WHAT IS A STARTING HOURLY WAGE OR SALARY FOR A BEGINNING MUSICOLOGIST?

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Request for Question Clarification by mvguy-ga on 13 Feb 2003 15:58 PST

For what country and/or region?

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Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 13 Feb 2003 17:18 PST

What would be the work situation or setting? Would it be a
teacher/lecturer at a university? What other roles and
responsibilities would be involved? The more information you can give
us, the better chance for a Researcher to get you the information you
need. Thanks.

czh

See definitions:
http://jobguide.thegoodguides.com.au/text/jobdetails.cfm?jobid=481

Musicologist is a musician with training in the skills required to
interpret musical history and style. They generally work as lecturers.

Ethnomusicologist is a musician who studies music in its cultural
context and seeks to understand the relationship between musical
cultures. They may work as composers, performers, lecturers or
researchers. They usually work within an academic institution such as
a university, exploring, studying, researching and writing scholarly
articles on music and musicians. Field work in various regions of the
world may be required, where they record music from a particular area,
an ethnic group or a particular performing group.

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Clarification of Question by qwest7-ga on 14 Feb 2003 11:49 PST

This is a duplication of what I included in the comment section.  I
live and work in the U.S.(NYC,NY).  My work as musicologist was for a
theatrical piece performing in NYC off-off Broadway and soon to embark
on a nation-wide engagement tour.  As musicologist on this theatrical
piece, I listened to old recordings, verified arrangers, obtained
sheet music of the appropriate arrangements, inserted the selections
in the appropriate place in the work, cut the music to specific
lengths so that it serve the piece as a whole.

Hello qwest7-ga,

I think pay rates for such jobs vary greatly. I’ve collected a
selection of resources that should help you with benchmarking the pay
rates. In addition, you may find some organizations that you could
contact to ask them for information about how much the job in question
should be worth.

Good luck with your search..

czh

http://www.kenfoster.com/Articles/Careers.htm
Music Careers
***** This is a site that discusses a very broad range of careers in
music and gives you salary ranges for most of them These can help you
get a sense of what comparative jobs pay.

http://www.cbia.com/edtraining/2Schools/STC/video%20pages/ArtsSal.htm
Connecticut Business and Industry Association
Education Requirements and Average Salary Levels in Arts & Media
This is a list of various jobs in the arts and media industry. It does
not have a listing for musicologists but it will give you a
benchmarking range for similar and/or related jobs.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos095.htm 
Musicians, Singers, and Related Workers
easterangel-ga’s suggestion that you check out this site is a good
one. Reviewing the Earnings section will give you a very broad picture
of music profession salaries.

http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/majors/careers.asp?MajorID=187
Princeton Review -- Major :  Music History
Careers and Salary Starting salaries for Music History majors are
generally in the low-$20,000 area. As with most liberal arts majors,
however, Music History gives you a range of career options, so
salaries are difficult to accurately pinpoint.
http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/majors/careers.asp?MajorID=184
Careers and Salary
The starting salary for a music major with an advanced degree is
$28,000-$35,000. Other salaries depend upon the field you chose to
enter.

http://www.afm.org/
American Federation of Musicians
I don’t know if you’re eligible for membership, but they might have
some guidelines for what this type of job should pay.

http://www.uncwil.edu/stuaff/career/Majors/theater.htm
THEATRE: Related Career Titles     Related Major Skills     Related
Web Sites
The links to Organizations and Associations might be especially
helpful.

http://www.societymusictheory.org/mto/index.html
Music Theory Online
***** I searched on “salary” and came up with 35 hits. Several were
for job postings that included salary information. This might help you
with arriving at a comparative figure for the job you’re researching.


SEARCH STRATEGY
musicologist salary
musicologist salaries theater
salaries music (theater)

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Request for Answer Clarification by qwest7-ga on 18 Feb 2003 09:17 PST

I searched all of the given info but not one answered my question;
What is the starting hourly wage/salary for a musicologist?  Please,
let me know specifically for a musicologist.  Thank you.

