Earning a living as a musician involves more than knowing how to play an instrument. In the past few years entrepreneurial skills have been identified as decisive in being able to succeed as a musician today.
The aim of the research project 5 Years Later has been to investigate the lifeworld and career development of young, newly established performing musicians. What were their dreams and ambitions, how did they imagine their careers as professional musicians would be, and how well did their studies prepare them for the future?
The study is based on in-depth interviews with 16 students in the jazz and classical programmes at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), who were in the first group to complete the course Entrepreneurship for Musicians. The former students talk about their everyday lives and experiences, and reflect on their careers as musicians. To what degree does the “5-year picture” they drew of themselves in 2013 agree with reality, and did the course in entrepreneurship influence them while they were establishing themselves as professional musicians?
The project was carried out by Marianne Baudouin Lie, musician and former research fellow at the Department of Music at the NTNU, and Tor Anders Bye, sociologist and member of the Sociology Polyclinic in Trondheim.
CEMPE helped to finance the project together with the NTNU.
