investigate the various freelance roles in the music industry

explore the diversity of the music industry workforce and rage of the creative and production freelance roles

Investigate the various freelance roles in the music industry.

a community music worker is a class job that i would love to do you get to work with children from different backgrounds and help them with their problems sort of like a councillor except your helping them through music,teaching them to express their feelings through song writing ,singing ,poetry etc.

Similar titles are arts development officer, youth engagement officer, youth arts practitioner, and community projects assistant. Creative practitioners are mostly  freelance creative jobs.

Project work may fall into categories such as race, gender, disability, health and th environment, and may focus on the following groups:

  • young people, especially those at risk
  • young offenders
  • homeless people
  • people with disabilities and mental health conditions
  • ethnic minorities
  • the elderly
  • drug addicts and alcohol users.

The actual work you do can vary considerably depending on the role. You may be directly involved in delivering creative projects or you may be more focused on helping them with any musical experience they have or how to develop a music career, another role in the Music industry I’m interested in is a conductor,

I’ve always loved watching how conductors are the ones that keep the band, orchestra etc in time and control the level of speed volume and somewhat emotion of the music. Alot of people ask is there really a need for a conductor but without a conductor each musician would resort to their own individual opinion of the song which is why they are especially important to session musicians.

Review marketing activities available industry creative and production freelancers 

Explore a range of marketing activities suitable for music industry freelancers 

There are a lot of ways to promote your music or make money promoting in the music industry, for example newspapers my granddad usually buys a paper every weekend and there is always a section in the middle promoting singer songwriters, albums and gigs based in Ireland they always catch my attention because there colourful amd use flashy words there also the same  in magazines and phone books. Another way is radio advertisement  Radio advertising costs from 200 to 5,000 per week depending on your location. You will also need to factor in the cost of producing the commercial and  including copy writing. 

Internet video advertisement is one we see a lot nowadays we see them on you-tube before a video starts or on Facebook  and especially if your listening to an album on you-tube there are a lot of video advertisement suggesting to listen to that musician/album on spotify  where you pay a small amount towards that artist.

Billboards are a great way because when your on the bus or stuck in traffic doing noting they are the first thing you notice there usually promoting a new album or if a popular musician is coming over to do a gig, it cost 200/300 euro per week to put an ad on a billboard.

To secure full time employment in the music industry is something that most musicians do not have the luxury of experiencing. The relity is full time secure employment is that music working from gig to gig which is often not regular and therefore a steady income is not recieved. In order to be able to survive financially most musicians therefore take on various other roles in the  music  industry such as those i have mentioned earlier. Most of these roles are not full time and so musicians work free lancera. Setting up as a free lancer is a straightforward enough process

Registering as Self-Employed

Once you become self-employed it will be necessary to register with Revenue for Income Tax. If one of the following applies;

1. You are registered for PAYE Anytime

2. You are registered for the Revenue Online Service (ROS)

3. You are represented by a Tax Agent (accountant or tax advisor)

Taxable Profits (from trade)
€40,000
32,800 @ 20%
6,560
7,200 @ 41% 2,952
Total Tax
9,512
Less Tax Credit
(1,650)
Net Tax
7,862

To apply for the Artist’s Exemption, you should submit a claim form to the Revenue Commissioners, together with samples of your work and any supporting documentation that you consider appropriate. Your claim should include evidence that your work has been published, produced or sold.

Being self-employed means you are carrying on your own business rather than working for an employer. With this there are many advantages and disadvantages.

From a financial view point the primary advantage of being self-employed is that you are given greater flexibility in the expenses you can claim for tax purposes. Costs allowable under the PAYE system.

There are more tax planning opportunities available to the self-employed. For example, suppose you had intended carrying out repairs on your studio next year. You also plan to travel for 6 months and you know that you won’t be earning much income. However, this year you’re earning quite a lot and you know your income will be taxed at the higher tax rate. You could bring forward the planned renovation to the current year, as it will be tax deductible at the higher tax rate.  Being able in part to control the timing of your expenses and income allows you to maximise the tax break.

there are so any ways to prmotoe your music offline such as

  • Live performace
  • radio adds
  • sing at events
  • flyers/posters

gorilla marketing (gorilla marketing typically involves low cost methods that catch people off guard. for instant you could make a surprise appearance on a street or school and perform a few songs.

online marketing

  • create your own website
  • social media
  • email marketing
  • blogs
  • podcast
  • a cool music video

online and offline music marketing can easily be combined to compliment eachother You can use your print flyers to promote your website and social media files.

you can use your website to promote your live performances