Many people look at music production like it’s some kind of glamorous, dream job where you sit in a studio, meet famous musicians, play around with sounds and suddenly become the next best thing. But the reality is much less exciting. Music production can be a reliable career, but only if you treat it like an actual job/business instead of a hobby that you hope will magically pay off sooner or later.
The first obstacle most aspiring producers come across is underestimating how slow the growth initially is. Just like how some musicians think posting on instagram is marketing, producers think dropping random beats online or sending random emails to artists will get them paid work. But that is not how it works at all. The producers who actually make a living are the ones who build a portfolio with years of experience, collaborate with different artists consistently, network with lots of people and understand how the industry works behind the scenes . If you don’t do that, you end up being one of the thousands of producers who make good beats but never get discovered.
And one of the biggest misconceptions people have about music production, is that they think it’s a stable career because the music industry is big. But the truth is that nobody is going to randomly fund your studio, give you placements, or promote your sound. You have to build your own sound (Unison, 2025). And that takes years. Most producers who “blew up overnight” spent 5 to 10 years grinding before the world even heard of them.
So is music production a reliable career? It can be! But only if you are willing to do everything outside the fun part. You need consistency, networking, marketing, social skills and a lot of patience. Music production is the kind of career where you need to build your own opportunities from scratch.
References:
Broadcast, Sound, and Video Technicians. (2025). bls.gov. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/broadcast-and-sound-engineering-technicians.htm Unison. (2025, 9 januari). Average music producer salary in 2025 (+ awesome tips). Unison. https://unison.audio/music-producer-salary