I am considering becoming a musician and I know the realities of becoming a musician is very difficult and it is very competitive. Music school is almost never worth it unless if you've already been playing for years and go to a top music school and get connections with a major band or record lable but even so there's no requirement to have a B.A. in music to be a musician. The fact is that unless if you're planning to be a music teacher music school is a waste of both time and money for the vast majority of people.I am interested in becoming a musician because I grew up with music and had a genuine interest in it from a young age. As someone who is interested in becoming a guitarist and singer, I feel as though the work would be meaningful but I recognize that actually making it in music is not easy and while yes it is 100% possible if you are very good and understand the music business to make a full-time living a musician and even live very well it is not easy hence why you see so many musicians turn to teaching music to supplement their income.

There are countless thousands of incredibly great musicians trying to get to a point where they have the equivalent of a full time wage. Consider all those "nobody" candidates on the talent competitions like American Idol, The Voice, etc.

It can be done if you resign yourself to practicing/playing like 10 hours daily, and get a good break somewhere along the lines. My H.S. Band Director said if I want to make it as a player to stay away from teaching Band--a good job with a stable salary. "If you go that route you'll never get back into trying to make a living as a performer". 48 years later, I still must admit he was right.

For me the love of music keeps me going whether I am making sustainable wages or not. If your heart is in it the rest shouldn't matter imo. You are very right the chances of "making it" are extremely slim. That being said it seems you already know there are other avenues of making money with music IE teaching. My opinion is that you shouldn't worry about the other "competition" or think of it in that way. Focus on your music and if the passion is there the rest will fall into place. Your passion will determine if it is worth it or not.

On February 12, 2020 Cory Williams wrote:

For me the love of music keeps me going whether I am making sustainable wages or not. If your heart is in it the rest shouldn't matter imo. .....

This would be a great advice for most people. If one get really good at his/her music craft, there will be money in it as well.