Music Career Resources : General Guidance
A guide to books, websites, and more for musicians of all categories!
Writing Guidance
- Resume Writing TipsThis UW–Madison Writing Center page is designed for undergraduate students from all kinds of majors and provides introductory advice on how to write a resume.
- CV Writing TipsThis UW–Madison Writing Center page is designed particularly for graduate students in all fields and provides introductory advice on how to write a CV. “CV” stands for “curriculum vitae”—the Latin phrase for “the course of one’s life.”
- Writing Cover LettersThis UW–Madison Writing Center page covers what to include, how to organize it, questions to guide your writing, format instructions, and sample letters.
- Planning and Writing a Grant ProposalThis UW–Madison Writing Center page offers ways of thinking about grant proposals, and advice about the process of planning and writing a proposal.
Online Guides (selected)
- Artists House: Non-Performance Careers in MusicOverview of non-performance careers in music, along with online resources, advice, and FAQs.
- Careers in MusicInformation on different music career paths and the process of music career development from the Berklee School of Music.
- Music EducationA guide to music education resources, created and maintained by the UW-Madison MERIT Library.
- Navigating Music Careers"Navigating Music Careers (NavMusic) is a web based archive of brief lessons on important music career topics [maintained by the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University]. Click on a title and you will see Shepherd School faculty and other experts speaking on subjects that are important for building and maintaining a career in music."
- Polyphonic.org: The Orchestra Musician ForumEducates musicians about the orchestra industry and how to develop an orchestral career. Contains articles, interviews, forums, discussion panels, blogs, and more!
Find More Career Guides in Print
Use Library Catalog to find music career guides in campus libraries:
1. Go to Catalog Search
2. Use Subjects search for music vocational guidance
3. Click Submit
When the search results page appears, results will be sorted by Relevancy. Change to Year - newest to oldest if you want to see recent publications first.
