jobs in ukulele

nikolo727

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So Im about to become a senior in high school. I have decided that I would like to have a ukulele related job. I would like to get a degree in business and sales management with a minor in musical theory. What jobs in the ukulele field are available with those degrees??
 
Promote a Uke related artist or group with your business savvy.
Work with a company that makes ukuleles and sell their products.
Become a teacher and promote the ultimate instrument .....the kazoo...I mmmm ukulele
With your new found knowledge, you may perhaps design the ultimate ukulele and sell it to the masses then rule the world! (evil laugh)
Work for Trader Vics
 
Get your business degree with a focus on non-profit management. Then start a 503(c)(3) that gives away ukuleles. :shaka:

JJ
 
If you haven't already...learn to read music.
Get a band together or try to do it solo but...

a job that involves around uke that comes with some nice perks...

Ukulele musician on cruise ships!

I have a steel pan player friend who does it and wouldn't change careers for the world.
 
If you haven't already...learn to read music.
Get a band together or try to do it solo but...

a job that involves around uke that comes with some nice perks...

Ukulele musician on cruise ships!

I have a steel pan player friend who does it and wouldn't change careers for the world.

That man lives the ideal life... doing what he loves and seeing the world... good God, man.
 
Get your business degree with a focus on non-profit management. Then start a 503(c)(3) that gives away ukuleles. :shaka:

JJ

Um.... I think this position is already filled by a BIG, UN-HAIRY, INKY guy!!!!

:cool:
 
Making your living from something related to ukulele would be difficult unless you attain virtuoso level as a player. Add musical education to the mix and you can teach music in schools. Then, you could combine ukulele with the music ed... that would be a start.

Music has been a large part of my life and my working career, but I play lots of instruments. I am also an author, writer, editor, publisher, and photographer. So, the best advice would be to educate yourself in the "business of music" and figure out how you can work on your interest in ukulele and turn it into business opportunity.

Here are a few ideas aside from playing...

Musical instrument companies need marketing people, graphics people, sales people, luthiers and setup people, and the usual bookkeepers, logistics teams (including warehouse) and inventory control for both finished goods and in-process goods. Being able to write well can get you lots of opportunities in music, like Jim Beloff's career path with Billboard Magazine.

I hope this gave you some ideas.
 
Talk to Ken! :D

See if he can put a word in with Ohana! ;)
 
Business and sales? Welllll start an ebay store and undercut MGM and start an ebay price war with him. Hehe...price war. YEAAAAH!
 
Career advice...

As Confucious said: "Pick a profession you love and you won't have to work a day in your life." But unfortunatly 'ukulele' is not really a profession.

Here is some career advice I wish I had heard when I was your age:

1) Don't pick your career by subject area - pick it by the skills you enjoy putting to use. 'Ukulele' is not a skill or action, it's a noun. Being a ukulele salesperson or a ukulele craftsman are two very different careers. What are the specific skills you want to spend most of your life exercising? Again, focus on the verbs not the nouns. Pick a career that allows you to do what you do best every single day.

2) Be very wary of tournament professions. Tournament professions are jobs where 10,000 people compete for only one spot. The person at the top makes a million, and everyone else starves. Acting is a tournament profession. Writing fiction is a tournament profession. Being an olympic athlete is a tournament profession. And, yes, ukulele playing is a tournment profession. If you embark down this road, make sure you have either amazing talent, rich parents, or an incredibly thick skin for suffering and angst. (And preferably all three.) The weird thing about these professions is that everyone looks at the top of the pyramid and somehow just ignores all the many many people who failed trying to march to the top.

3) Be decisive. The most 'successfull' people I know are not the smartest people I know but the most decisive: they made a decision and stuck with it. I've been a little shocked at the type of success someone can produce from true dedication, stamina and focus over many years.

4) Imagine yourself as a mediocrity. (Really!) Too many people imagine themselves as super successfull when they choose a career. There is a whole generation of lawyers who choose their career while watching LA Law who now spend their entire professional lives reading mind numbing contracts and wills all day long and they hate what they do. When you imagine yourself as a crazy success every career seems amazing. But only some careers still sound cool if your'e just ok at it. If your career choice still sounds ok even without tremendous success, that's a good hint that it's a good choice for you. (In other words, that's a sign you enjoy the profession as an end in itself and not just as a means to something else like money or fame.)

Yes, far more than what you asked for... my apologies.
 
I'd totally go with the promote-ukulele schtick. You could take more theory lessons, then:

1) Rope together a few uke pros in your area and start a school
2) Set up a shop and work on importing high-end ukes in bulk
3) Just work to PR the uke in your area, unless its already in full swing

Here in Singapore, this duo did 2) and 3), and its going pretty well. Now we have access to proper standard Kala ukes, and we get JAMES HILL coming down to perform. Here's the link for reference:
http://ukulelemovement.com/
Anyway, the ukulele is slowly getting noticed, and the market is getting bigger. Capitalize, man!
 
Design a couple of Ukuleles, find a manufacturer in Hawaii that will make it for you and go crazy... You might not be wealthy but you would be able to live in Hawaii with a Uke in hand
 
Try it out first...

