Working in the creative industries – session music.
There are many lines of employment when working in the creative industries. One of these is being a session musician. These are musicians who will lend there skill to other artists helping out in the studio but also in live performances. This helps the artist achieve their final goal with the help of the session musician.
Qualifications and experience.
As with any profession, session musicians must have a solid background to enter this line of employment. This consists of many different things. Session musicians must have “years of practice” and “regular performances with ensembles” (UK music 2021). This means that the musician will have achieved mastery of his/her instrument being technically proficient allowing them to exceed when on the job. Regular performances and a strong performance background is also highly important for a session musician because a lot of the work they do will be with other musicians in an ensemble like environment. A session musician must have the ability to work and communicate with other musicians in a setting like this and this comes via working in these environments and experience. Along with this the (indeed editorial team 2025) specified that a bachelors degree in music isn’t mandatory but is advisable to enter this role. This is because it displays to a potential employer that you have the adequate background and experience to enter this role and be competent in the work that you do.
Knowledge, skills and personal qualities.
Being a session musician requires a particular set of skills and knowledge that is gathered and learnt through education and experience as previously stated. In the industry, mastery of ones instrument is very important. Firstly the musician must have a strong foundation to his or her playing, providing a strong fundamental framework to the knowledge and skills required to be in this line of employment as things like “being able to read music (or at least simple charts) is critical to the job” (berklee.edu N/D). This skill is incredibly important in the industry because the majority of the music is given on the spot or a matter of days before. (berklee.edu N/D) also briefly speak about the importance of versatility, reliability and improvisation in the profession. This is because session musicians will be expected to contribute to the overall sound of the music as well as follow strict instruction from the employer. They must be able to play in any environment and show up at the right place and time every time they’re asked to ensure they don’t let down the other artists involved.
What are the duties and responsibilities of the profession.
Along with playing their instrument, session musicians have a handful of other duties. (CareerExplorer 2025) mentions the importance of the musician being able to navigate there way around particular software and DAWs. This is because they must be able to set up there own equipment and contribute to the working environment, not just show up and play. This is also important because at live performances the musician must be able to care for himself and not rely upon somebody else to provide and set up their equipment. Although session musicians have duties while on the job they also have duties while off the job. The article also covers the importance of a session musician being able to keep up with musical trends and continuously develop their skill. This is because a session musician is useless if he/she can only perform a particular genre. The musician must be able to cover all bases as they could have any genre of music thrown to them once in the studio or stage. The article also explains how the main role of a session musician is to lend their talent to recordings and other live performances. This means showing up and performing what other artists wan you to perform when they want you to perform it.
What are the main financial and legal issues that impact on this profession?
While the idea of being a session musician sounds fun, it does also have its issues. One of the biggest issues with being a session musician is the pay. The facility fee guideline states – “£75 – half day” and “£150 – full day” (musicians union 2023). This may seem good at first however recording an EP or an album doesn’t take forever. Eventually the project will be over and the musician will have to find another artist to work for and in this time they will have no income. Often days can go by with no work for a session musician especially those just starting out and this means days of no income. Another issue is that “Lyrics and underlying music are included in the musical composition owned by songwriters and their publishers” and that “Record labels typically own master recordings” (Michael 2024). This is a huge issue as it means the musician doesn’t have the rights to the music they have produced. This means that the royalties of the music goes to the legal owner and not the musician meaning they aren’t being paid or recognised for the work they have done which again puts the individual in a financial state of bother.
Along with this another issue arises, “royalties are easily forgotten or disregarded, simply because of a contract. Record companies also conveniently ignore the possible future success of the sound recording in the form of digital sampling.” (Madonja Yeluri 2016).This means that any possibility of royalties being paid out to the session musician are ultimately negated
What would the potential marketing and promotional aspects of this profession look like?
An important aspect of being a session musician is being able to promote and market your skill. This is so you can reach the needed audience and possible employers. There are many ways to do this. One of these ways is through social media, “Social media can provide provide simple, powerful ways to network and engage with audiences” (Musicians union 2022)
Social media is one of the most powerful modern day tools when it comes to marketing and promoting. This is because it allows an individual to Instantly release promotional content to millions and millions of people. This includes those above you on the employment ladder meaning potential employers could see your work on there social media feed and reach out to employ you for some session work. Although technology has taken over physicals means of self promotion and marketing aren’t extinct the musicians union (2024) mention how useful it can be to get flyers and merchandise and go around distributing physical copies of your promotional content. This means that anybody can see it including those who aren’t on social media. This can help push your skill to the older generation and those who may not be avid users of social media.
