Musicians and Singers
Play one or more musical instruments or sing. May perform on stage, for broadcasting, or for sound or video recording.
Most important skills
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Social Perceptiveness
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
- Service Orientation
Key knowledge
- Fine Arts
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Communications and Media
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Computers and Electronics
What the work involves
- Perform before live audiences in concerts, recitals, educational presentations, and other social gatherings.
- Specialize in playing a specific family of instruments or a particular type of music.
- Play musical instruments as soloists, or as members or guest artists of musical groups such as orchestras, ensembles, or bands.
- Sight-read musical parts during rehearsals.
- Play from memory or by following scores.
- Listen to recordings to master pieces or to maintain and improve skills.
- Provide the musical background for live shows, such as ballets, operas, musical theatre, and cabarets.
- Seek out and learn new music suitable for live performance or recording.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Artistic, Enterprising, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (37.1% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (42.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (33.4%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Musicians and Singers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 63% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 75% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 78% of occupations compared | 77% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 95% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Very little freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 58% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 91% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 88% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 79% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0.38%
- Occasional contact with others: 14.97%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0.99%
- Contact with others most of the time: 28.28%
- Constant contact with others: 55.39%
n = 49, Incumbent 08/2022
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 35.03%
- Fairly important: 10.52%
- Important: 18.87%
- Very important: 14.81%
- Extremely important: 20.77%
n = 49, Incumbent 08/2022
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 1.1%
- Important: 16.63%
- Very important: 5.63%
- Extremely important: 76.64%
n = 49, Incumbent 08/2022
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 7.59%
- Very little freedom: 32.67%
- Limited freedom: 14.01%
- Some freedom: 23.38%
- A lot of freedom: 22.35%
n = 49, Incumbent 08/2022
Time pressure
- Never: 3.73%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 15.17%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 12.36%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 38.39%
- Every day: 30.35%
n = 49, Incumbent 08/2022
Conflict situations
- Never: 26.93%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 45.62%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 19.7%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 4.68%
- Every day: 3.08%
n = 47, Incumbent 08/2022
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 32.96%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 39.31%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 13.78%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 9.3%
- Every day: 4.65%
n = 47, Incumbent 08/2022
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 34.74%
- Fairly serious: 26.65%
- Serious: 19.36%
- Very serious: 6.68%
- Extremely serious: 12.56%
n = 48, Incumbent 08/2022
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
Where people with this background could move
- Analyze
Childcare Workers
Closeness 91/100 · job zone -2
- Analyze
Tour Guides and Escorts
Closeness 90/100 · job zone -1
- Analyze
Self-Enrichment Teachers
Closeness 90/100 · job zone -1
- Analyze
Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers
Closeness 90/100 · job zone -1
- Analyze
Costume Attendants
Closeness 90/100 · job zone -2
- Analyze
Demonstrators and Product Promoters
Closeness 90/100 · job zone -2
Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 27-2042.00 · SOC 27-2042 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8