Is a Music degree a waste of time and money?
I would love to say it is not, but I have a terrible fear I will be Starbucks fodder in a couple of years time....
People love to say degrees such as Art, Music and Media are worth while but the truth is, you have to think about the job you're realistically going to get with that degree. The people that leave uni with those sorts of degrees and actually get jobs have spent their entire summers interning for companies and gaining experience. Even then they could end up on a wage that someone that didn't go to uni would get.
Think about it carefully. I picked Media last year and was told by my student adviser when asking about dropping out, that she 'wished she could tell people what a waste of time the course was'. Pick a diverse degree unless you know exactly what job you want and how that specified course will help you. Hope that helped somehow
Think about it carefully. I picked Media last year and was told by my student adviser when asking about dropping out, that she 'wished she could tell people what a waste of time the course was'. Pick a diverse degree unless you know exactly what job you want and how that specified course will help you. Hope that helped somehow
Original post by kendall2
People love to say degrees such as Art, Music and Media are worth while but the truth is, you have to think about the job you're realistically going to get with that degree. The people that leave uni with those sorts of degrees and actually get jobs have spent their entire summers interning for companies and gaining experience. Even then they could end up on a wage that someone that didn't go to uni would get.
Think about it carefully. I picked Media last year and was told by my student adviser when asking about dropping out, that she 'wished she could tell people what a waste of time the course was'. Pick a diverse degree unless you know exactly what job you want and how that specified course will help you. Hope that helped somehow
Think about it carefully. I picked Media last year and was told by my student adviser when asking about dropping out, that she 'wished she could tell people what a waste of time the course was'. Pick a diverse degree unless you know exactly what job you want and how that specified course will help you. Hope that helped somehow
This is exactly my thought process.
Lecturers and teachers do not want to be honest with people about the value of their course; they want a paycheck!
Original post by Pete the Student
I would love to say it is not, but I have a terrible fear I will be Starbucks fodder in a couple of years time....
It depends on lots of factors.
What kind of Music degree do you mean?
Do you mean an academic degree from a good university which required good A Levels ( or equivalent) as well as musical skills or do you mean a music degree which needed 2 E's at A level -teaching drums or base guitar ? Or something in-between?
I am not putting down any of these courses and I am sure that those "less academic" ones have their place for some people but realistically they are not going to have much use outside the narrow confides of what they teach you so there is of course a much higher chance that they will not result in the career you want or a well paid job.
Doing music at a good university is no worse or better than doing any other non-vocational humanities degree (although some of course will end up doing a vocational work in music) Indeed there is some evidence to suggest that employers quite like music graduates because they have demonstaited their commitment to their music with all the extra practice required and dedication to improving their skills.
When ever these questions turn up on TSR people come up with black and white answers but the truth is the world is grey.
In the end it is the same as it is for most subjects- if this is your passion and you think you can study it at a highly regarded university then you will equip yourself with lots of useful transferable skills which might be better than struggling through a degree that has "good job prospects`' but which you don't enjoy and therefore don't do well in.
You need to look at the quality of the course as well as the content and do something that you know you will be able to engage with .
Good luck
Original post by watchingyouwatch
It depends on lots of factors.
What kind of Music degree do you mean?
Do you mean an academic degree from a good university which required good A Levels ( or equivalent) as well as musical skills or do you mean a music degree which needed 2 E's at A level -teaching drums or base guitar ? Or something in-between?
I am not putting down any of these courses and I am sure that those "less academic" ones have their place for some people but realistically they are not going to have much use outside the narrow confides of what they teach you so there is of course a much higher chance that they will not result in the career you want or a well paid job.
Doing music at a good university is no worse or better than doing any other non-vocational humanities degree (although some of course will end up doing a vocational work in music) Indeed there is some evidence to suggest that employers quite like music graduates because they have demonstrated their commitment to their music with all the extra practice required and dedication to improving their skills.
When ever these questions turn up on TSR people come up with black and white answers but the truth is the world is grey.
In the end it is the same as it is for most subjects- if this is your passion and you think you can study it at a highly regarded university then you will equip yourself with lots of useful transferable skills which might be better than struggling through a degree that has "good job prospects`' but which you don't enjoy and therefore don't do well in.
You need to look at the quality of the course as well as the content and do something that you know you will be able to engage with .
Good luck
What kind of Music degree do you mean?
Do you mean an academic degree from a good university which required good A Levels ( or equivalent) as well as musical skills or do you mean a music degree which needed 2 E's at A level -teaching drums or base guitar ? Or something in-between?
