Music Directors and Composers

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$73,710

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$53,110 – $104,090

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

12,540

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

+1.2%

Growing slower than all jobs (0% to under 3.5%)

Openings a year (projected)

4,200

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

Bachelor's degree

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Conduct, direct, plan, and lead instrumental or vocal performances by musical artists or groups, such as orchestras, bands, choirs, and glee clubs; or create original works of music.

Main tasks

• Use gestures to shape the music being played, communicating desired tempo, phrasing, tone, color, pitch, volume, and other performance aspects.
• Direct groups at rehearsals and live or recorded performances to achieve desired effects such as tonal and harmonic balance dynamics, rhythm, and tempo.
• Study scores to learn the music in detail, and to develop interpretations.
• Apply elements of music theory to create musical and tonal structures, including harmonies and melodies.
• Consider such factors as ensemble size and abilities, availability of scores, and the need for musical variety, to select music to be performed.
• Determine voices, instruments, harmonic structures, rhythms, tempos, and tone balances required to achieve the effects desired in a musical composition.
• Experiment with different sounds, and types and pieces of music, using synthesizers and computers as necessary to test and evaluate ideas.
• Transcribe ideas for musical compositions into musical notation, using instruments, pen and paper, or computers.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

Bachelor's degree

Work experience in a related job: less than 5 years

O*NET Job Zone 4

Considerable preparation

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 12 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

• Choreographers

  $55,310 median · +3.1% projected

• Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary

  $78,620 median · +2.2% projected

• Producers and Directors

  $90,360 median · +4% projected

• Art Directors

  $114,850 median · +4.2% projected

• Film and Video Editors

  $75,420 median · +3.7% projected

• Sound Engineering Technicians

  $73,130 median · -3.1% projected