18+ Pros and Cons of Being a Musician (Explained)

“Musician” is a term that is used to designate the person who follows music as a profession. They compose, conduct, or play musical instruments. Musicians also compose music as well as write lyrics for songs. Musicians perform in different styles, it may be on their own or as a group, band, or orchestra.

Advantages of being a Musician	Disadvantages of being a Musician
Freedom to plan own career path	Financial Risks
Pursuing Passion in profession	Uncertain Lifestyle
Excitement and Variety	Too much travel
Makes life of people better	Too much Responsibility
It is easier to become famous	Musicians often have to work on weekends or holidays
	Solitude

Advantages of being a Musician

Freedom to plan own career path

A musician can easily plan their own career path. Now it is easier to earn a living by working as a professional musician. The evolution of technology has decreased the hurdle to gathering a vivacious audience.

Websites like YouTube, SoundCloud, band camp and audio mac enables musicians and audience to link. Some sites like Patreon enable the audience to contribute and support the musicians, it ups morale.

One can engage with their potential clients and fans directly and propagate awareness about future appearances, gigs, and new work.

Unlike the typical music industry model, where record labels and managers control the entire project, work, and appearance, a musician who’s willing and ready to handle the business aspect of a career as a musician.

Pursuing Passion in profession

Everyone needs to do some work to earn a livelihood. There are only a few professions that allow us to pursue our passion. A person needs to be dedicated, disciplined, committed, and focused, however is also fuelled by their passion.

By pursuing their passion one feels delighted and tries their level best in excelling. It gives satisfaction and fulfillment in growing in their career which also is their passion. .

Excitement and Variety

The career of a musician is very exciting and full of thrill. A musician has to play at a wedding reception, a local club on weeknight, a garden party, and a Weekend afternoon.

One can have music to express joy, sorrow, fill enthusiasm, or even relax. One has the opportunity to meet many people of various kinds on different occasions.

The lifestyle of a musician is very adventurous, full of travel and keen observation of nature. One may get an idea anytime.

Makes life of people better

An important advantage a musician has is that they can just make sad people happy. Like when one performs at a wedding; or a sad person walks by and listens to one performing as a local musician, the result will be the same.

A person who has failed can get motivation; a person who has retired can get new goals in life. People get in touch with their feelings and want to have a good time while listening to music.

They may want to let slip about all problems in their lives and want to relax for a while. Consequently being a musician, one can help people to overcome difficult periods of their lives and make their lives of them better and can also

It is easier to become famous

Though the music industry is very competitive, one can become famous at the local level, national level, or even International level.

With the availability of online audiences and the use of digital media across borders and reaching out to remotest places, one may become instantaneously famous. One can channel their performance to a wide set audience.

By doing so, one may gradually build a big audience that one will monetize in the latter part of the career. If one is focused and dedicated and uses several online and television channels, they will in long run achieve a level of fame.

Disadvantages of being a Musician

Financial Risks

It is really tough, rather impossible, to become rich by pursuing a career as a musician. Though few musicians are able to get amongst the wealthy and live luxurious lives, they are among a fraction. Most struggling musicians fail to create magic and get loyal audiences.

They are not able to get more than a few hundred likes or subscribers. Some reach above local level and people across the country know, follow them, listen and submerge in music.

Uncertain Lifestyle

The music faces financial uncertainty and complications in their career. Moments of high income and steady gigs are followed by an era of increasing cash flow problems and downtime.

Despite the obvious economic hardships, it is a kind of flood and drought pattern that also adds to the anxiety, depression, and frustration.

All people want certain stability in lifestyle and income. Uncertain income demoralizes and demotivates a person and causes a physiological crisis.

Too much travel

Though most musicians in metropolitan cities might carve out a strictly location-based career, few musicians pertaining to genres like hip-hop, country, and rock, have to go on tour at many points of their careers.

It is tough to find sufficient gigs and venues in a single location to sustain oneself on a regular basis. Some people draw to this career as they like to travel and tour, but as too much of anything is bad, routine travel is frustrating.

After some time, he finds that it is tougher to travel regularly.

Too much Responsibility

A professional musician has to handle a number of different tasks. He has to manage hiring and firing, managing accounts, investors and investment, and much, along with being a musician.

He as a musician has responsibility for each and everything of the event. He cannot transfer responsibility, seek help from anyone, or blame when things go awry. There will be no one, literally, no one there to take care of people associated and mundane tasks and things to manage.

Moreover, taxation is very challenging while one can manage an entire project single-handedly. One is forced to manage, obtain and select insurance for equipment and professional liability events.

Musicians often have to work on weekends or holidays

A problem musicians face is that they will also have to work on weekends or holidays very often. In turn, most closed events are organized during those days.

One, therefore, will often have to perform whereas other people who celebrate special events or enjoy their leisure in their lives. One will not be able to spend time with friends or family.

Solitude

Like other art professions like the author, painter, and sculptor, writing and learning music takes a lot of time; they are alone during that.

A lot of people find it difficult to keep up with their friends and to balance making time for their passion and family. However, few view it to be an additional benefit. While one plays in a band, can take lessons, get out and play for people, or find a writing partner but they will feel alone.

There will not be any person with whom one can share their things. It may lead to a cycle consisting of distance, aloneness and maybe mental imbalance.