I am not putting down any of these courses and I am sure that those "less academic" ones have their place for some people but realistically they are not going to have much use outside the narrow confides of what they teach you so there is of course a much higher chance that they will not result in the career you want or a well paid job.
Doing music at a good university is no worse or better than doing any other non-vocational humanities degree (although some of course will end up doing a vocational work in music) Indeed there is some evidence to suggest that employers quite like music graduates because they have demonstrated their commitment to their music with all the extra practice required and dedication to improving their skills.
When ever these questions turn up on TSR people come up with black and white answers but the truth is the world is grey.
In the end it is the same as it is for most subjects- if this is your passion and you think you can study it at a highly regarded university then you will equip yourself with lots of useful transferable skills which might be better than struggling through a degree that has "good job prospects`' but which you don't enjoy and therefore don't do well in.
You need to look at the quality of the course as well as the content and do something that you know you will be able to engage with .
Good luck
Hey there, thank you so much for your reply!
My course is at University of Sheffield, required ABB to get it.
I've tried to tailor it to more pragmatic module choices this year, so I have chosen
Autumn Semester
-Intermediate Composition
-History of Electronic Music
-Sound Recording Practice
Spring Semester
-Music Business
-Music and Visual Culture
-Creative Applications of Music Technology
I like the idea that studying something artistic and studying it well is better than be a bad engineering student, but I hope that's actually true.
Do you have a reference for 'some evidence to suggest that employers quite like music graduates because they have demonstrated their commitment to their music with all the extra practice required and dedication to improving their skills.'
I thought the above module choice would allow me to develop and demonstrate skills which would help get work in a recording studio, or in production after finishing my degree. To be quite frank I really haven't researched into these possibilities and have not researched out my career path fully.
At 18 I wanted to be a concert pianist and have since, thankfully, grown a bit more world aware!
Original post by Pete the Student
Hey there, thank you so much for your reply!
My course is at University of Sheffield, required ABB to get it.
I've tried to tailor it to more pragmatic module choices this year, so I have chosen
Autumn Semester
-Intermediate Composition
-History of Electronic Music
-Sound Recording Practice
Spring Semester
-Music Business
-Music and Visual Culture
-Creative Applications of Music Technology
I like the idea that studying something artistic and studying it well is better than be a bad engineering student, but I hope that's actually true.
Do you have a reference for 'some evidence to suggest that employers quite like music graduates because they have demonstrated their commitment to their music with all the extra practice required and dedication to improving their skills.'
I thought the above module choice would allow me to develop and demonstrate skills which would help get work in a recording studio, or in production after finishing my degree. To be quite frank I really haven't researched into these possibilities and have not researched out my career path fully.
At 18 I wanted to be a concert pianist and have since, thankfully, grown a bit more world aware!
My course is at University of Sheffield, required ABB to get it.
I've tried to tailor it to more pragmatic module choices this year, so I have chosen
Autumn Semester
-Intermediate Composition
-History of Electronic Music
-Sound Recording Practice
Spring Semester
-Music Business
-Music and Visual Culture
-Creative Applications of Music Technology
I like the idea that studying something artistic and studying it well is better than be a bad engineering student, but I hope that's actually true.
Do you have a reference for 'some evidence to suggest that employers quite like music graduates because they have demonstrated their commitment to their music with all the extra practice required and dedication to improving their skills.'
I thought the above module choice would allow me to develop and demonstrate skills which would help get work in a recording studio, or in production after finishing my degree. To be quite frank I really haven't researched into these possibilities and have not researched out my career path fully.
At 18 I wanted to be a concert pianist and have since, thankfully, grown a bit more world aware!
Sounds like you are doing all the right things-you are doing an academic degree at a good university. You don't have to know at 18/19 how your whole career is going to pan out- lots of people don't know what they want to do and in the modern world it is no longer just a matter of deciding what you want to do at 18 and doing it until you retire. These days people may well have several "careers' adapting to the ever changing circumstances. In five years time you will find that many of those who had a very clear idea of what they wanted to do end up doing something completely different . Flexibility and an enquiring mind are core skills in the workplace and your degree will help you to achieve those
There are several articles to look at but here are a couple to get you going
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/oct/11/music-students-employability
or this
http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/if-you-want-to-be-employed-after-uni-study-music-8688475.html
Don't let other people's ignorant views on what is or isn't a good degree cloud the view and remember to enjoy the experience
Depends on your life aims.
If music is important to you , and it is possibly more of a traditional classical style than drum n'bass, you could do a BEd . Music specialism which qualifies you as a teacher in uk schools but also has an element of musical development.
I don't know if other places do, but I know that Reading uni does a course with free tuition in your instrument through the course, so that you develop as a musician , but also train as a teacher.
