The business side of music: record labels, publishing, royalties, licensing, radio and streaming promotion, and the people who make sure songwriters and artists get paid.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Record Label Executive: Runs a record label: which artists to sign, how to market them, and how to make money. Typical pay $180k.
Music Business Affairs Executive: Negotiates record deals, publishing contracts, and licensing agreements for labels and publishers. Typical pay $170k.
Music Publisher: Signs songwriters and earns money from their songs being recorded, streamed, and licensed. Typical pay $115k.
Forensic Musicologist: Analyzes songs for lawyers and record labels to judge whether one song copied another, and explains the evidence in court. Typical pay $120k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Music Publishing Administrator: Registers songs and makes sure songwriters collect money from every use worldwide. Typical pay $60k.
Royalty Analyst: Calculates how much artists and songwriters are owed from streams and sales. Typical pay $65k.
Sync Licensing Agent: Pitches songs to be used in movies, shows, ads, and games. Typical pay $75k.
Radio Promotion Rep: Convinces radio stations to play a label's new songs. Typical pay $68k.
Streaming Playlist Curator: Chooses songs for the big playlists on streaming services. Typical pay $90k.
Label Marketing Manager: Plans and runs marketing campaigns for album and single releases at a record label, from music videos and social media to streaming promotion. Typical pay $78k.
Vintage Instrument Dealer: Buys, appraises, and sells vintage guitars, drums, and other instruments, spotting fakes and knowing the history of every model. Typical pay $62k.
Artist Relations Manager (Music Gear): Works for guitar, drum, and audio companies, building endorsement deals with musicians and getting them gear on tour. Typical pay $75k.
Starter: fastest way in
Record Label Assistant: Supports label executives with schedules, releases, and artist logistics. Typical pay $45k.
Record Store Clerk: Sells vinyl and music at independent record stores. Typical pay $32k.
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.