1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,832
Enrollment
4,550
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Musicians and singers play instruments or sing for live audiences and in recording studios. They perform in a variety of styles, such as classical, jazz, opera, hip-hop, and rock.
There are no postsecondary education requirements for musicians or singers interested in performing popular music. However, many performers of classical music and opera have at least a bachelor’s degree.
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 musician can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as music instructor, progress to a title such as instructor and then eventually end up with the title marketing manager.
Musician
What Am I Worth?
There are several types of musician, including:
Mouse over a state to see the number of active musician jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where musicians earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
---|---|---|---|
1 | California | 22 | $79,675 |
2 | New York | 6 | $87,177 |
3 | Maryland | 5 | $58,941 |
4 | Arizona | 4 | $58,375 |
5 | Utah | 3 | $47,971 |
6 | Connecticut | 2 | $77,569 |
7 | Virginia | 2 | $60,254 |
8 | Texas | 2 | $52,468 |
9 | Georgia | 2 | $51,646 |
10 | Missouri | 2 | $39,845 |
11 | Colorado | 2 | $37,817 |
12 | West Virginia | 1 | $60,532 |
13 | Illinois | 1 | $68,311 |
14 | Tennessee | 1 | $51,614 |
15 | North Carolina | 1 | $52,712 |
16 | Minnesota | 1 | $53,249 |
17 | Oregon | 1 | $49,100 |
18 | Florida | 1 | $49,008 |
19 | Washington | 1 | $47,382 |
20 | Alaska | 0 | $83,629 |
21 | New Jersey | 0 | $84,559 |
22 | New Hampshire | 0 | $74,530 |
23 | Vermont | 0 | $72,335 |
24 | Pennsylvania | 0 | $65,713 |
25 | Michigan | 0 | $65,128 |
26 | Ohio | 0 | $61,105 |
27 | Iowa | 0 | $62,575 |
28 | Maine | 0 | $61,454 |
29 | Kansas | 0 | $58,984 |
30 | Massachusetts | 0 | $60,823 |
31 | New Mexico | 0 | $57,959 |
32 | Wisconsin | 0 | $55,515 |
33 | Louisiana | 0 | $54,226 |
34 | Kentucky | 0 | $53,396 |
35 | Rhode Island | 0 | $54,912 |
36 | Indiana | 0 | $52,566 |
37 | South Carolina | 0 | $52,466 |
38 | North Dakota | 0 | $52,294 |
39 | Delaware | 0 | $53,729 |
40 | Arkansas | 0 | $50,409 |
41 | Hawaii | 0 | $55,195 |
42 | Mississippi | 0 | $50,156 |
43 | South Dakota | 0 | $48,810 |
44 | Nevada | 0 | $48,277 |
45 | Alabama | 0 | $47,787 |
46 | Oklahoma | 0 | $46,869 |
47 | Montana | 0 | $47,241 |
48 | Idaho | 0 | $45,681 |
49 | Wyoming | 0 | $43,514 |
50 | Nebraska | 0 | $38,834 |
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,832
Enrollment
4,550
Stanford, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,354
Enrollment
7,083
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$50,420
Enrollment
7,582
Durham, NC • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,695
Enrollment
6,596
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
Princeton, NJ • Private
In-State Tuition
$50,340
Enrollment
5,301
New Haven, CT • Private
In-State Tuition
$53,430
Enrollment
5,963
Atlanta, GA • Private
In-State Tuition
$12,424
Enrollment
15,201
Ithaca, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,188
Enrollment
15,105
Washington, DC • Private
In-State Tuition
$54,104
Enrollment
7,089
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, 19.7% of musicians listed live performances on their resume, but soft skills such as discipline and musical talent are important as well.
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Musician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Musician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
1. Music Theory
An in-depth and straight forward approach to understanding music...
2. Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers - Complete Guide
This is the only Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers you will ever need. Learn Music Theory the Easy & Quick Way...
3. Music Theory Classes
Learn everything from the complete basics to the advanced cocepts of music theory. Music theory is the study of music...
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a musician. The best states for people in this position are New York, New Jersey, Alaska, and California. Musicians make the most in New York with an average salary of $87,177. Whereas in New Jersey and Alaska, they would average $84,559 and $83,629, respectively. While musicians would only make an average of $79,675 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New York
$87,177
Avg. Salary
2. Connecticut
$77,569
Avg. Salary
3. California
$79,675
Avg. Salary
I have fun and I like to sing and playing guitar and see people and travel around the world
nothing at all love it
The thing I like the most is that I am able to express the real me through music, especially when I sing than in any other way....I am myself when I am working as a musician
I don't like when I can't give the best of me,when am singing or writting a song.
Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Independent Contractor | $89,810 | $43.18 | 4 |
2 | BB King's Orlando | $69,703 | $33.51 | 5 |
3 | Holland America Line | $61,150 | $29.40 | 12 |
4 | Piano | $57,710 | $27.75 | 6 |
5 | Carnival Cruise Line | $57,603 | $27.69 | 18 |
6 | USAF Police Alumni Association | $57,492 | $27.64 | 6 |
7 | St. James Church | $56,700 | $27.26 | 5 |
8 | *n/a* | $56,673 | $27.25 | 19 |
9 | Royal Caribbean International | $56,600 | $27.21 | 8 |
10 | United States Marine Corps | $56,385 | $27.11 | 17 |
You start a music career by creating a long-term plan and defining your success. The path to a successful music career is different for everyone. Some go viral on TikTok, and others spend years (maybe even decades) going on tours and playing local gigs. Before you get started, you need to define what you want your career to look like.
The best gifts for a musician are instruments, music software, and other technical items. When buying a present for a musician, it is important to know what they already own and if any of their music-producing items need to be upgraded.