The United Kingdom has always had a very dynamic music industry and although, or maybe because, we are in recession now, it is still flourishing. Many young people are attracted to the music industry and so daydream about getting a career in it.

However, we are not all musically talented and only the very best get anywhere by following that path anyway, but there are other routes to go down if you want a career in the music industry.

There is a huge raft of support required to put musicians on the stage, television and radio, because musicians are infamously too badly organized to get this work done on their own – particularly top level musicians who insist that the stage, the lighting, the facilities and the contracts have to be just so.

Therefore, once a musician has proved his or her worth, somebody has to get him bookings and further his name, get him a record deal and make certain that he is sufficiently remunerated. This will be the music publicist

The label manager works for the recording company and liaises between the different departments to make sure that the production and release of the artist’s CD’s are co-ordinated to the nth degree.

Management always has to have assistants and the music industry is no exception. An assistant to a manager in the music industry will have normal administrative duties not dissimilar to office duties in other industries, but the papers, contracts, invoices and cheques will be regarding famous, glamorous people that everyone recognizes from the Television.

The music industry employs research analysts to track and strive to predict future trends in music tastes. These researchers are sometimes called digital research analysts. This is quite a skilled job and necessitates expertise in the industry, in markets, trends and management.

The Internet plays an ever growing function in the marketing of music and the musicians who make it and so there are now openings for online editorial managers, whereas the job did not exist ten years ago.

The publicists and PR people also need co-ordinating on the Net and web sites require to be built. Every band has to have a Facebook and Twitter account and any other account in an online phenomenon that is up-and-coming.

There are events producers and junior events producers and senior events producers because live music produces more money than record sales since so much of that is pirated these days. Most bands could not continue without live events and most would not want to either, because performers like the limelight quite literally.

The music industry makes use of cheap labour as does even government and there are internships to be had. The pay for an intern is very low and sometimes they do not get paid at all, but they gain a wealth of knowledge and make very useful contacts. The most enthusiastic and hard-working interns are normally hired after their internship is over.

There are routes into the music industry that might seem quirky, but if you attempt some of these avenues you will stand a better chance of procuring a career in the music industry.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a range of topics, but is now involved with Bose new wave radios. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Bose Digital Radio.