Research Portfolio: Working as a Session Musician

Session players are skilled musicians hired by contractors to play an instrument or sing for a recording session (Musicians’ Union, 2025). The details of the job can vary widely and there are several different types of recording sessions a musician can be booked for. According to the Musicians Union (2021), the main four types are:

1. Commercial Audio. 
2. Music for Advertising. 
3. Film & Soundtracks. 
4. Live Performance. 

In some cases, a session musician’s part will have already been written and their role is simply to perform this to the best of their ability – they may be given this ahead of time or expected to sightread on the day (Berklee, 2025). Other times, session musicians will be expected to take on the additional role of writing or improvising parts, although this will usually be in line with the thoughts and wishes of the main songwriters and composers.

In-person recording sessions usually take place at professional recording studios, however they can also happen in ‘location recordings’ outside the studio, most commonly for live performance recordings (Musicians’ Union, 2021). 

In recent years, ‘remote sessions’ have become much more common. These are sessions where recordings are done at a home studio, with stems and other audio files being sent back and forth online (Last Minute Musicians, 2025). 

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What Skills are Needed to be a Session Musician? 

There is a common framework of dividing skill sets into ‘hard skills’ and ‘soft skills’ (Needham, 2024). Hard skills typically refer to the technical skills needed to perform a job effectively, whereas soft skills are the interpersonal qualities needed to engage constructively with other people and work as part of a team. 

For session musicians, hard skills may refer to a number of things. According to an article published by Berklee (2025), this can include: 

1. Instrumental Proficiency: Players are expected to be technically proficient in their instruments and should be able to play anything asked of them with a high degree of precision and with minimal takes. 
2. Internal Rhythm: The best studio players will have a near-flawless sense of timing and pulse. 
3. Reading: Pre-written parts may be transcribed out in standard notation and musicians should be confident in their reading so they can learn and perform these parts quickly. Alternatively, an arrangement may be written out using chord sheets, which may use traditional chord symbols, the Nashville Number System, or Roman numerals. In either case, players are expected to be able to read and follow along with these kinds of transcriptions. 
4. Ear Training: Sometimes, no transcriptions will be provided and musicians are expected to do everything by ear. This means being able to quickly identify the key signature and chord progression of a piece is crucial. Players should also be confident with melodic dictation as direction from songwriters or producers may come through singing or humming a melody rather than transcription. 
5. Versatility: Although players are often more well-versed in some genres over others, they are still expected to be familiar with the musical conventions of a wide range of different musical styles so they can adapt their playing to the specific needs of a composition. 

Unlike many other jobs, no formal or academic ‘proof’ of technical skills is needed to have a viable career as a session musician.

Whilst hard skills are indispensable, they need to be balanced with a strong grounding in the ‘soft skills’, or players may find career progression more challenging. 

Some examples of important soft skills could be: 

1. Reliability: This essentially means doing everything that has been asked of you by contractors to the best of your ability, and keeping this consistent for every session. Players who always: reply to any correspondence promptly, turn up to sessions on time, and come with all parts learned and all the necessary equipment, may have an easier time getting booked for sessions in the future. 
2. Professionalism: Recording sessions are often long affairs and producers may not be too keen to hire someone they know can be difficult to work with. Even if someone is a skilled player, if they are consistently rude, refuse to take direction  or listen to feedback, argue with others or otherwise behave unprofessionally, then contractors may think twice before booking them for another session. 

It’s important to note that, in a competitive field where work often comes through word of mouth recommendations, reputation can carry significant weight and technical skill alone may not be sufficient (MusicTeachers.co.uk, 2025). 

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How do Recording Contracts Work? 

From a legal standpoint, saying ‘yes’ to a session can be seen as the ‘pre-recording’ part of the agreement (Musicians’ Union, 2021). Whatever your decision, it doesn’t require a formal contract to be legally binding – the contractor only needs to ‘reasonably believe’ you have agreed to the session. 

However, once you have agreed to the session you should be asked to sign a written agreement. In the United Kingdom, ‘performers rights’ mean musicians are entitled to ownership over their performances, meaning they can restrict how it can be used by other parties (GOV.UK, 2019). This means that when you record your part at the session, a producer will need your permission to reproduce and distribute the recording, as well as to rent/lend it or otherwise make it available to the public. By signing this agreement, you are essentially handing over ownership of your performance to the producer in exchange for a session fee.

However, this contract will not cover any live performance sessions, where further consent must be given in order for that performance to be recorded (Musicians’ Union, 2021). Moreover, under the so-called ‘use it or lose it’ rule, a musician may be eligible to have ownership of their performance returned to them if they feel the recording is not being ‘exploited’ as agreed (GOV.UK, 2013). 

It is also worth mentioning that, whilst verbal contracts are legally binding in the United Kingdom, they are often harder to enforce in a court of law (GOV.UK, 2016). It is strongly recommended that session players at any level sign a written agreement if possible, in case any disputes arise in the future (Musicians’ Union, 2023). 

