Music Career Guide

This career guide is designed to help University of Portsmouth students and recent graduates explore job options, key employers, and entry routes into the music sector.

In this guide:

Music is a varied and exciting sector with an eclectic mixture of jobs from performance and promotion to technical and engineering roles. It can also cover teaching, healthcare and community work. Whichever area you wish to work in, it will be competitive with many people passionate about the area and what they want to do and achieve within it.

Although competitive, over 110,000 people are employed directly within the music industry full-time and this has grown in recent years. As with most creative industries, breaking in and earning a living will require more creativity than other job applications. Networking, freelancing, utilising social media, creating output and gaining practical experience will be critical for the majority of roles.

Potential Job Roles

Within the music sector you could be looking at a wide range of occupations. Prospects has a useful list of job profiles, each containing relevant information about key responsibilities, skill requirements, starting salaries, entry requirements, career prospects with links to major employers and current graduate vacancies. Some roles include:

Visit the Prospects website

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Gaining Experience

Breaking into the music industry can be tough and so previous experience is crucial. The more experience across different areas you can gain, the stronger your applications will be. As well as providing you with more knowledge, gaining experience will also help you to decide which specific direction you wish to take. The key to success is to prepare thoroughly, do your research and organise your experience in good time.

Types of opportunities

Below are some examples of the different types of opportunities to gain experience while you study

Placements are a great way to gain substantial experience, help you to build contacts and gain an understanding of an organisation.

On some degrees, work placements are part of the programme, whilst on others you can choose to complete a placement as one of your modules.

To learn more about completing a placement, you can contact the Placements team in the Careers and Employability Service.

Learn more about completing a placement year

Internships are usually for a fixed period and give you more hands-on experience. Many employers will treat interns in the same way as full-time employees, so when future job roles ask for 'at least one year's experience' you can include an internship in this type of experience.

Several UK music companies offer internships providing experience in areas like A&R, marketing, digital, and artist management.

Sony Music - Sony Music runs an annual A&R Academy to experience what it is to be in A&R at Sony Music. You will be a part of shaping what’s next by working within one of their labels to support the team and develop your skills in A&R for 12 months.
Warner Music Group - Varying types of internships offered by one of the biggest music companies in the UK, you may need to take a speculative approach if there are no internships being advertised.
Young - The Young Artists Internship supports engaged fans of music and culture on their journey to learning more about the music industry. Young is a British independent record label that sits in the Beggars Group of labels.
Larp Music - offers a two week music internship for composers, music producers and mix engineers.
Spotify Global Summer Internship Program - Offer a huge range of opportunities across their business, product and technical teams, and the chance to make a direct impact on how they amplify the voices of creators and inspire and entertain the world. Internship spots are available in multiple locations around the world.
Universal Music Group - Universal Music is the UK’s leading music company alongside labels which include Decca, Island EMI Label Group, and Polydor Label Group, and businesses include Abbey Road, the world’s most famous recording studio and Mercury Studios, music-first content studio. UMG offers internships in different departments like A&R, Marketing, and Label Operations.

Learn more about completing internships

Enhance your prospects with hands-on experience through volunteering. Whether you're uncertain about your career path or aiming for professional success, volunteering offers a chance to explore diverse roles such as:

Media Technician Volunteer with Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral
Volunteer Choir Matron with Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral
Working at local festivals and events can be a great way to build up your experience. Victorious Festival in Portsmouth offers both paid and voluntary work opportunities
Practical experience can be gained during your degree by working for Pure FM (UoP's own radio station) or volunteer with Queen Alexandra Hospital Radio.

You can also get involved in relevant university projects through the different groups and societies via the Student Union. This is a good way of demonstrating your motivation and interest in this area of work.

Learn more about Volunteering

Insight sessions can offer valuable information, knowledge and experience of different industries, supporting decisions of possible academic paths and future careers.

Launchpad Music Industry - have run virtual insight sessions covering topics to help you develop your project and career, plan your next steps and give you confidence in reaching out to other music organisations and partners. Also lists UK events and vacancy opportunities to play music, and gain other experience within the music industry.
London Mozart Players Industry Insights is a free series of interactive webinars from London Mozart Players, created to help young people explore different career paths in music and arts administration.
Larp Music Musical Musing - Jim Hustwit's personal insights from working in the music industry for over thirteen years. He aims to share thoughts, ideas and learning from working as a music producer, composer and latterly a record label owner.

Where to find opportunities

Some key platforms for finding work experience in all sectors include MyCareer, HigherIn, Bright Network and Targetjobs.

Opportunities in the music industry often come through the people you meet, so building your network and list of contacts is a good idea to help you gain some potential work experience.

Learn about networking

Festival of Cultures - 2024
- Event Consent Cards Used

Finding a job

The music industry offers an eclectic range of job areas. You could work within performance, production, the technical and engineering side, promotion and marketing or management. Then there are music-related jobs outside of the industry within health, community work or teaching. Music is a sector where freelance work is prevalent within certain areas and many people will work in more than one role at any one time, for example combining private teaching with performance work.

We recommend starting your search using our online jobs board, MyCareer. You can also find general online job boards and advice through our Graduate Jobs page.

Sector Specific Job Boards

UK Music Jobs

Music Week

Entertainers Worldwide Jobs

Musical Chairs

Arts Council England

Music Business Jobs Worldwide

Generator

CreateBritain

Recruitment agencies

Recruitment consultants work with individuals to help them find suitable work to match their skills. Agency Central is the UK's leading recruitment agency directory. An advanced search and filter system finds the agencies which match your needs

Are you looking for a role in Hampshire? Our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy can help!

If you're in the final year of your degree, you can register for support from our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy. They work with over 3,000 employers in the local area to place our students into fantastic graduate careers.

Learn more about the Graduate Recruitment Consultancy

Start your own business

The majority of musicians and performers will work on a freelance basis and pick-up work through networking, word of mouth and ultimately their reputation. Our Student Startup team can offer further support with freelancing and starting your own business

Get Student Startup support

Other resources that can support you:

Speculative applications

Speculative applications involve sending a CV and cover letter to an employer to ask if they have any vacancies, even if the company is not currently advertising for a role. They're a great way to access "hidden jobs" that go unadvertised.

Submitting a speculative application shows your interest in a specific company and your willingness to go above and beyond to develop your skills and understanding of the industry.

Learn how to send a speculative application

Keep up-to-date with the industry

It's good to keep up-to-date on sector developments and track any vacancies coming up. Below are some great resources to help you research opportunities available. The knowledge gained through your research may help you to target your applications and will help when preparing for interviews.

UK Music - UKMusic.org acts as a voice for all sectors within the industry and supports initiatives to benefit those within the music industry
Music Week - Music industry news, data, analysis and opinion as well as a jobs board
Arts Hub - Essential jobs, news and information for professionals working in the UK arts and cultural industries
Careers in Music - Although an American site this provides in-depth advice and guidance on over 100 music-related careers with tips from industry professionals.
Sound on Sound - Industry magazine for recording musicians, music producers and sound engineers.
Recording Mag - News and advice for recording artists and sound engineers.
Musicians Union -Advice and guidance for those working in the music industry, particularly useful for freelancers. Offers heavily discounted membership for students.
Showcase Music - Online guide to the music production industry
The Unsigned Guide - Subscription based guide to the music industry including 8,800 UK music business contacts spanning 50 areas of the industry
DIY Musician - Discover everything you need to know about being a successful musician on your own terms. Covers topics such as music marketing, song writing, social networking, recording, copyright and building a YouTube presence.