Most professional musicians earn less than teachers, so it's not a bad option if you aim to have music as a main part of your life
A friend of mine did the reading one and now teaches in a school and is in charge of the music dept, but has time to be in a quartet. She seems comfortable
Another went to the Royal college of music and is a string player in an opera company but earns less.
If music is important to you , and it is possibly more of a traditional classical style than drum n'bass, you could do a BEd . Music specialism which qualifies you as a teacher in uk schools but also has an element of musical development.
I don't know if other places do, but I know that Reading uni does a course with free tuition in your instrument through the course, so that you develop as a musician , but also train as a teacher.
Most professional musicians earn less than teachers, so it's not a bad option if you aim to have music as a main part of your life
A friend of mine did the reading one and now teaches in a school and is in charge of the music dept, but has time to be in a quartet. She seems comfortable
Another went to the Royal college of music and is a string player in an opera company but earns less.
Original post by watchingyouwatch
Sounds like you are doing all the right things-you are doing an academic degree at a good university. You don't have to know at 18/19 how your whole career is going to pan out- lots of people don't know what they want to do and in the modern world it is no longer just a matter of deciding what you want to do at 18 and doing it until you retire. These days people may well have several "careers' adapting to the ever changing circumstances. In five years time you will find that many of those who had a very clear idea of what they wanted to do end up doing something completely different . Flexibility and an enquiring mind are core skills in the workplace and your degree will help you to achieve those
There are several articles to look at but here are a couple to get you going
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/oct/11/music-students-employability
or this
http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/if-you-want-to-be-employed-after-uni-study-music-8688475.html
Don't let other people's ignorant views on what is or isn't a good degree cloud the view and remember to enjoy the experience
There are several articles to look at but here are a couple to get you going
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/oct/11/music-students-employability
or this
http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/if-you-want-to-be-employed-after-uni-study-music-8688475.html
Don't let other people's ignorant views on what is or isn't a good degree cloud the view and remember to enjoy the experience
Thanks so much again for this.
What do you study out of interest?
The Guardian article seems very encouraging... "In 2011, the Confederate of British Industry outlined the seven skills that define employability: self-management, team work, business and customer awareness, problem solving, communication, numeracy, and IT skills. Adlington says that music students develop all seven of these. By this measure, music graduates are among the most employable of all."
The independent article is less encouraging. I really hope I don't end up having to clean windows for a living, like the bottom of the article suggests a number of graduates (of all subjects?) do. The article talks about Royal Academy of Music and another conservatoire having the highest number of students employed after they finish study. The problem is that, as it goes on to mention, the sample size is very small, 165 students, so that does not apply to music degrees as a hole/
Feeling a lot better about it.
I’m on my way to completing a Doctoral Degree in Piano Performance with a cognate in Pedagogy. I’ve had full funding throughout my student/ academic career. I’ve traveled, been invited as guest artist to some Universities, have studied with professors from Moscow Conservatory, Indiana University, And performed in masterclasses with several pedagogues. Very thankful for that but I’m going to be completely honest... if you value money and being financially stable then I strongly discourage anyone from wasting their 20’s on pursuing a degree in music. I’m thankful to have a small trust fund but I’d really like my own income.... I’ve applied and searched for teaching positions throughout the United States and I’ve only been given a handful of interviews and offers. However, the salary is not realistic with costs of living in these cities. It’s ridiculous. I wish someone sat me down and said “this is NOT REALISTIC, go pursue something in the medical field.” I love music but I hate to admit it..... money buys happiness to some degree. So if you just LOVE music, and are self aware of what you want out of life, meaning not brainwashed, have a way to support yourself financially, a plan of action based on logic and not blind emotion, then go for it. But speaking from experience.... this could severely ruin your life a little bit. Please be careful when investing money towards something that should benefit your ONE life financially.
I completed my bachelor of music degree and licentiate in singing in 2018 the education I received was shocking and not up to standard. My so called singing teacher could not sing.
I submitted a written complaint and was told i wasn’t the only one to complain about that teacher. However my complaint was ignored and i still ended up with a 60 thousand bill so NO!!! my bachelor degree was Not worth it, I’ve had to go back to cleaning houses because unless i work for myself, travel long distances or forced to work nights my degree is useless
I submitted a written complaint and was told i wasn’t the only one to complain about that teacher. However my complaint was ignored and i still ended up with a 60 thousand bill so NO!!! my bachelor degree was Not worth it, I’ve had to go back to cleaning houses because unless i work for myself, travel long distances or forced to work nights my degree is useless
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