Music Career Resources : Get Started
A guide to books, websites, and more for musicians of all categories!
About This Guide
This guide suggests resources designed to help musicians practice career development and find career opportunities. We also show you how to find more resources on your own.
If you are ever stumped, email us, call us, or come into the library to talk to us!
Get Started Online!
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Musical America Worldwide: International Directory of the Performing ArtsMusical America is the main source of career and education information for professional musicians. Look under Services-->Industry Links for listings that include orchestras, opera companies, festivals, summer music camps, and music schools.
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Grants Information CollectionThis UW-Madison library collection contains links to sources of funding as well as guidance on how to apply for them.
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Foundation Grants to IndividualsDatabase of funding sources, including those for educational support, general welfare, arts and cultural support, awards, prizes, and grants by nomination, etc. *Only accessible in Memorial Library.* Video on FGI
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Portal WisconsinPortalWisconsin.org is a non-profit web site created by the Cultural Coalition to promote culture, arts, humanities and history in Wisconsin.
Right Here in Mills Music Library
The following are selected career guides available in Mills Music Library. To find more career guides in campus libraries, click here!
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Beyond Talent by Call Number: ML3795 B42 2010ISBN: 9780195382594Publication Date: 2010-11-05A guide for classical musicians by the Career Services Director at New England Conservatory. "Drawing on a wealth of real-life examples, the book untangles artist management and the recording industry and explains how to find and create performance opportunities. Guidance is also provided on grant writing and fundraising, day jobs, freelancing, and how to manage money, time, and stress." -
The Musician's Journey: Crafting Your Career Vision and Plan by Call Number: ML3795 T54 2013ISBN: 9780199861323Publication Date: 2013-03-19The Musician's Journey escorts musicians, performing artists, music teachers, and advanced music students along the road toward a successful career, offering a vast array of resources to guide them from envisioning the process to achieving the practical details. Jill Timmons provides key tools throughout the journey, from sources as diverse as the world of myth to current brain research, which illuminate compelling real-world examples of music entrepreneurs who forged their own paths to success. -
Music Business Handbook and Career Guide by Call Number: ML3795 B33 2010ISBN: 9781412976794The Ninth Edition of the Music Business Handbook and Career Guide maintains the tradition of this classic text as the most comprehensive, up-to-date guide to the music industry and includes: greater coverage of digital technology and new marketing and distribution channels; new business models including the independent musician, the evolving role of producers, and satellite and internet radio; expanded coverage or the international scene; and additional and updated information on careers, especially in context of a changing business environment. -
Making Music in Looking Glass Land: A Guide to Survival and Business Skills for the Classical Musician by
Call Number: ML3790 H54 2003ISBN: 1892862050Ellen Highstein was Executive Director of the Concert Artists Guild from 1986 to 1997. "This book is aimed most directly at emerging, professional-level performers and composers of classical music. It often concentrates on specific issues faced by artists aspiring to careers as soloists or chamber musicians, or artists who wish to make solo or chamber music performance part of their professional lives."
UW-Madison School of Music Career Services
UW-Madison Music Career Services is a compendium of useful information created and maintained by the School of Music. It offers blog entries & news, focusing on music-related jobs in Wisconsin and/or offered by employers with UW-Madison connections, as well as lists of competitions, scholarships, grants, awards, workshops, residencies, festivals, conferences, and more. Services are available for all UW-Madison music students & alumni.