How to become a Musician
Official title: Musicians
Also called: Musician, Classical musician, Pipe major, Band leader, Band master, Bell ringer, Song writer, Music writer, Music copyist, Music arranger, Music conductor, Music organiser
Musicians write, arrange, orchestrate, conduct and perform musical compositions.
Main tasks
- Conceives and writes original music
- Tunes instrument and studies and rehearses score
- Plays instrument as a soloist or as a member of a group or orchestra
- Scores music for different combinations of voices and instruments to produce desired effect
- Auditions and selects performers and rehearses and conducts them in the performance of the composition
How to become one
There are no formal academic entry requirements although many possess a degree and/or diploma. Entry to a degree or graduate diploma course requires A levels/H grades. Entrants to the performers’ diploma course generally possess GCSEs/S grades and associated board graded examination passes in their chosen instrument(s) and will be required to audition.
Ways in
- University: Creative Arts & Design degrees, Offered by 26 universities in the UK
Pay · Outlook
- Median full-time pay: £46,591 a year
- About 45,200 people work in this job now, and about 50,200 are projected by 2035. (+11.1%)
Related jobs
- Arts officers, producers and directors
- Artists
- Authors, writers and translators
- Actors, entertainers and presenters
- Dancers and choreographers
- Photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Musician?
There are no formal academic entry requirements although many possess a degree and/or diploma. Entry to a degree or graduate diploma course requires A levels/H grades. Entrants to the performers’ diploma course generally possess GCSEs/S grades and associated board graded examination passes in their chosen instrument(s) and will be required to audition.
How much does a Musician earn in the UK?
Median full-time pay is £46,591 a year (Office for National Statistics).
Is a Musician a growing career in the UK?
Yes. Employment is projected to grow 11% by 2035, from about 45,200 to about 50,200 people (Department for Education).
Do you need a degree to become a Musician?
Usually. 72% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Updated 2026-10-03
Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.