What is a good trade that goes with music?

[Dhji]

Well I was originally going to go to audio engineering school in Vancouver (Nimbus), but then I thought maybe it's wisest to do a trade so I could pay for it. But maybe not? I was thinking electrical (http://camosun.ca/learn/programs/electr ... index.html), but then I was thinking how many times will I run into a situation where I will have to use these skills? Then I thought what kinds of situations would I run into that a trade in general would be handy to have?

Maybe I am thinking this all wrong. Maybe what I need to do is digital art, where artists are constantly needing logo's and album art done... Or maybe a website designer? Nah maybe not that because most people use social media platforms these days... Or not?

What are your thoughts?

[lowshelf]

Electronics will be useful to yourself and every other individual and business in society, is outsource-proof, crowdsource-proof, robot-proof, has lots of big companies everywhere that will employ you, people will expect to pay you, and they will pay you properly. By comparison, the other options are great things to do, cool hobbies... but professionally they are on a par with, say, swinging your arms around, or eating granola.

[Pitch Black]

WOW lowshelf sounds like you have some... backstory

[mikb]

Maybe what I need to do is digital art, where artists are constantly needing logo's and album art done... Or maybe a website designer? Nah maybe not that because most people use social media platforms these days... Or not?

What are your thoughts?

My observation would be that unless you're clearly talented and driven this sounds like a potential second artsy career path requiring about the same effort as breaking as a music artist. Money may be better and more steady though and I think skilled graphic artists always get jobs, especially if you ride on the wave of new technologies. Everything needs design including social media campaigns, though a lot of that is info design. Competition may be very hard though, but this depends on a lot of factors. Only you can really know what you can be good at and enjoy doing. I think the latter should not be underrated.

[Angstrom]

Do not go into digital art, websites, etc. Digital artist is valued lower than ditch digger, anyone can make a logo. Very few clients know what they want or have any eye for quality, so 99% of time is spent cat herding. Wrangling dumb and demanding clients who are seduced by a lowest bidder industry where an Indian kid can blap out a vector squiggle at $0.03. You wanna compete with that?

Websites are fragmenting, "Website Designer" is already a dead job title. It was great in the 90s /00's but it's dead now.
The many facets of frontend is what I assume you mean, and now its all Single Page Applications and JS feameworks which rise and fall each year.
Obsolescence cycles around far too quickly. Build tools will start to be automated and AI will take everyones jobs in 10 years. "Hey google, compile a website with a shop that can sell my music!" "OK, done, what do you want to call you new website? Why dont you describe what you'd like it to look like Jimmy. Would you like me to compose some music for it too? I see you like a mix of Sick beatz, mellow chill, and dope bangerz"


Nihilist Sage is a good steady job.
Terrible pay though.

[lowshelf]

THERE ARE MORE AUDIO ENGINEERING COURSES THAN THERE ARE AUDIO ENGINEER POSITIONS WORLDWIDE. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT.

[mikb]

Build tools will start to be automated and AI will take everyones jobs in 10 years. "Hey google, compile a website with a shop that can sell my music!" "OK, done, what do you want to call you new website? Why dont you describe what you'd like it to look like Jimmy.

This where most sites fail anyway. In 99% of cases when the client gets to decide things like design, certainly information design and even copy, the end customers are not enticed because few clients shopping for a web site understand web communication anyway and their business will suffer.

The money is not in creating web sites, but in creating web sites that makes money for the client. I know quite a few people making good money on building web sites, but they aren't "good" and they don't do "decent" jobs. They are great and do excellent work. You don't get there just like that.

Likely this will not change and people will use AI for stuff like growing web sites and similar things. Until things go haywire at least.

[jestermgee]

Programming, Data Analysis, App/software development, Engineering!

That's what I do. I use to work in product training/customer support for a national corporation but hated working for peanuts while holding all the answers to everything so I made them make me redundant (with payout).

I wanted to get into Audio engineering so much, I love the work, but there is a reason so many engineers are old grey haired dudes because they stay in the positions FOREVER. You need to be working as a cable monkey for one of them for a decade in the hope they die and you can step in... It's almost a "who you know" industry.

Best thing is to look at what is becoming a rising industry and get into that... Automation, software, apps and even games are all growing industries. As said, things like design, websites are now all DIY people can get setup with minimal skills within a day with CMS systems. Still, there are aspects people CANNOT do themselves such as networking, reliable data backup solutions etc. Look at these specialised areas and see about getting qualifications in them.

I'm studying a diploma in computer engineering while working on stuff from home and also doing the whole Dad thing too. My hope is I can then pick from a field of areas that need skilled people and run my own show. Only need to please a few people and the work starts to come in quickly.

[Tarekith]

Electrical Engineering is what I would recommend.

Any art or design based job has the same pitfalls as making music or audio engineering. Enough people do it for fun on thier own, that there's really no shortage you're going to fill. You're not meeting a need per se, because the market is already so flooded with people doing the same thing.

That's not to say that it's not something you should persue, just that it will almost always be an uphill struggle. If you're trying to learn a trade to pay for increasing your knowledge of an artform, learning a new artform to do so seems kinda backwards to me.

Just my $0.02.

[Angstrom]

If your day job fatigues the parts of your brain you need for music then you'll find the day job wins the fight too often. My day job involves lots of code, problem solving and other logical mentally taxing stuff - so I never want to code anything with Max when I get home. That logic/code/planning part of my brain is burnt toast by 8PM.

To give your creative brain the juice it needs don't make it work a day job.
There's a conception that by working in a creative field you will find the job easy, or won't be taxed by it due to natural aptitude. In fact a creative job requires you to think hard about solutions all day. Competetively, often in taxing environments. My job is like playing chess on a boat.

A few of my creative friends have taken a different aproach - they left their well paid career gigs which ate all their time and resources and took small niche jobs which have little cognitive load.
One friend is an art-handler for a large gallery. He moves and hangs expensive paintings. Mostly he uses the offices of the art gallery to do his photocopying and he strides about the place like he owns it. Sure, he's not earning megabucks, but he spends all day able to think about his own art, makes notes, daydreams. He's in the pub by 4 pm most days and back home by 6pm doing his artwork - still fresh.

[stringtapper]

Electrical Engineering is what I would recommend.

This.

A few of my creative friends have taken a different aproach - they left their well paid career gigs which ate all their time and resources and took small niche jobs which have little cognitive load.
One friend is an art-handler for a large gallery. He moves and hangs expensive paintings. Mostly he uses the offices of the art gallery to do his photocopying and he strides about the place like he owns it. Sure, he's not earning megabucks, but he spends all day able to think about his own art, makes notes, daydreams. He's in the pub by 4 pm most days and back home by 6pm doing his artwork - still fresh.

I probably fall within that group, although I upped the ante by combining said approach with the old "stay in school until they give you a job" routine. Now I manage a multi-room preservation studio and play with audio tech all day. After that I play a gig or I go home and practice.

I got very lucky finding a day job that is closely related to what I'm trained at doing (music) without actually being that thing.

[yur2die4]

Keep in mind that for something like electrical engineering you're reaching far far beyond the musical realm. Music and engineering can each benefit from each other, but the path towards electrical engineering requires a lot of learning about math, science and the world around you. It's actually quite great. But if you're sticking with the question of 'how do I make money from my hobby', engineering is quite the divergence. Still, if you're able to do it (let's say you have a knack for math and science, which are not always the same as having a knack for music and art but sometimes are), if you're able to do it, it should reward you handsomely by means of a steady and competitive salary.