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How are Session Musicians Paid for their Work? 

Session musicians will usually receive a one-off fee for their performance (Musicians’ Union, 2023). In the UK, the Musicians Union has negotiated a series of collective agreements that stipulate minimum rates. So, if you are contracted by any record companies, film producers, or broadcasters in the country, then it is likely your recording session will fall under the scope of one of these agreements. 

As these agreements only establish minimum rates, musicians are free to negotiate higher rates on their own terms. It should also be noted that minimum fees for ‘classical’ sessions are set lower than ‘non-classical’ sessions (Musicians’ Union, 2025) 

However, bookings by contractors not approved by the MU will fall outside of the scope of these agreements and fees will usually be negotiated on a case-by-case basis (not dissimilar to gigging fees) so it’s the musician’s responsibility to ensure they are paid fairly (Glasson, 2024). 

With regards to royalty payments, session musicians should be given performance credits on any recording they have performed on (PPL, 2025). This means they are entitled to ‘Equitable Remuneration’ whenever that recording is played publicly or broadcast on television and/or radio. These payments are usually collected and handed out by PPL, meaning you must be a member and have your performance registered on the PPL repertoire database in order to receive payments. 

Controversially, as session musicians have essentially handed over ownership of their performance as part of their recording agreement, they typically have no claim to royalties from sales or streams, unless specified otherwise by the recording rightsholder (Council of Music Makers, 2025; Savage, 2025). Furthermore, as they are not usually 

given any writing or composition credits, they are also not entitled to any royalty payments from PRS. 

For any session musicians who played on recordings published between 50 and 70 years ago, they are now entitled to receive Annual Supplementary Remuneration, sometimes called ‘session fund’ payments (PPL, 2025). These payments give ‘non-featured’ performers a share of ‘20% of revenue generated from sales of the recording in the previous year’ in the form of an annual payment from PPL (GOV.UK, 2019). 

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What Sort of Marketing & Promotion is Involved? 

As session players tend to be self-employed, they are usually responsible for marketing and promotional aspects of their business.

Unlike other professions, session jobs don’t tend to be posted on the internet with musicians being able to easily apply online. Instead, work tends to come through word of mouth recommendations, meaning it is crucial the people responsible for finding session players for a project know who you are and how to get in touch (Last Minute Musicians, 2025). This is why networking and building connections can be so important to session players. 

However, these connections alone may not be sufficient and marketing yourself as a session player should also involve taking steps to grow your profile as a well-rounded musician (ACM, 2019). More recently social media has become a useful tool for musicians to showcase their playing and provides an easy way for potential clients to get in contact (Sharp, 2023). 

There are also online websites such as AirGigs and SoundBetter where musicians can advertise their services online. 

Often, contractors may demand some assurances of your skills as a musician before they invest in you, which can come in the form of a digital portfolio (LANDR, 2025). This is a collection of professional quality audio or video clips demonstrating skills as a session player, as well as testimonials and credits from previous work. 

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What Does Career Progression Look Like? 

At the start of their careers, session players who are less well-known may find contracts harder to come-by and may have to accept work on relatively lower-paid, smaller-scale projects. 

However, with time, session players who have the necessary skills should be able to build their profile and see an overall increase in demand for their services (Careers in Music, 2024). This may allow them to negotiate for higher session fees or see contracts coming in on a more regular and predictable basis. 

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What are Some of the Difficulties of the Job?

Whilst being a session musician can be a fulfilling career path, it is not without its difficulties. 

Although the practice of having in-house session bands was once commonplace, these days session work is largely freelance, with musicians hopping from contract to contract (Berklee, 2025). Whilst this may offer some flexibility, it can also be a profound source of anxiety and financial instability (Taylor, 2023). This may be especially true for musicians early-on in their career, who may not have built up the necessary profile to receive contracts on a regular basis. 

This may lead to a real imbalance in income across different periods, with some months being busy and others being relatively quiet. As such, some session musicians may depend on other sources of income to make up for any shortfalls (Musicians’ Union, 2012). This can include side jobs such as teaching, live performance work or even part-time work in a different sector altogether. 

In addition, self-employed workers are not entitled to any kind of statutory leave, meaning you will not be financially compensated for any ‘time off’ you may need to take (GOV.UK, 2025). Freelancers are also responsible for managing their own tax returns and national insurance payments, which will likely necessitate keeping a thorough record of all business earnings and transactions. 

Freelance work may also mean juggling several commitments at any one time, with strict time management being essential to ensuring you’re able to meet all your responsibilities to different contractors without burning yourself out. Seasoned musicians will often emphasise the importance of knowing your limits and turning down any job offers you may not be able to manage (Small, 2025). 

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I declare that I have made use of Google Gemini in the initial planning and drafting of ideas of this assignment. 

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Bibliography 

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3. Berklee (2025) What does a Session Musician Do? https://www.berklee.edu/careers/roles/session-instrumentalist / [Accessed 11 Dec 2025]. 
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