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Finding Your Career in the Modern Audio Industry equips the reader with the skills they need to turn an interest in audio, sound, or music technology into a career.
This book provides insight for aspiring professionals seeking audio-related opportunities in entertainment, technology, education, and more. In the audio industry, there is typically a gap between those in-training and those with professional (and financially sustainable) careers. This book bridges the information gap, offering practical and real-world advice to those in this volatile stage of their career. Including 70+ interviews with professionals from over 20 countries, Finding Your Career in the Modern Audio Industry offers insight into how others (across the industry and the world) have applied entrepreneurial thinking, problem-solving, and creative solutions to build their careers.
Including international case studies and interviews with diverse professionals, Finding Your Career in the Modern Audio Industry is essential reading for anyone taking their first steps into an audio-related field.
List of contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Part 1 – Planning
Part 1 helps the reader define their personal preferences, challenges and barriers and how that can affect the direction of a career path. These chapters teach the fundamentals of networking, business relationships, marketing, sales, and finding opportunities, all of which are critical foundational skills towards any career in the entertainment or audio industry.
- Industry Introduction
- Defining Your Dream & Goals
- Defining Your Barriers
- Networking
- Business Relationships
- Preparing to Seek Out Opportunities
- The Search for Work
- Marketing & Sales (How to Land the Gig)
- What Makes You Stand Out?
Part 2 – Operations
Part 2 addresses the logistics of operating a business, whether doing an occasional freelance gig or making a living off of freelance work. These chapters help readers with common business concerns: learning how to set rates, create an invoice, offers and contracts, and managing financial information.
- Rates and Knowing Your Worth
- Offers, Bids & Contracts
- Accounting & Financial Planning for Your Business
Part 3 - Career Paths
Part 3 takes the principles and ideas of the earlier chapters and puts them into practice. Each chapter addresses the needs specific or unique to these industries. These chapters are largely based on quotes, interviews, stories, and case studies. What business advice would someone who’s been through it give to someone who’s just getting started?
- Live Sound & Theater
- Music Production
- Interactive Media (Game Audio)
- Sound for Picture (Broadcast, Production & Post-Production)
- Spoken Word Audio
- Beyond Entertainment
Part 4
- The Audio Industry Around the World
- Q&A
- Moving Forward
Appendix: Bios of interviewees
Supplemental material available online
- Recommendations, sample contracts, other resources
Index
About the author
April Tucker is an audio engineer with nearly two decades experience in post-production sound. April’s mixes have been heard by television audiences with over 10 million viewers and at major film festivals including Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, and Tribeca. Based in Los Angeles, April’s clients have ranged from major studios and corporations to composers and concert halls. April has written for audio industry publications and blogs since 2015.
Summary
Finding Your Career in the Modern Audio Industry equips the reader with the skills they need to turn an interest in audio, sound, or music technology into a career.
