Sound Engineer- Qualifications
The minimum qualification for sound engineers is a secondary school diploma or a equivalent for entry level positions , however for dealing with more complex equipment many employers prefer workers with some post secondary train which is available from college manufacturers may have formal training programs or may even enroll workers in apprenticeships, with enough experience sound engineers can work on audio projects by themselves and eventually could even train new workers.
Potential Earnings
A sound engineers salary can differ due to the different location where the engineer is actually based but mostly there salary is 26,124 year and can even increase or decrease from that.
Example of a Sound/Audio engineer
Jean Umansky is a French sound engineer; he was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Sound for the film Amelie,he has worked on over 50 films.
Organisation associated with Sound Engineers
AES(Audio Engineering Society)
The AES Brings all audio engineers and people who have careers in music together and can help others get a career in the music industry, most people join the AES to further there career and help others.
The AES website has lots of forums about many things to do with sounds and magnetic pick ups for certain guitars, for many sound engineers this could be helpful if they feel like they need to know this information.
Method of application
The application would not be a typical hand in a cv and have an interview it would most likely be a face to face, and they would most likely have a live sound setting and ask you to set up a small venue to see if your skills are good enough.
Career potential assessment
This career would be the best money earner as when you progress in sound engineering the amount of money you earn will increase as some sound engineers do the live sound for festivals like wireless.
Music Producer-Qualifications
The best part about being a music producer is that you do not need any qualifications, but the only thing you would need as an artist is the skills of knowing how to actually produce the songs.
Potential earnings
From the website PayScale the average a music producer can earn is £25,962 But this could differ from. But if you look at the pie chart this earning can differ from experience.
Example of a producer
Dr.Dre is one of the many famous producers he started his own record label Aftermath Entertainment and he even went on to create his own headphones company Beats by Dre.
Organisation associated with Producers
The Alliance of Artists and recording companies which started in 1992 it is a private copy royalty company, the AARC represent record artists, and sound recording copyright owners the association was so successful they expanded to include foreign home taping and private copy and rental , this is based off the AARC website.
Method of application
There is no actual application for a music producer as most music producers do it for them selfs as it is can be so easy to do because you can use your own equipment to produce the music.
Career potential Assessment
This career is one of the most successful as you can produce your own remixes or own tracks and can produce what ever you would like to create but the money side of things is depending on how much you produce music, but if you were to create your own table like Dr Dre and this is what you want then this career is something for you to look at.
Music Artist- Qualifications
Depending on if you would like the qualification, you dont need the qualification but most Music Artist start with the qualification and start sining or using instruments at a young age; The qualification starts at BTEC level 2 and goes all the way to Foundation Degrees but this can most likely turn into a degree.
Potential Earnings
Most artists cannot make a living from singing as most people do gigs and can earn £50 from a pub gig but a backing vocalist could earn £500 but £1200 for someone more established and for signed artists money is negotiated between the record company and the artist; but in London the fees are varied.
Example of a artist
Professor Green is a music artist and he first started his musical career in 2006 when he realised his first mixtape and he was signed by the record label ‘The Beats’,After then going on tour once he returned he was then signed by virgin records in July 2010.
Organisation associated with a music artist
European Composer and Songwriter Alliance The main objective of the ESCA is to defend and promote the rights of the authors music at the national European and international level by any means.The ECSA also strives to improve social and economic development of music creation in Europe.
Method of application
The method to applying for the job role Music Artist would most likely end up you trying to become part of a band and doing gigs then once you have built up and created your following then choosing to apply for festivals and other large venues.
Career potential Assessment
For a career this would not be viable because of the money the artist earns but if they are wiling to put the effort in and create there band from the ground up then this career will be for you.
Task 2 – Risk Assessment
Part 1
For a sound engineer the main risks are Objects falling moving or flying, Slips trips and falls also Electric shocks and noise levels.
The way to control the objects falling is to ensure no equipment is at a raised level is balancing and any cables or microphones which are attached to stands are properly secured.