Along with this the musicians union (2024) mentions the importance of press and local publications. Local press and publications are often happy to distribute and promote smaller individuals work. This is a good way to get started as it gets your name out in the local area and is accessible to anybody. It is a great foundation that can lead to bigger opportunities in the future.
What are the intellectual and personal challenges presented by the profession and how might these be dealt with?
Personal challenges in this industry are very real. One of the main issues that session musicians are greeted with is that “most session musicians spend their lives on the fringes, rarely sharing the spotlight with the big name artists they support” (James Cartwright 2022) This can be a personal challenge for a musician because they never truly get recognised fro the work they put in. Many session musicians will spend days even weeks working on a project for a bigger artist and never truly be recognised for the effort they put in. This can be demoralising for a session musician and hinder there progress throughout thematic world. Cartwright (2022) also briefly speaks about the nature of the rapidly developing industry. He comments upon how a large quantity of what you learn is very quickly seen as useless due to the speed that the music industry changes. This can make it difficult for some musicians to seek employment as they struggle to keep up with changes in the industry putting them out of employment. He also comments upon the long quiet stretches session musicians go through when the client isn’t working on a project. This leads an individual to be out of work until the client starts up a new project. A way around this is to find other work in the mean time, however finding a new client and starting a new project could be risky as you never know when you’re going to be needed again. On top of this finding a different music related line of employment can also be a risky move as you may not find any or you might not be qualified in the specific areas needed for example teaching.
What career-progression/development opportunities are available within the profession?
The progress of a session musician can be slow. This is because the vast majority of session musicians are self employed meaning you cant just work your way up the employment ladder. Berklee online (N/D) cover this topic briefly. They comment on the fact that although you cant work your way up the employment ladder you can develop relationships with artists, producers etc that can open up pathways for you to go down. For example session music can allow you to create music for television and then eventually go on to score movies. Another path to go down is becoming a contractor also known as a fixer. A fixer is “an individual or company who has signed an agreement with, and is authorised by, the Musicians’ Union to engage musicians for session work” (musicians union 2024). This path way is founded by creating strong connections with those higher up in the industry and showing that you are a versatile and reliable session musician. This allows contractors / fixers to see that you are reliable and suitable for the job which may then lead to them employing you as a fixer.
Conclusion
Evidence suggests that being a session musician is a difficult job. It requires heaps of experience to get into and for the individual to be highly experienced on there instrument. Although it pays well when work is in it can also leave many musicians I financial trouble as it is a highly competitive world to try and get into. However, if an individual does get into the industry then it can open up gate ways for them to go onto scoring music for television or even becoming a contractor and working in partnership with the musicians union.
Reference list:
Berklee.edu (N/D) Session musician. https://online.berklee.edu/careers-in-music/roles/session-musician [accessed: 15/12/2025]
Berklee.edu (N/D) Session musician. https://online.berklee.edu/careers-in-music/roles/session-musician [accessed: 1/1/2026]
CareerExplorer (2025) What does a session musician do? https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/session-musician/[accessed: 17/12/2025]
Cartwright, J. (2022) Stuff they don’t tell you: what it’s really like being a session musician. https://wepresent.wetransfer.com/stories/stuff-they-dont-tell-you-session-musicians [accessed: 23/12/2025]
Indeed Editorial Team (2025) Step by step guide on how to become a session musician. https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/how-to-become-session-musician#:~:text=Becoming [accessed: 14/12/2025]
Michael (2024) A brief overview of the legal problems you might encounter. https://www.lawditmusic.co.uk/a-quick-guide-to-the-legal-issues-you-may-face/ [accessed: 20/12/2025]
Musicians Union (2022) Promoting yourself and your music online. https://musiciansunion.org.uk/career-development/career-guides/marketing-and-promotion/promoting-yourself-and-your-music-online [accessed: 20/12/2025]
Musicians Union (2024) Getting press and making the most out of your press kit. https://musiciansunion.org.uk/career-development/career-guides/marketing-and-promotion/getting-press [accessed: 20/12/2025]
Musicians Union (2024) Showcasing your music. https://musiciansunion.org.uk/career-development/career-guides/marketing-and-promotion/showcasing-your-music [accessed: 20/12/2025]
UK Music (2021) Session musician. https://www.ukmusic.org/job-profiles/session-musician/ [accessed: 14/12/2025]
Yeluri, M. (2026) The legal basics of working with session musicians. https://artistiklicense.wordpress.com/2016/10/20/sessionmusicians/ [accessed: 20/12/2025]
