With all of the reality shows on television today,

everyone wants to be the next big music star. You would think that

singing was the only job in the music industry. It is the one job that

is out in the forefront, but it is not the only job in the music

industry.

With all the changes in technology, the music business

has gone hi-tech. the sound is not just produced by listening to tunes

on a keyboard. Music is mixed, recorded, and re-recorded to produce the

best quality sound possible. Highly skilled people are needed to fill

those positions.

Let\\\'s start at the bottom and work our way up.

One person who needs to be around all the time is the technician. This

person\\\'s job is to become familiar with all of the technical equipment

used in a recording studio. When something breaks down, he or she is

the one who everyone looks at to get the equipment back up and running

in the least amount of time. This person may not be recognized as a

major player in the industry, but he helps all the movers and shakers

get their jobs done.

Someone has to write all those songs that

the music stars sing and set them to music. These jobs belong to the

songwriter and composer. Sometimes, this is one and the same person.

Songwriters are a dime a dozen in this industry.

The one thing

that will set them apart is their style of music and their dedication

to the craft. A songwriter who has an ear for what\\\'s interesting and

can create the sound to go with it is a hot commodity. They know their

way around a keyboard, synthesizer, and can maybe carry a tune.

Once

a song is chosen for an artist, several other jobs come on board.

Someone has to program the musical tracks so the singer can hear it as

they perform the lyrics. A programmer works with the music arranger and

sound mixing engineer to turn all of these sounds into one flawless

recording. It\\\'s amazing that all the singer has to do is sing a few

times and the technical guys do the rest.

A studio is rated on

the quality of the work they produce. For that, they need to hire the

best people they can to do the job. We\\\'ve always heard that you should

find one thing that you are good at and stick with it. In the music

industry, someone who can do more than one thing is an asset especially

when it comes to the technical side of the business.

Now, there

are some jobs that get as much attention as the musical performer. I\\\'m

speaking about the music producer. The producer is visible, but they

have learned the skills that have earned them the position and the

title.

A producer oversees all of the recording done in the

studio. They listen to the tracks and the performers. A producer can

change or adds sounds and they can also remove parts of the song that

they feel are not needed. The producer is the one responsible for the

final finished musical product. A music producer may have done all of

the above jobs and worked their way up to being the one in charge of

the entire production.

The music industry is still highly

competitive, but it is easier to break into the business if you\\\'ve got

the right combination of talent, determination, and education. Each job

in the music industry is important because it builds on every other

job. The more you are willing to learn, the further you will go.