Also called: Live Sound Engineer, FOH Mixer
Mixes the live sound the audience hears at concerts, running the mixing desk in the crowd for touring artists, sound companies or venues.
A FOH engineer stands at the mixing desk in the middle of the crowd, balancing vocals and instruments live, adjusting for every song and every venue's echo.
Approximate. Touring crew are usually paid weekly or daily rates while on tour; big arena and stadium tours pay far more than club tours, and work has off-seasons.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 2 years after high school. Audio engineering training plus years mixing local bands.
Ways in: 2-year college, Trade school, Self-taught, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Audio Engineering, Live Sound Technology.
Growing faster than average. Live music touring has hit record revenues since 2022.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Digital consoles add auto-mixing and AI tuning; mixing a live show for a crowd in real time stays a skilled human job.
Classes: Music, Audio or music technology, Physics (sound), Electronics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-4014.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.