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Clarification of Answer by czh-ga on 18 Feb 2003 14:15 PST

Hello again qwest7-ga,

I’m sorry that you weren’t able to interpret the industry and salary
information I gave you in my answer. My very extensive research shows
that there are no regular wage and salary figures available for
musicologists and that you are going to have to extrapolate to what
the appropriate salary should be from a variety of associated
resources. Let me show you how:

Look at the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Musicologists would be
included under the “Related Workers” umbrella. The discussion shows
that the music and entertainment industry is extremely competitive and
that salaries vary tremendously. Theatrical work is very speculative
and you will have to personal research to benchmark what others you
know in the industry get for the kind of work you’re doing. The
generic information indicates that the salaries are likely to be very
low for someone starting out.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos095.htm
Musicians, Singers, and Related Workers
See Employment and Earnings sections

Let’s look at the career information collected by the National
Association for Music Education. This organization provides
information for those preparing to work in the music industry. Their
research and tables don’t show a special category for musicologist.
The closes job title is Music Librarian but many of the other jobs
have some elements of the musicologist job. Again, you have to decide
which jobs come closes to what you’re going to be doing in your job.
Looking over the table, you can see that the range of salaries in
almost all the jobs is enormous because the industry is so variable.
Entry-level in a small production is likely to come in at the bottom
of the scale.

http://www.kenfoster.com/Articles/Careers.htm
http://www.menc.org/industry/job/careers/careers.html#mb
The National Association for Music Education
***** This is the same information as I cited in my original answer
but presented in a different format.
Table of jobs and salaries.
***** No. None of these specifically cite “musicologist.” You will
have to approximate what is the closest related job. What is clear
from this table, as from all the other resources, is that jobs and
salaries in the music industry vary tremendously. Entry level jobs
tend to be very low – well under $30,000.  Music Librarian has some of
the responsibilities of a musicologist.

The Music Theory online site has some actual salary figures. These are
jobs in the academic field. They tend to be low, but they have the
benefit of a contractual commitment for a set period of time.
http://www.societymusictheory.org/mto/index.html
Music Theory Online
***** I reviewed the job postings on this site. They are all for
academic positions but almost all call for musicologist skills. Most
are for limited 1-3 year appointments, although some are tenure track.
Most require advanced degrees. The salary ranges posted go as low as
the low $20s and rarely go over $40,000 for professor positions with
advanced degrees and several years of experience.


So what can you do if there are no set salary figures available for
the kind of job you’re looking for. It seems from your question that
you’re trying to prepare for your salary negotiations. I’ve collected
some resources to help you think through how to go about your
preparations. Remember, the whole compensation package is more than
just the salary. Look through the salary resources below to help you
figure out what is important to you in addition to the money –
benefits, working conditions, perks, etc.

I’ve spent well over the time I would normally allocate to a $2.00
question because I’d really like to help you with your salary
negotiations. I think the information I’ve collected should help you
develop an effective strategy.

Good luck.

czh


SALARY NEGOTIATION

http://jobstar.org/tools/salary/negostrt.cfm
Salary Negotiation Strategies

http://www.quintcareers.com/salary_negotiation_tutorial_map.html
Salary and Job Offer Negotiation Tutorial
The Quintessential Careers Salary and Job Offer Tutorial -- a free
guide designed to help all job-seekers achieve the salary and benefits
that you deserve through an examination of the art and strategy of
salary negotiation

http://www.salary.com/salary/layoutscripts/sall_display.asp
Salary.com Salary Wizard
***** Unfortunately, music related jobs are not benchmarked so you
can’t use the wizard. This indicates that there isn’t sufficient
survey information available that this leading site could guide you is
setting your salary expectations. You might want to check other Arts
and Entertainment jobs and figure out which category comes closest and
get some comparable figures. You can use the resources on the site to
help you think about all the other issues connected with salary
negotiations.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?srefer=MGASPARD&isbn=0816040834
Career Opportunities in the Music Industry
***** This is a reference book that should be available in your local
library. It’s a guide to jobs in the music industry and should help
you with getting salary ranges.

A search at the Government Occupational Handbook did not result in
anything. This is possibly the closest from the handbook.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos095.htm

You stated that you needed more information.  I am based in the U.S.
and work and reside in NYC,NY.  I performed musicological research for
a theatrical piece performing in NYC off-off Broadway, but will now be
going on a nation-wide engagement tour.  My work included listening to
old recordings, verifying the arrangers, finding sheet music of the
appropriate arrangements, inserting the selections in the right places
in the theatrical piece, and cutting the selections to various lengths
to serve the piece as a whole.