From music student to professional: the process of transition

Genre

Example: Financial hardship

Example: Competition

Classical

“I was doing concerts but not
necessarily particularly well paid ones
and not many of them. And I couldn’t
earn a living. ” (Portfolio musician)

“And of course the competition
- so that goes hand in hand,
trying to be successful in a
very competitive world - that is
what troubles me. ”
(Undergraduate)______________

Scottish
traditional

“It’s not a financial world, you can’t
really earn a lot of money from doing
it.” (Portfolio musician)

“There ^,s so many people now
going for the same jobs, it ^,s
getting really competitive now.
I think anyway, so that’s a
huge worry. ” (Undergraduate)

Jazz

"What they do is maybe spend 6 months
a year touring, but living very frugally,
staying with the musicians that they re
performing with,, and using the money
that they earn from the gigs to just
basically pay the transport to the next
venue. ” (Pportfolio musician)

“I’m very aware of all the
people that are coming
through the music colleges
now and who have kind of
started as jazz musicians and
have got a head start, if you
like. I used to be more
conscious of it, but the older I
get the more I’m aware of the
fact that it ^,s not a
competition. ” (Portfolio
musician)____________________

Popular

“You could find any style of music, any
of the ones discussed there, world, jazz,
fusion, rock, hip hop. It was all
happening in squats illegally but it was
absolutely brilliant because you could
tap into it. But I suppose I got really
disillusioned with music because it
didn’t really do anything for me. I
didn’t have a home and so most of it
was really just trying to stay sane. ”
(Portfolio musician)____________________