Quick Guide: 15 Jobs for Music Lovers (With Salaries)!

Quick Guide: 15 Jobs for Music Lovers (With Salaries)! If you’re a music lover, you may have considered pursuing a career path in the music industry. Several occupations can combine your talents or personal interests to offer opportunities to be creative. For example, you may want to pursue a career where you can combine technology and engineering with musical talent, or consider roles working in your community where you coordinate music events, teach or tutor.

In this article, we explore 15 common jobs for music lovers and which music jobs pay the most.

15 great jobs for people who love music

The following careers have either direct or indirect involvement with music. Some require music training or a music degree, while others are tangential careers. Either way, music is part of the job every day — making them ideal for people who love music.

For the most up-to-date salary information from Indeed, click on the salary links provided.

1. Music director

National average salary: $31,309 per year

Primary duties: Music directors, often called conductors, lead symphonies, orchestras, bands, choirs and other musical groups during recording sessions, performances and rehearsals. These music professionals frequently work with their teams to select arrangements that they perform for audiences. Some music directors tutor and train other directors, musicians and students.

2. Music journalist

National average salary: $35,387 per year

Primary duties: Music journalists attend and report on live entertainment shows in addition to interviewing performers on tour or after they release new work. They may work with photographers to help tell stories about bands or individual musicians. Music journalists work for newspapers, magazines, websites and other publications.

3. Booking agent

National average salary: $40,990 per year, plus $4,750 commission

Primary duties: Booking agents work with musicians and other performers to book live entertainment shows. They can work on individual shows or an entire tour. Some booking agents work in the film industry, where they are responsible for working with studios to get movies into film festivals and local theaters.

4. Worship leader

National average salary: $41,176 per year

Primary duties: Worship leaders develop a church’s musical worship program and coordinate religious services’ music. They work with senior church leaders to choose both songs to be sung or played, as well as the musical styling. Worship leaders also may sing or play musical instruments themselves.

5. Sound engineer

National average salary: $41,653 per year

Primary duties: Sound engineers work with technical applications and aspects of sound during recording, audio mixing and reproduction processes. Sound engineers often work with music producers and artists to enhance and produce the sound they want to achieve.

6. Musician

National average salary: $47,259 per year

Primary duties: A musician may work in a variety of institutions, from music production associations for recording artists to advertising agencies for commercial soundtracks. With a developed talent, a career playing and listening to music is one of the most common jobs for music lovers.

7. Disc jockey (DJ)

National average salary: $51,423 per year

Primary duties: A DJ plays music and develops playlists for radio and internet music stations as well as within the live entertainment industry. They commonly perform at weddings, birthdays, bars, restaurants and other music and entertainment venues. DJs can work as private contractors or they may be employed by a local, state or national radio station.

8. Electronics technician

National average salary: $58,135 per year, plus $8,000 overtime pay

Primary duties: Electronics technicians are responsible for installing, operating and maintaining electronic equipment that audio production and broadcasting professionals use. This can include recording devices, dubbing equipment, speakers, amplifiers and sound-mixing boards.

9. Music teacher

National average salary: $66,407 per year

Primary duties: Music teachers work in many levels of education and within both public and private schools, organizations and music institutions. These professionals apply music theory and the principles of music appreciation to teach students about music history, applications and applying feedback to musical compositions.

10. Music therapist

National average salary: $71,409 per year

Primary duties: A music therapist is a mental health practitioner who uses music and sound to help patients during therapy sessions. Music therapists may commonly integrate sound and vocal techniques, such as humming, to help patients’ mental health outcomes. Additionally, music therapists use music and song to aid in therapy plans and help promote relaxation and comfort during therapy sessions.

11. Audiologist

National average salary: $75,356 per year

Primary duties: Audiologists are healthcare practitioners who specialize in the identification, diagnosis and treatment of the auditory and vestibular body systems. Even though audiology is not in the music industry, these professionals can be creative in their approaches to helping patients manage audiological problems and disorders, including integrating music and harmonic sounds into patient treatment plans.

12. Voice-over artist

National average salary: $79,004 per year

Primary duties: Voice-over artists use their voices in television, film, theater, radio and other audio productions. They may be tasked with portraying character dialogue, complete with music and singing, or they may perform off-stage or off-camera narration or commentary.

13. Audio engineer

National average salary: $82,024 per year

Primary duties: Audio engineers design and develop the audio systems that musicians, recording artists and sound technicians use. They apply both engineering and audiological principles to set up equipment, monitor playback and ensure the sound quality is efficient for the application. Additionally, audio engineers typically focus on only the audiological aspects of music and sound performance, whereas audio-visual engineers combine both audiological and visual engineering principles.

14. Video engineer

National average salary: $89,322 per year

Primary duties: Video engineers focus on the visual aspects of recording and may work closely with audio and audio-visual engineers to enhance movies, TV broadcasting and other film-audio productions. They are responsible for the setup and operation of complex production equipment and digital video systems and components, as well as preparing project reports. Video engineers may enjoy working with sound and music in applications to mix audio and video processes together.

15. Speech therapist

National average salary: $99,478 per year

Primary duties: Speech therapists work with patients to support and improve vocal tone, muscle movement and vocal strength, especially patients recovering from a stroke, injury or other trauma that affects the vocal system. Speech therapists work with vocal sounds, tone, enunciation and oral movement to diagnose and treat speech disorders. It is not uncommon for speech therapists to use music and singing to support patients’ treatment and recovery.