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There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a music journalist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $34.47 an hour? That's $71,698 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 155,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Music Journalist Do

There are certain skills that many music journalists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed speaking skills, writing skills and communication skills.

How To Become a Music Journalist

If you're interested in becoming a music journalist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 72.9% of music journalists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 6.3% of music journalists have master's degrees. Even though most music journalists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Career Path For a Music Journalist

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a music journalist can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as journalist, progress to a title such as editor and then eventually end up with the title communications director.

Music Journalist

Average Salary for a Music Journalist

Music Journalists in America make an average salary of $71,698 per year or $34 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $117,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $43,000 per year.
Average Music Journalist Salary
$71,698 Yearly
$34.47 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Music Journalist

There are several types of music journalist, including:

Professor

Role:

Professors are key academic staff at colleges and universities. They develop in-depth familiarity with their material over extensive years of specialized education and share their knowledge in lectures they prepare, using appropriate textbooks, and keeping up to date with current trends and developments of the topic.


Apart from teaching, they conduct research as well, probing questions that have not been sufficiently dealt with in their area of expertise. They read articles and attend conferences to keep up with the work of fellow researchers and publish their findings and polemics with current results in academic journals.


Providing services at their department is also an important part of their job, such as evaluating students, organizing conferences, writing proposals for grants, and editing journals. They assist with creating course material and supervising postgraduate students as well. Being a professor is a coveted position for many who are attracted to academia. The competition is fierce, and you need a good amount of passion and dedication to rise to this beautiful and fulfilling role.

  • Average Salary: $157,570
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Journalist

Role:

The primary role of a journalist is gathering information, writing news pieces, and presenting the news. Aside from investigating and reporting on current events, the journalist works on articles and features that update and shape public opinion. As a journalist, you will be expected to meet all deadlines, regular and recurring. You'll evaluate and edit work for editorial approval. You must adhere to the ethical code of the profession and stay updated on the latest news developments. This is by attending events, studying different papers, opinion pieces, and social media.


An ideal candidate must hold a bachelor's degree in journalism, English, communications, or a related field. You must have a minimum of two years of relevant experience. You must possess observation, communication, time management, and networking skills and be familiar with the APA style. Annually, journalists can earn as high as $99,000 with an average of $53,133. However, their salary can be as low as $29,000.

  • Average Salary: $60,828
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Art Instructor

Role:

Art instructors work in a world filled to the brim with creativity. They're surrounded by students who have potential to go places. In fact the only role an art instructor plays is to help those students refine their craft.


Instead of holding students back, art instructors challenge them to go outside their limits and really go above and beyond. From helping them find inspiration to introducing new forms of expression, art instructors really get creative when it comes to their students.

  • Average Salary: $36,539
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Music Journalist Jobs

Number Of Music Journalist Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California81$95,517
2New York69$118,237
3Texas65$60,551
4Illinois43$70,422
5Florida29$64,675
6North Carolina25$77,245
7Indiana23$70,730
8Colorado22$67,214
9Michigan21$90,193
10Georgia21$66,805
11Massachusetts20$119,657
12Missouri20$63,182
13Pennsylvania19$82,580
14New Jersey17$83,683
15Tennessee17$66,879
16Maryland16$87,531
17Ohio15$89,971
18Minnesota14$85,142
19Virginia13$79,823
20Arizona13$70,844
21Alabama12$72,468
22Nevada12$62,796
23South Carolina12$64,232
24Kansas12$57,301
25Oregon11$81,547
26Wisconsin11$61,727
27Montana10$66,689
28Iowa10$62,980
29Kentucky9$66,291
30Washington8$83,119
31Connecticut7$103,088
32Arkansas6$69,750
33Mississippi6$63,767
34Oklahoma6$57,617
35North Dakota5$78,497
36Nebraska5$77,836
37Utah5$71,403
38West Virginia5$50,291
39Vermont4$78,575
40Louisiana4$65,168
41Alaska3$87,487
42Idaho3$88,279
43New Mexico3$61,786
44South Dakota2$67,111
45Hawaii2$50,080
46Rhode Island1$82,101
47Maine1$73,585
48Wyoming1$55,331
49New Hampshire0$84,623
50Delaware0$81,767

Music Journalist Education

Music Journalist Majors

13.1 %

Music Journalist Degrees

Bachelors

72.9 %

Associate

11.8 %

Masters

6.3 %

Top Colleges for Music Journalists

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

2. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

3. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

4. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

6. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

7. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

8. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

9. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

10. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

Top Skills For a Music Journalist

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 17.7% of music journalists listed writing articles on their resume, but soft skills such as speaking skills and writing skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Music Journalist Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Music Journalist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Music Journalist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Music Journalist diversity

Music Journalist Gender Distribution

Male
Male
57%
Female
Female
43%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among music journalists, 42.6% of them are women, while 57.4% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among music journalists is White, which makes up 65.8% of all music journalists.

  • The most common foreign language among music journalists is Spanish at 40.0%.

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Top Music Journalist Employers

Most Common Employers For Music Journalist

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Apple$139,318$66.981
2LA Weekly$121,765$58.541
3Boston Herald$121,351$58.341
4Riverfront Times$109,477$52.632
5Stephens$104,341$50.161
6PopMatters$87,755$42.191
7Optus$86,749$41.711
8Dallas Observer$82,245$39.541
9ArtsConnection$78,851$37.911
10Tiny Mix Tapes$78,493$37.741