A hard day’s night: building sustainable careers for musicians

ABSTRACT

Traditional career theories are largely situated in organisations, where career trajectory is mostly an upward movement, usually associated with greater managerial responsibility and corresponding salary and benefits increase. With increasing growth in the creative economy and creative class, this article examines the complexity of creative work patterns and the associated skills required for sustainable musical careers. A longitudinal qualitative case-study approach documents the careers of eight professional musicians. Interviewees narrated their last decade through semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings suggest that musical careers are multifaceted and tend to have a lifespan effect. To remain sustainable, a baseline of well- maintained technical skills and musical expertise was a given, but a myriad of soft organisational skills was key.

KEYWORDS:

• Creative industries
• career outcomes
• musical careers
• higher education
• graduate outcomes

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kate Gee

Kate Gee was a Research Fellow at the Royal College of Music, and Honorary Research Fellow at Imperial College and she is also a professional musician. She is currently taking a sabbatical from research to raise a baby. She was previously a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Canterbury Christ Church University. Kate completed her PhD in 2009, at the University of Sheffield, on social identity and career development in elite artists. Her research interests include social identity, career evolution and navigation across artistic platforms, understanding notions of success and luck in careers. Extending these ideas has additionally moved her towards mental health and wellbeing, focussing on perfectionism and anxiety in artists. She was recently awarded £100,000 MedTech grant to develop a start-up which used psychology to improve children’s mental health through an app. Her recently published articles include a meta-analysis into einterventions, a student intervention using music to improve mental health, and a national evaluation of arts practices and wellbeing. She has supervised 3 PhD candidates, and is currently locum supervising 1. She is currently studying client-centred management consulting with Oxford Management Consulting to develop her industry talents.

Pamela Yeow

Pamela Yeow is a Reader in Management and Assistant Dean (External Engagement) at Birkbeck, University of London and the Course Director of the MBA partnership between Central Saint Martin’s (University of the Arts, London) and Birkbeck, University of London. Pam completed her PhD at the Institute of Work Psychology, University of Sheffield, on managing effective change strategies in multinational organisations. She was then awarded a two-year JSPS Post-doc research fellowship to Chuo University in Tokyo. Her research interests include the role of trust and communication in managing change effectively, attitude-behavioural gap and how communities of practice work in reality. Recently published articles include a case study analysis into how ethical consumerism can be embedded, and exploring multiplex networks, leadership and group performance. She was recently awarded a grant from the Eastern Arc to understand the differing householder roles in effecting sustainable change. She has successfully supervised 9 PhD candidates and is currently supervising 4.