Anyone in the Music / Creative Industries?
Discussion
Just looking for some advice / guidance for my son who is desperate to get a route in to his preferred career.
My eldest son has a Creative Music Production degree - graduated with a First, right in the middle of the first lockdown when everything creative was pretty much shut down.
He would really like to do Sound Design - for film / TV / adverts / games.The part of his degree he enjoyed most was being handed visuals and having to create every part of the sound including music and sound effects etc.
He has a very good pure music background and can play multiple instruments, has decent music theory and can compose music himself also.
He is really struggling to get anywhere apart from doing some online freelance work for essentially beer money. All the job ads want commercial experience and seem to be for "Lead" or "Senior" positions. To be fair to him he has taken a job at the local recycling centre (tip) to pay his way but he is becoming a bit demoralised after working hard and seemingly it being a waste.
Just wondering if anyone has any insight about how to get into this industry? Any other related aspects or other angles he should be looking at to gain some sort of foothold?
Many Thanks
My eldest son has a Creative Music Production degree - graduated with a First, right in the middle of the first lockdown when everything creative was pretty much shut down.
He would really like to do Sound Design - for film / TV / adverts / games.The part of his degree he enjoyed most was being handed visuals and having to create every part of the sound including music and sound effects etc.
He has a very good pure music background and can play multiple instruments, has decent music theory and can compose music himself also.
He is really struggling to get anywhere apart from doing some online freelance work for essentially beer money. All the job ads want commercial experience and seem to be for "Lead" or "Senior" positions. To be fair to him he has taken a job at the local recycling centre (tip) to pay his way but he is becoming a bit demoralised after working hard and seemingly it being a waste.
Just wondering if anyone has any insight about how to get into this industry? Any other related aspects or other angles he should be looking at to gain some sort of foothold?
Many Thanks
First off, I assume he has a showreel. If not, make this a priority - a short YouTube and Vimeo (the later is important and I'll come back to that in a mo) video showcasing a variety of his work and capability.
Set up a pro-Vimeo page. Most companies tend to gravitate to this platform more than YouTube for industry connections. And get a LinkedIn page set up.
If there's a Community Radio station nearby, volunteer there. This builds experience and he can say that he's worked in radio on his CV. He should also make himself known to all local video companies. This may lead to something tweaking sound on corporate vids but again, it provides that level of commercial experience that he needs.
Keep slogging away at the Freelance work and beyond that, just a case of keep looking and applying. It's a sector that's growing phenomenally so the demand is there but he has to keep on it to be in it.
HTH - good luck.
Set up a pro-Vimeo page. Most companies tend to gravitate to this platform more than YouTube for industry connections. And get a LinkedIn page set up.
If there's a Community Radio station nearby, volunteer there. This builds experience and he can say that he's worked in radio on his CV. He should also make himself known to all local video companies. This may lead to something tweaking sound on corporate vids but again, it provides that level of commercial experience that he needs.
Keep slogging away at the Freelance work and beyond that, just a case of keep looking and applying. It's a sector that's growing phenomenally so the demand is there but he has to keep on it to be in it.
HTH - good luck.
Thanks both - all replies much appreciated.
He only currently has a basic website showcasing his work, and a sketchy LinkedIn profile which I have tasked him with improving, so will definitely look at getting something onto Vimeo and Youtube ASAP.
He did some radio work whilst at Uni so has some experience there, so will push him towards contacting our local community stations.
Before lockdown and his graduation there seemed more beginner roles out there but I can only assume that lockdown contracted the industry somewhat so employers know they can get people with existing experience already.
I have suggested to him he just blast out his CV and a covering letter to all games studios / ad studios / radio stations etc even offering to work for free for a period just to get a foot in the door - not sure if this is likely to yield results or not, and if so if any other industries we should target?
He only currently has a basic website showcasing his work, and a sketchy LinkedIn profile which I have tasked him with improving, so will definitely look at getting something onto Vimeo and Youtube ASAP.
He did some radio work whilst at Uni so has some experience there, so will push him towards contacting our local community stations.
Before lockdown and his graduation there seemed more beginner roles out there but I can only assume that lockdown contracted the industry somewhat so employers know they can get people with existing experience already.
I have suggested to him he just blast out his CV and a covering letter to all games studios / ad studios / radio stations etc even offering to work for free for a period just to get a foot in the door - not sure if this is likely to yield results or not, and if so if any other industries we should target?
My youngest son works the music industry, but not on the creative side. He's a maths/computer geek and he does income tracking, royalties etc. Still a bit a glamour in the job, film premiers, concert tickets etc.
But every month he gets an email about vacancies within the organisation, most of which are in creative positions. None of which are of interest to him. But maybe it might be worth getting any job in a company in the field, even office cleaner, in the hope of hearing about a creative position once you're in.
But every month he gets an email about vacancies within the organisation, most of which are in creative positions. None of which are of interest to him. But maybe it might be worth getting any job in a company in the field, even office cleaner, in the hope of hearing about a creative position once you're in.
Depends on what he enjoys, and what he wants to get out of it.
Playing music and getting paid? Teaching or session musician.
Rock & roll lifestyle and getting paid? Sound engineering/PA systems
Rock & roll lifestyle and tons of cash? Sell drugs
Rock & roll lifestyle and destitution? Start a band.
Money through being an artist? Be an independent. There is no happy lifestyle under a mainstream label.
M.
Playing music and getting paid? Teaching or session musician.
Rock & roll lifestyle and getting paid? Sound engineering/PA systems
Rock & roll lifestyle and tons of cash? Sell drugs
Rock & roll lifestyle and destitution? Start a band.
Money through being an artist? Be an independent. There is no happy lifestyle under a mainstream label.
M.
chilluk7 said:
Funnily enough although he can play live, and did so at college that isn't what he wants to do as a career. He is much more into composing / arranging / producing - he would really like to do Sound Design - for film / TV / adverts / games as per OP.
Then my suggestion (FWIW) is perhaps he looks at virtual sound engineering / production. There will be film & TV work out there, but budgets are usually miniscule (ask any actor!). Virtual sound production can pay the bills, with the rest "passion" projects.Visual production is a relatively small world, so easy enough to make contacts in.
Relatively cheap to get into. A DAW and small studio is all that's required. Cheaper than you might think. Although like anything else, easy to have a crazy expensive setup too...
M.
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