Name:____________________________________________________ Date:__________

Teacher:__________________________________________________ Level:__________

ACHIEVE 2
UNIT 5 TEST

Careers in the Music Industry

Are you a person who loves music but you can’t sing, play an
instrument, or compose songs? If so, you might think that a
job in the music industry is out of the question for you. Not so.
5 There are lots of jobs to choose from, even if you don’t
perform. Here are three possibilities.
Artist Manager: Being an artist’s manager is a great way to
be involved in the music industry. What do artists’ managers
do? Artists need to concentrate on making music. They need
10 their managers to take care of them, particularly the financial
and administrative aspects of their careers. They help to
negotiate deals with the record label and make sure the logo
on the band’s official T-shirt is correct. They help new groups
raise money for their first show and they help more
15 experienced bands book concert venues. They deal with
lawyers, record labels, airlines, hotels, and fans. In the U.S.,
an artist manager, whose salary is usually 15 to 20 percent of
what the band makes, is essential to a musician’s success.
Record Label Manager: Working for a record label is
20 another option. If you enjoy listening to new music, one job is
to discover new talent for recording companies. Others who
work with record labels are in charge of increasing sales of
one type of music. Often these same people, who know the
music industry inside and out, are responsible for developing
25 the artist’s image through merchandising and careful
managing of the media. Most people who work in this field
make between $115,000 and $200,000 a year.
Music Lawyer: First of all, music lawyers need to have a
degree in law to do this job. But once that’s done, they can
30 expect to make over $100,000 a year. Music lawyers, who
should ideally have studied music theory and music
merchandising, must understand the laws that relate to a
musician’s career, starting with copyright law. