a career for music
- Thread starter ANDY82
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sage
New member
The only hot jobs I know that's music-related are bar gigs or teaching in schools.
Bar gigs are paid by gig if you're not a fixed band, I think. FGL could give some insight in this. The only drawback I know is that not many bands are looking for vocalists, or you have to be -really- good due to high demands and have good showmanship to get the crowd going.
As far as I know music teachers are currently in high demand, but you need to go through the usual NIE route, although it includes a trip to NAFA to study music (which isn't so bad).
Most full-time teaching jobs, other than the fixed ones in music schools, require a music cert. Some accept basic theoretical or instrumental knowledge, some hire only those who have officially earned a high grade, diploma or degree in music or the instrument related.
If you want a moderate part time job, you might try for teaching music under supplementary lessons (one of those extra classes for the sec sch or poly/JC kids). The frequency is varied and may be slow, and you're paid per hour conducted in these classes (abt $10-$18/hr).
Bar gigs are paid by gig if you're not a fixed band, I think. FGL could give some insight in this. The only drawback I know is that not many bands are looking for vocalists, or you have to be -really- good due to high demands and have good showmanship to get the crowd going.
As far as I know music teachers are currently in high demand, but you need to go through the usual NIE route, although it includes a trip to NAFA to study music (which isn't so bad).
Most full-time teaching jobs, other than the fixed ones in music schools, require a music cert. Some accept basic theoretical or instrumental knowledge, some hire only those who have officially earned a high grade, diploma or degree in music or the instrument related.
If you want a moderate part time job, you might try for teaching music under supplementary lessons (one of those extra classes for the sec sch or poly/JC kids). The frequency is varied and may be slow, and you're paid per hour conducted in these classes (abt $10-$18/hr).
D.Young.1
New member
totally agree with Sis Sage and Bro Fgl..
i'm facing the same problem too..
My passion is singing but i dun wanna be a singer..
been to a vocal training before.. (it was by luck)..
but i'm more keen on helping local musicians on songwriting and vocal tuning..
haiz.. so hard laa..
i'm facing the same problem too..
My passion is singing but i dun wanna be a singer..
been to a vocal training before.. (it was by luck)..
but i'm more keen on helping local musicians on songwriting and vocal tuning..
haiz.. so hard laa..
EiraVanora
New member
im looking for a career in music too.
and based on my current position, i take basically anything.
hahaha...even apprentice.
and based on my current position, i take basically anything.
hahaha...even apprentice.
savagemp5
New member
One word ... be realistic. U are living in Singapore, so pls wake up... stop day dreaming.
If u live in the states, u dun need to attain very high education. And u'll probably be self-employed the moment u had 10 yrs of education, start a small biz easily. Its the culture. Or do something else. The market is very big. All very possible.
Singapore ? I wish you good luck if u made it.
If u live in the states, u dun need to attain very high education. And u'll probably be self-employed the moment u had 10 yrs of education, start a small biz easily. Its the culture. Or do something else. The market is very big. All very possible.
Singapore ? I wish you good luck if u made it.
wanna be a pro siinger/guitarist/drummer/whatnot?
in Singapore, all you need is networking and contacts. skills excluded....
seriously, i have seen not so good musicians earning a (good) living as a performer etc simply because they are good friends with the agent, talent scouts, manager,promoters.
I kid you not.
So get ready your snake-oil (malay says 'angkat bola)
best of luck ppl.
in Singapore, all you need is networking and contacts. skills excluded....
seriously, i have seen not so good musicians earning a (good) living as a performer etc simply because they are good friends with the agent, talent scouts, manager,promoters.
I kid you not.
So get ready your snake-oil (malay says 'angkat bola)
best of luck ppl.
oh....
and don't leave your day job just yet.... you might need it to pay your bills.
its a dog-eat-dog industry (?) here in sg. you'll get paid peanuts (if you get paid at all)
it is said, in sg, you might be well-known, name-wise, but you'll never get paid enough for your time performing. that's the hard reality here.
and don't leave your day job just yet.... you might need it to pay your bills.
its a dog-eat-dog industry (?) here in sg. you'll get paid peanuts (if you get paid at all)
it is said, in sg, you might be well-known, name-wise, but you'll never get paid enough for your time performing. that's the hard reality here.
sage
New member
The next best and hardest thing is to be Singapore Idol ah..
but you need to look like Tom Cruise and sing like Tom Jones :S
Speaking of which, if you wanna be a musician 'going somewhere', I think the best place to breakthrough is still not in Singapore. M'sia or Japan or whatever is still the best and most welcoming to talents.
but you need to look like Tom Cruise and sing like Tom Jones :S
Speaking of which, if you wanna be a musician 'going somewhere', I think the best place to breakthrough is still not in Singapore. M'sia or Japan or whatever is still the best and most welcoming to talents.
