I'm about to start university doing a degree in music technology, ive always had a great passion to work in music, in a recording studio, would anyone here say that becoming a sound engineer these days is a dead end if you want to make good money.
Im just worried about my future, whether i want to go more into the business side of the music industry or the technical side.
That's a tough one to answer. It's hard to know what the future holds, so any vision we have of what our lives will be like in five or ten years might be way off base. Only thing reasonably certain is that the technology and the business will both change, and each will demand changes in the other.
If producing and making music is your passion, I'd go with the technical side, but do keep a watch on the business enough to understand why things are happening the way they are. Also always remember that there's a big difference between the "record business" and the "music business." The former is quite possibly dying, but the latter is changing but will still be with us.
The part about making good money? Well, that's really less about what you study and more about how you make your choices and how the odds play out in your future. Many people only learn new things when they have to, and they're dragged into new situations kicking and screaming. These people only just get by. But if instead you always take joy in the new stuff, take it upon yourself to play with and learn the new things that come along, hone your skills and always be ready to go to new places, the opportunities will be yours for the taking when they pop up. That's how the folks who have a little extra to spare usually get it.
There will always be a future in the music business. It's just important to realize that it may not be very different from what we know now.
It's good that you're mindful of the future. You should always be watching out for it. But don't worry about the future...there's nothing to be gained by worrying, and nothing we can do to make the future safe.
Consider my wife's liver transplant two years ago and my spinal cord injury since then. All our career planning--having "something to fall back on"--ultimately didn't matter. We're doing fine, but I guarantee there's no such thing as covering all the bases to make everything safe. You'll go nuts trying to cover any contingency, and waste so much effort trying to do it that you'll fall behind in the important part--developing your goals and realizing your dreams.
So here's everything you need to know:
1. Your life has already well underway. It's not going to start when you get out of school. It's not something you're preparing for later. And the entire concept of your future life being a "career" having a start and stop at some point is an arbitrary, unbounded, and ultimately meaningless construct.
2. Find a way to pursue your passions in a way that sustains you sufficiently to keep doing it, and you'll be so happy you'll always be more successful than lottery winners.
3. Realize that learning doesn't end in school. (Many people think it does! How weird!) Always be learning the new things coming along involved in your passionate pursuit. Opportunities will come...it's just a matter of being ready for them. If you are, the money will follow that. Some people will say that's the measure of success. They're wrong. You'll have already had success in step 2.
And now here's the bonus answer, which directly goes to the question you raised:
Go with either one...but do the one that truly is your dream and your passion. It won't matter in five years or so which technical components you worked on. They'll have been replaced with something new. What's important is that you'll have also absorbed the underlying principles and demonstrated you can finish what you start. (This is true for every other field, too: Medicine, technology, programming, business, science, wheatver.)
If your passion is to make decisions about who plays what for whom and where, and who plays with each other and where the money is coming from to make it happen, go with the business side.
If your passion is capturing the sound, helping people construct their systems to make their music or sound, and running the technology that executes all the plans, go with the technical side.
Follow your passion. Be ready for opportunities and know how to recognize them. Then hold on tight, because it's going to be a magnificent ride!
Cheers,
Ross
