How To Start A Music Career Alongside A 9 to 5 Job?

1. Schedule Your Days

Yeah, it’s boring but important. You have to schedule your days and set aside some time everyday to make/learn music. Also, you need to use the calendar to your advantage. You can use your calendar to plan practice sessions, recording sessions, content creation sessions, etc. All your content for social media should be scheduled in your calendar. Using a calendar will improve your productivity and will definitely help you to make more music and content.

2. Separate Music From Other Things

Photo by Hendrik B

You have to separate music from your daily tasks. You have to set aside a fixed amount of time just for music. Also, if you can , you should dedicate an area of your room/house for music. In this area, you can only do one thing: MAKE MUSIC! No phones, no chatting with friends and no other work. ONLY MUSIC. For example, you can set up your instruments and your computer in a corner of your room which can be only used while making music. This may become your personal creative corner.

3. Batching Content for Social Media

Photo by Oleg Magni

It's hard to deny that social media is an important part of everyone's life. And, right now, artists should use social media for his advantage. However, it's sometimes hard to post consistently on social media. So, to solve this problem, you should batch produce content. If you have a 9-5 job, weekends are great for this. You can make content for the whole week on the weekends! All you need is to dedicate time!

4. Get A Part Time Music Job

Photo by Elina Sazonova

You can start freelancing as a producer, session artist, etc. in your free time. Or, you can get a part-time job at a local studio to gain some experience. In this way, you can start earning some income from your music and also develop some skills. If you are interested in freelancing as a musician from home, you can set up your profile on sites like fiverr, upwork, etc. Or you can sell beats on beat stores.

5. Build Your Skills!

Photo by Anna Tarazevich

Slowly, build different musical skills like playing an instrument, producing music, singing, etc. Multiple skills are good if you want to become a full time musician. However, it's also great if you learn different skills but specialize in one. For example, you can be a good singer while being a pro at music production. This will help you to become a "Pro Grade Musician"

If you focus on your journey and dedicate your time, you can easily leave your old job and continue your musical life!