FarhanBrohan
New member
Wah piang sia like that... Singapore like no hope for Music ar even though they got Esplanade to promote art?
sage
New member
I think promotions can only bring you so far; you have to appeal to the masses as well. And we're going for people who are currently in majority, last I checked in schools, find appeal not only to genres like hiphop and emo rock or pop rock, but the western image of it.We still have to try though, I'm sure if music persists then they'll still strive to survive someway or another. Personally, I feel influence is the key here. The media has to reach out and bring out more local music than the Hollywood pop world or we local musicians are gonna sink faster down the pit..
I know there are some local bands here that have really great music, and all they need is to have their music reach further down into the locals brains. And only the media can do that..
Our idols are pretty boring looking haha.
I disagree with you on Japan being welcoming. Yep. They simply are not welcoming. Though yes they are definitely light years ahead of singapore in their music scene, and practically everything arts-related.
Just so you know, if you plan to go to Japan to "make it big" or whatever, that you have to get a working visa, as a musician. You need a bachelor's degree to even get a visa. Not even taking into account the fact that you probably have zero connections, and that your music might not be well recieved.
Oh, you HAVE to learn japanese, you have no choice. And if you plan on becoming a PR, you need to prove to them that you're worthy of it(this is very very subjective) and a pretty damn high salary if I remember.
In other words, if you want to go to Japan to make a living as a performing musician, check if you use 100 dollar bills to wipe your ass and bathe in mineral water.
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sage
New member
^^ Nope, I wasn't talking about making a living in Japan/any other country as a musician;
I meant that music is better received there. You could produce a CD here in Singapore and get exposed and ten times more fans (more $$) in Japan than in Singapore.
Although I'm not sure whether it varies between scenes; I'm just speaking based on the support of alternative scenes such as the metal and goth music genres.
It's amazing sometimes to see our local bands being more popular overseas than locally.
I meant that music is better received there. You could produce a CD here in Singapore and get exposed and ten times more fans (more $$) in Japan than in Singapore.
Although I'm not sure whether it varies between scenes; I'm just speaking based on the support of alternative scenes such as the metal and goth music genres.
It's amazing sometimes to see our local bands being more popular overseas than locally.
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parablue74
New member
Define career in music because music is a big definition. But i noe what u mean, you are looking at being an artiste, performer or composer. All these are jobs that are reacheable here, but extremely hard to get to if you want to take it as a full time job.
The biggest thing you need to face 1st is poverty, poverty, poverty. The 2nd biggest thing you need to face is stress, stress, stress. The 3rd biggest thing would be shame, shame and shame (shame from not being in a wealthy state like all other friends). The 4th biggest thing is critiscism, critiscism and critiscism (people will laugh at you thinking you are dreaming, not practical etc).
And the worst thing is, all these you will have to face for years after years, not knowing when the day things turn around.
People will ask you what are you doing at home, playing music etc, shouldn't you be earning money outside. People will wonder why you are so stressed out about music, to them, music is something of pleasure, don't need to stress. People will think you are very lazy playing music at home when you are actually training so hard developing your skills till yours fingers and legs sore, and eyes almost closing. People will wonder why you go out often and spend money when you are involved in networking in pubs and social circles to get connections, they think you don't treat your life seriously and that you are just wasting your life away.
Some people will even think you are an attention seeker, especially when you talk about your music to them, trying to promote yourself.
All these you will get, and the word is "misunderstood, misunderstood and misunderstood".
But let me refine in you something that i believe everyone in music would understand deep inside. When you take the step to get into the music road, you are actually one of the most "take yourself seriously" person. Because you treat your personal passion and love yourself so much that you will give yourself the freedom to be yourself in life the way your inner feelings are meant to be. With every moment you do better and better in music, it's a life worthy journey in it's own right, because with every step up, you discover something more about yourself. Music and arts is very much interconnected to your personal expression, and expression is one thing that comes along with how much you can sense your own feelings and how much you understand your own personality. What comes with when you understand more about your own self is more inner peace... It's the inner world we are talking about here.
Most people live in the outer world, a world of materialism, wealth, the 6c's, comfortable life, good looks etc. The reason why a lot of people initially started on the music road was to achieve greatly in the outer world, like wanting to be a big rock star or pop superstar sitting on the limousine etc. But the real journey is a real journey of the inner world. People can be so rich in wealth and yet still not have inner peace and recognition within, even when they are already living comfortable lifes. The main reason why we live our lifes in actuality is to recognise our inner soul, to find ourself. And in arts and music, imaginations are endless and you can be anywhere and everywhere in your inner world, in your expression, then you will find yourself better.
