Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media · Holland code AES
Music Directors and Composers
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.
Also called: Choir Director, Conductor, Music Composer, Music Director, Arranger, Composer, Music Producer, Orchestra Director.
O*NET 27-2041.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $73,710
- Middle half earn $53,110 to $104,090. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Master's Degree
- 28% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 4 of 5
- Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
- US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034
- 0% · Little or no change
- 47,300 jobs in 2024, projected 47,200. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Music directors and composers".
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- 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.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening3.9 / 5
- Speaking3.6 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.5 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.5 / 5
- Writing3.4 / 5
- Active Learning3.4 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Fine Arts4.7 / 5
- English Language3.8 / 5
- Education and Training3.5 / 5
- Computers and Electronics3.4 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service3.1 / 5
- Philosophy and Theology3.1 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic18
- Investigative21
- Artistic100
- Social34
- Enterprising64
- Conventional27
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- lyricist · DE Textdichter/Textdichterin · FR parolier/parolière
- composer · DE Komponist/Komponistin · FR compositeur/compositrice
- music arranger · DE Musikarrangeur/Musikarrangeurin · FR arrangeur musical/arrangeuse musicale
- music director · DE Musikdirektor/Musikdirektorin · FR directeur musical/directrice musicale
- musician · DE Musiker/Musikerin · FR musicien/musicienne
- musical conductor · DE Dirigent/Dirigentin · FR chef d’orchestre
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Musicians (3415)54,300 employed
- Arts officers, producers and directors (3416)113,500 employed
- Authors, writers and translators (3412)92,500 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €61,714 |
| Germany | €59,529 |
| Ireland | €56,877 |
| Austria | €55,374 |
| Netherlands | €53,595 |
| Sweden | €43,567 |
| France | €41,515 |
| Spain | €35,735 |
| Italy | €33,649 |
| Portugal | €26,072 |
| Poland | €14,380 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.88. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (27-2041).
Related careers
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