Slips trips and falls can be controlled by making sure that cables aren’t in the way and don’t cause trip hazards all cables are grouped and positioned away and far away from where people are standing along walls where possible and all equipment will not be left in positions that people can fall over them.
The risk of electric shocks can be stopped by making sure that the electric appliances have up to date PAT test label.
Overly loud noise can be controlled by the sound crew but they should follow normal regulations and not boost audio levels to extreme levels.
Part 2
For a sound engineer the main risks are wire tripping hazards, Electrical shocks on equipment food and drink in the studio.
To stop wire tripping hazards in the studio you need to make sure that the wires are not in the way of recording musicians you can do this by taping the wires doing into the floor of the recording booth so that there are no risks of tripping.
With electric shocks to ensure they don’t happen regular checks on wires need to be put on the wires to check if the wires do not go short and also to ensure PAT is up to date on the electrical equipment like the DAW.
Another hazard is food and drink inside the studio this can be a problem because if drinks are spilled on the electrical equipment it would be damaged and this would cause financial problems for the studio, also if you are eating food inside the studio it could also damage the equipment if crumbs get inside of it, this can be stopped by banning all food or drinks inside the studio.
Task 3 -Music Business Plan
Aim of the business
To have a Successfully running studio and recording bands at a cheap price with the best quality service with the Brand name ‘Plug Media’.
Online promotion
I Created SoundCloud first of all to post the tracks that are going to be posted when I make them, then a made a facebook group to post pictures of me inside of the studio
Income and outgoings
First of all I need to take out a loan for £50,000 to make sure I have all the microphones and speakers and the main studio sound desk which is to also ensure I have all the sound proof walls and carpeted flooring. so to start with I will be in -£50,000 debt to ensure my studio is fully started up, with the money I had left over I started to pay famous artists to advertise my studio across the internet and social media, once I had paying customers I started to earn £5,000 a month within the first 2 years. with which I started to pay £4,000 a month to Pay off the debt
USP(Unique Selling Point)
The USP My company has is its low price and high quality and perfect for any band genre that needs the perfect audio for there songs.
PEST Analysis
Politcal- If the tax were to be increased then it would be more expensive for bands to use my studio and it couldn’t potentially mean my customers cannot afford the fee for the studio.
Economic – Inflation would effect my business because the money rate would highly increase and would mean that I would have to increase the charge for the studio hiring prices, also if there a lot of studios already in the area this would increase competition
Social – Depending on where I actually place my studio it could potentially mean that I have it in an area where there isn’t much bands or artists in the area this could effect the earning potential of my business.
Technological- If technology was to become a lot better and more complex this would effect my earning potential and how much profit I earn because of technology prices of the studio sound desk and other things like microphones and speakers would potentially increase in price because of the improvement of technology.
SWOT Analysis
The strengths of my business would be the low price and high quality of the actual products that I produce.
Where as the weakness is where the location of the studio actually is and how far other artists are.
Opportunities – when the business is earning a lot more money I could be able to branch out other studios to make my profit margin increase.
Threats – The threats of having the studio is that it takes a lot of money and time to create it and the competition of the other studios in the area
5 Year Plan
For the first year I hope to have all the studio set up and make sure everything is ready to be used and make sure all my equipment has been checked over and has had all electrical tests to insure that none of it will break during recordings.
For the second year I will make sure that all my social medias are ready to be put into use and I am starting to post pictures of me using the actual studio and that I have built up my following of ‘plug media’ but by the end of the year the £50,000 debt has been payed off.
In the third year I am hoping to make arround £80,000 then I am going to redeposit it into the business so I have better equipment and then my sound quality will be much better for the lower price of hiring.
In the fourth year my aim is to create at least 10 tracks in the top ten charts and to have all my social media accounts flowing with pictures of me creating the chart songs.
In the final and fifth year I am looking to make over £100,000 and to have more than at least 2 top chart singles and at this point my social medias have all my popular songs and on the weekly I have posts of me creating and mastering the songs.
Harry Cook 