Music & Audio

Making music and sound: songwriting, recording, mixing, film scores, sound effects, foley, and the craftspeople who build and tune instruments.

Top pay: highest pay, longest training

• Re-Recording Mixer: Combines dialogue, music, and sound effects into the final soundtrack of a film or show. Typical pay $120k.
• Supervising Sound Editor: Leads the team that creates all the sound for a film or show. Typical pay $120k.

Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship

• Recording Engineer: Runs the microphones, mixing board, and recording software when musicians lay down songs. Typical pay $60k.
• Mixing Engineer: Blends all the recorded tracks of a song into a polished final mix. Typical pay $70k.
• Mastering Engineer: Gives finished songs their final polish so they sound great on every speaker, from earbuds to clubs. Typical pay $65k.
• Record Producer: Shapes a song or album's sound, guiding the artist, arrangement, and recording. Typical pay $60k.
• Session Musician: Plays instruments on other artists' recordings, film scores, and commercials. Typical pay $60k.
• Film & TV Composer: Writes the original music that plays under movies, TV shows, and video games. Typical pay $70k.
• Orchestrator: Takes a composer's sketches and writes out parts for every instrument in an orchestra. Typical pay $65k.
• Music Supervisor: Picks and licenses the songs you hear in movies, shows, ads, and video games. Typical pay $100k.
• Sound Designer: Creates and edits the sound effects for films, games, and theater: lightsabers, explosions, creature roars. Typical pay $75k.
• Foley Artist: Performs everyday sound effects live in a studio to match picture: footsteps, punches, rustling clothes. Typical pay $72k.
• Foley Mixer: Records the foley artists' performances with precise microphone placement. Typical pay $70k.
• Dialogue / ADR Editor: Cleans up actors' recorded lines and manages re-recorded dialogue (ADR) in post-production. Typical pay $75k.
• Music Editor: Cuts and fits music to picture, and helps the composer and director during scoring. Typical pay $85k.
• A&R Representative: Scouts new artists for record labels and helps guide their recordings. Typical pay $75k.
• Sound Effects Editor: Places and layers sound effects for films, shows, and games. Typical pay $80k.
• Production Music Composer: Writes music used in TV shows, ads, and videos, licensed through music libraries. Typical pay $55k.
• Vinyl Lacquer Cutting Engineer: Cuts the master discs used to press vinyl records. Typical pay $65k.
• Audio Restoration Engineer: Cleans up and preserves old or damaged recordings. Typical pay $62k.
• Immersive Audio Mix Engineer: Mixes music in 3D surround formats so sound comes from all around the listener. Typical pay $85k.
• Video Game Composer: Writes music for games that changes as players explore and fight. Typical pay $70k.
• Recording Studio Manager: Runs a recording studio's bookings, staff, and gear. Typical pay $58k.
• Studio Maintenance Technician: Keeps recording studios, broadcast rooms, and sound stages running by repairing mixing consoles, tape machines, wiring, and computers. Typical pay $60k.

Starter: fastest way in

• Songwriter: Writes the melodies and lyrics of songs, often for other artists. Typical pay $45k.
• Assistant Engineer / Studio Runner: Helps in a recording studio: setting up mics, wrapping cables, ordering food, and learning everything. Typical pay $36k.
• Piano Technician / Tuner: Tunes, repairs, and restores pianos for homes, schools, concert halls, and studios. Typical pay $45k.
• Luthier (Instrument Maker): Builds and repairs stringed instruments like guitars, violins, and cellos. Typical pay $43k.
• Music Licensing Coordinator: Handles paperwork and deals that let songs be used in ads, films, and games, and tracks royalties. Typical pay $54k.
• Music Copyist: Prepares the clean sheet music that orchestras and session players read. Typical pay $48k.
• Club & Event DJ: Mixes music live for nightclubs, parties, and events. Typical pay $42k.
• Church Music Director & Organist: Leads choirs and plays organ or piano for religious services. Typical pay $45k.
• Collaborative Pianist: Plays piano for singers, dancers, and instrumentalists. Typical pay $48k.
• Record Pressing Technician: Runs the hydraulic presses that stamp vinyl records at a pressing plant, loading hot vinyl, checking each record for flaws, and packing orders. Typical pay $40k.
• Wedding & Cover Band Musician: Plays popular dance songs at weddings, parties and corporate events as part of a cover band, often booked through an event agency. Typical pay $40k.
• Beatmaker (Music Producer for Hire): Makes instrumental beats and sells or leases them to rappers and singers. Typical pay $30k.
• Boutique Guitar Pedal Builder: Designs and hand-builds guitar effects pedals in a small shop, from soldering circuits to shipping them to musicians online. Typical pay $50k.
• Guitar Amp Technician: Repairs and modifies guitar amplifiers, especially vintage tube amps, plus keyboards and other music electronics. Typical pay $45k.
• Music Transcriber: Listens to recorded songs and writes them out note for note as sheet music or guitar tab for publishers, players, and creators. Typical pay $42k.
• Professional Choral Singer: Sings in paid professional choirs at big churches, symphony choruses, and touring vocal ensembles, often reading new music on sight. Typical pay $30k.
• Demo Singer: Records quick vocal tracks of new songs so songwriters can pitch them to famous artists, especially in Nashville. Typical pay $40k.

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.