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Musician vs professional musician

The differences between musicians and professional musicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a musician and a professional musician. Additionally, a musician has an average salary of $57,257, which is higher than the $55,483 average annual salary of a professional musician.

The top three skills for a musician include live performances, keyboard and music theory. The most important skills for a professional musician are live performances, music venues, and music theory.

Musician vs professional musician overview

MusicianProfessional Musician
Yearly salary$57,257$55,483
Hourly rate$27.53$26.67
Growth rate4%4%
Number of jobs10343,354
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age4545
Years of experience44

Musician vs professional musician salary

Musicians and professional musicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

MusicianProfessional Musician
Average salary$57,257$55,483
Salary rangeBetween $25,000 And $127,000Between $25,000 And $121,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NY-
Highest paying stateNew York-
Best paying companySanford Health-
Best paying industryMedia-

Differences between musician and professional musician education

There are a few differences between a musician and a professional musician in terms of educational background:

MusicianProfessional Musician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorMusicMusic
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Musician vs professional musician demographics

Here are the differences between musicians' and professional musicians' demographics:

MusicianProfessional Musician
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 80.4% Female, 19.6%Male, 82.2% Female, 17.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 5.4% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 5.5% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between musician and professional musician duties and responsibilities

Musician example responsibilities.

  • Accomplish placement in first group clarinet section.
  • Play trombone, trumpet, baritone saxophone, keyboard, rhythm guitar, and provide backup vocals.
  • Jazz, fusion, blues band.
  • Design and maintain Facebook, MySpace and Purevolume websites.
  • Record multiple EP's and work on a full-length album.
  • Act as a vacation bible school instructor in the summer months.
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Professional musician example responsibilities.

  • Accomplish placement in first group clarinet section.
  • Play drums, percussion keyboard instruments, tympani, and ethnic percussion.
  • use of rolland, yamaha, instruments, composing music.also taken courses on songwriting and acapella.also musis theory and philosphy.
  • Compose and write own original copyright music/tablature; release one EP and one full length LP (studio album).
  • Provide various music from spirituals, hymns, anthems, older gospel and the very latest of good quality gospel music.
  • Provide musical support during gospel choir singing engagements.
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Musician vs professional musician skills

Common musician skills
  • Live Performances, 20%
  • Keyboard, 11%
  • Music Theory, 6%
  • Synthesizers, 6%
  • DJ, 4%
  • Saxophone, 4%
Common professional musician skills
  • Live Performances, 17%
  • Music Venues, 7%
  • Music Theory, 6%
  • Songwriting, 6%
  • Keyboard, 5%
  • Brass, 5%

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