Now my question to you is "How much is your journey to music about? What is the main reason that you chase it? Is it really a career, or is it a life's journey?"
It may be a career to me, but it's more a life journey of discovery to me.. And when you walking your life's journey, you won't ask whether the opportunities are great or whether you are earning a lot of money and survivable or getting a lot of status etc. Of course you get stress, but you will still walk on, because you can never turn your back on discovering yourself. There cannot be regrets in a life journey.
Take a step back often and find your own motivation in your music road, with every reason you see, you will find out where you should stand in terms of music career, and you will also find why you stand there and more of who you are. As you progress, you will still need to take steps back to listen to your inner voice and seek yourself, and when you have made progress after years, you will look at yourself in the mirror and say "I've changed!" and smile proudly at yourself for seeing who you've become and am, something that your inner heart have always liked about yourself and being more of what you really are inside, not a status of lies of how people perceive you. It's our own perception of ourselves that mean a lot more than other's perception. And when you see that change, you will give yourself that 'ultimate' BIG SMILE that any amount of money, wealth and 6C's can never buy, then you will know who is actually richer in life, you or those who live in materialism!!!!
The biggest thing you need to face 1st is poverty, poverty, poverty. The 2nd biggest thing you need to face is stress, stress, stress. The 3rd biggest thing would be shame, shame and shame (shame from not being in a wealthy state like all other friends). The 4th biggest thing is critiscism, critiscism and critiscism (people will laugh at you thinking you are dreaming, not practical etc).
And the worst thing is, all these you will have to face for years after years, not knowing when the day things turn around.
People will ask you what are you doing at home, playing music etc, shouldn't you be earning money outside. People will wonder why you are so stressed out about music, to them, music is something of pleasure, don't need to stress. People will think you are very lazy playing music at home when you are actually training so hard developing your skills till yours fingers and legs sore, and eyes almost closing. People will wonder why you go out often and spend money when you are involved in networking in pubs and social circles to get connections, they think you don't treat your life seriously and that you are just wasting your life away.
Some people will even think you are an attention seeker, especially when you talk about your music to them, trying to promote yourself.
All these you will get, and the word is "misunderstood, misunderstood and misunderstood".
But let me refine in you something that i believe everyone in music would understand deep inside. When you take the step to get into the music road, you are actually one of the most "take yourself seriously" person. Because you treat your personal passion and love yourself so much that you will give yourself the freedom to be yourself in life the way your inner feelings are meant to be. With every moment you do better and better in music, it's a life worthy journey in it's own right, because with every step up, you discover something more about yourself. Music and arts is very much interconnected to your personal expression, and expression is one thing that comes along with how much you can sense your own feelings and how much you understand your own personality. What comes with when you understand more about your own self is more inner peace... It's the inner world we are talking about here.
Most people live in the outer world, a world of materialism, wealth, the 6c's, comfortable life, good looks etc. The reason why a lot of people initially started on the music road was to achieve greatly in the outer world, like wanting to be a big rock star or pop superstar sitting on the limousine etc. But the real journey is a real journey of the inner world. People can be so rich in wealth and yet still not have inner peace and recognition within, even when they are already living comfortable lifes. The main reason why we live our lifes in actuality is to recognise our inner soul, to find ourself. And in arts and music, imaginations are endless and you can be anywhere and everywhere in your inner world, in your expression, then you will find yourself better.
Now my question to you is "How much is your journey to music about? What is the main reason that you chase it? Is it really a career, or is it a life's journey?"
It may be a career to me, but it's more a life journey of discovery to me.. And when you walking your life's journey, you won't ask whether the opportunities are great or whether you are earning a lot of money and survivable or getting a lot of status etc. Of course you get stress, but you will still walk on, because you can never turn your back on discovering yourself. There cannot be regrets in a life journey.
Take a step back often and find your own motivation in your music road, with every reason you see, you will find out where you should stand in terms of music career, and you will also find why you stand there and more of who you are. As you progress, you will still need to take steps back to listen to your inner voice and seek yourself, and when you have made progress after years, you will look at yourself in the mirror and say "I've changed!" and smile proudly at yourself for seeing who you've become and am, something that your inner heart have always liked about yourself and being more of what you really are inside, not a status of lies of how people perceive you. It's our own perception of ourselves that mean a lot more than other's perception. And when you see that change, you will give yourself that 'ultimate' BIG SMILE that any amount of money, wealth and 6C's can never buy, then you will know who is actually richer in life, you or those who live in materialism!!!!
