Getting into the music industry might be one of the easiest things to do with a little bit of luck and talent. One can start a music career at almost any age, but it is best to start young. There are many "jobs" in the music industry, a little bit too many to be presented here.
Taking into consideration that there are two main types of music, classic and modern, there are specific occupations for each. The most well known, probably, and the one most think about when they hear the word 'music', is SINGER. He or she is using his or her voice when performing, and they can either sing classic, modern or folk types of music. Most of the times, only the singers of classic music will need hours of practice.
Most of the times, the singer has vocal backups who need to know the lyrics and to have a similar voice to the singer. Coming along, there is the band that plays the music; the band is usually formed of a drummer, a guitarist, a keyboard player and a bassist. There is only one drummer in the band, but the other instruments can be played by more individuals. The whole band can play under one name (usually) or play as the singer's band. The situations are very similar, but if the band helps the singer perform on stage they will be there (Hamasaki Ayumi, a female singer from Japan), or the singer can choose to have the music recorded and be alone on stage (Britney Spears and many singers in the West).
To become a musician that plays modern music, you need to learn how to play an instrument, but it isn't mandatory to start as a child. You can start in high school or even college and there you may find others who will be as passionate about music as you are, and then to try and compose your own songs.
On the classical music side, there are more instrument players than singers, and usually they start playing since childhood. They are usually performing in orchestras, which are led by an orchestra conductor. The orchestra conductor has to learn and to train a lot in order to become a recognized one.
Other than these musical occupations, there are music composers, lyric writers, people who arrange the music after it has been recorded, etc. Many times, the singers themselves write the lyrics to their songs, and those are the ones really passionate about the whole thing. There are many record labels out there; the role of these agencies is to promote the singer or the band, under a signed contract, and it can be done for a limited period of time with the possibility of prolonging the contract.
A curiosity: In Japan, the contracts usually last for the entire career of the musician, and if he or she wants to switch labels, this is usually impossible. They have some very strict rules in this industry, and whoever wants to do it, first needs to make sure he/she can afford it, by being really well established in the local industry.
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