A lot of good ideas here. I would just add, if you have an opportunity to be an assistant or entry level worker in your chosen field, try it out before committing all that schooling to one specialty. Since you have mentioned sales and marketing... have you worked in a music store as a junior sales person? Just get your foot in the door and see what it's like on a day to day basis. Look at each person's role in the business, and ask yourself, do I want to do his job? Do you want to be an owner of a store, a manager, a floor salesman, music teacher (some stores give lessons) or the manufacturer's rep. If you could just spend a few days to a week in the environment, you would get a better idea what you like and don't like. Even if you offer to work for free for a week to get the experience, it would be worth it.

If performing and teaching are your passions, maybe music therapy would be a good area for you to check out. You could try it out by volunteering free uke lessons. You might have to get a few extra ukes, but it could be rewarding.

Lori
 
Thanks everyone for the imput. Ukulele or not, I know my skills are with people, so selling and managing is my ultimate goal. I will have a talk with ken now that I think of it. Im not looking to get rich, just to be happy and able to support a family(someday lol) I think being a floor salesman, coporate salesman, or even being a marketer like ken, is what im looking for. can anyone give more info on these types??

Oh and I have looked into musical therapy, I will continue looking that up.

Thanks everyone and keep the ideas coming!!!

:D
 
1) Don't pick your career by subject area - pick it by the skills you enjoy putting to use. 'Ukulele' is not a skill or action, it's a noun. Being a ukulele salesperson or a ukulele craftsman are two very different careers. What are the specific skills you want to spend most of your life exercising? Again, focus on the verbs not the nouns. Pick a career that allows you to do what you do best every single day.

2) Be very wary of tournament professions. Tournament professions are jobs where 10,000 people compete for only one spot. The person at the top makes a million, and everyone else starves. Acting is a tournament profession. Writing fiction is a tournament profession. Being an olympic athlete is a tournament profession. And, yes, ukulele playing is a tournment profession. If you embark down this road, make sure you have either amazing talent, rich parents, or an incredibly thick skin for suffering and angst. (And preferably all three.) The weird thing about these professions is that everyone looks at the top of the pyramid and somehow just ignores all the many many people who failed trying to march to the top.

3) Be decisive. The most 'successfull' people I know are not the smartest people I know but the most decisive: they made a decision and stuck with it. I've been a little shocked at the type of success someone can produce from true dedication, stamina and focus over many years.

4) Imagine yourself as a mediocrity. (Really!) Too many people imagine themselves as super successfull when they choose a career. There is a whole generation of lawyers who choose their career while watching LA Law who now spend their entire professional lives reading mind numbing contracts and wills all day long and they hate what they do. When you imagine yourself as a crazy success every career seems amazing. But only some careers still sound cool if your'e just ok at it. If your career choice still sounds ok even without tremendous success, that's a good hint that it's a good choice for you. (In other words, that's a sign you enjoy the profession as an end in itself and not just as a means to something else like money or fame.)

Yes, far more than what you asked for... my apologies.

Best and most realistic advice in the thread.

Absent some outrageous fortune, you will probably not make your living at your hobby. There is a reason it is called "work". I recommend developing your skills in college and possibly graduate school tailored to a career that works for you. As for me, I went to law school, not because LA Law was cool. I just wanted to make a lot of money. As an aside, I don't understand people who say "I don't want to get rich". Why? What's wrong with getting (and staying) rich?

As GreyPoupon said, ukulele is a noun, not a job. Imagine someone asking, "I want a job in food. What should I do?" Well, there are a lot more bus boys than there are Gordon Ramseys.

Also, to make a bit of a point, what have you done to explore this topic besides starting this thread?
 
Be very wary of tournament professions. Tournament professions are jobs where 10,000 people compete for only one spot. The person at the top makes a million, and everyone else starves. Acting is a tournament profession. Writing fiction is a tournament profession. Being an olympic athlete is a tournament profession. And, yes, ukulele playing is a tournment profession. If you embark down this road, make sure you have either amazing tal


Good point. But some of those professions I'd call "lottery" professions instead.

See, "tournament" implies that the person who is the best will come out on top. Being an olympic athlete certainly qualifies.

But acting? Writing fiction? Creating any kind of music? None of those fields are meritocracies, unfortunately.

There are plenty of people making a killing in movies, music, and books who have little (if any) talent. And there are those who could act/play/sing/write circles around those people, but who are languishing in obscurity.

Which is not to say that any of those fields aren't worthwhile endeavors. They absolutely are. But career-wise, they're not exactly a basket I'd put all my eggs in.

JJ
 
hmmm you could open your own music studio. Its not very far fetched and by music studio i mean like where you hire others to give lessons for all different instruments maybe even voice and dance? Private lessons cost so much money so if you could get all of it then just pay your employees you could do pretty good. and of course you can teach ukulele and save money! and at the same time sell musical instruments and such from your studio. Good luck! also do you know where your going to college yet? I'm nosy lol
Good Luck!
-Seth
 
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