knew all there was to know about audio and did a lot of self study as time and resources allowed. You built your knowledge base by doing hands on work and the more you knew the more valuable you became. If you were at all inclined you started building your own equipment and you learned the insides of every piece of equipment you owned or used. You took apart equipment and saw what made it tick. You read everything you could get your hands on. You read every tech manual from cover to cover. You listened to as much music as you could and tried to figure out how things were done. You basically immersed yourself in audio from the time you got up to the time you went to bed. It was an exciting time and there were a lot more jobs around than people to fill them.

Fast forward to today. Every year there are literally thousands of students turned out by places like the Recording Workshop, Full Sail, and various universities and colleges. All of those graduating people are given the title of audio engineer even if, as in the case of the Recording Workshop, they only spent 6 weeks learning their craft. When I got into audio there were literally dozens of fully staffed, fully professional recording studios around and new ones were being built every month. Today I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of professional recording studios with staff engineers within 25 miles of my house. Conversely there are over 600 "recording" studios with in a 150 mile range of my house. Most of these are basement or bedroom studios run by one person and they really don't need or want any more "audio engineers". Places like Skywalker ranch hire maybe one or two engineers a year and the people they hire are the best of the best. Radio and television studios don't hire audio engineers, even schools and colleges don't have full time audio engineers on their staff and may job out all their work to someone locally or hire someone who is a video/audio/repair tech to do the work and service the equipment. There are more and more graduates coming out of colleges and less and less places for them to be employed. It is a very GRIM time for the professional audio engineer. Large studios on both coast are closing on a monthly basis and their former studios and control rooms are being torn down and converted in to condos. What a waste.

I don't want to discourage anyone from their dreams but I think you need to go into this with your eyes wide open. Yesterday there were lots of jobs and not many people to fill them. Today there are way more people than there are jobs for them. If you get a four year degree make sure you get one that is broad based enough that if the audio engineer gig does not work out you can go in some other tangential direction without any problems. I have a number of friends that graduated in audio from accredited schools and most of them are NOT working in the field of audio engineering and are working as cell phone salesmen, music store salesmen and other jobs that have nothing to do with their degree.

My crystal ball is not working too well since I did the latest upgrade but I think the situation, in regards to making a living off audio full time, are going in a negative direction. Even people today with IT degrees who 5 years ago were looking at $80,000 jobs when they graduated are now looking at the prospects of competing head to head with 1000 people all looking for the same job and if that is not enough of a problem try competing with someone from India who is willing to do the work for $20,000 and has a PhD in computer science. Best job prospects today are in health care and accounting. With an aging population health care is booming and everyone needs a good accountant to keep them on the strait and narrow with the IRS. As for tomorrows choice jobs only time will tell.

Again BEST OF LUCK and I hope you find the perfect job and or schooling that you are looking for.

[Greener]

Yeah, **** your dreams. Become an accountant.

Seriously though, how about real Engineering. Mechanical, Electrical, Robotics...

If what you want to do is "be" in the music business then marketing and promotions is going to get you out and about and in the places seeing the things and whatnot... But if you're chasing electrons and wanting to use gear at the same time as capturing your passion, then Engineering could be for you.

You don't have to just be a Butcher or a Baker or a Candlestick Maker... You can be anything, there are a billion and one different vocations out there... Accountancy is not for everyone.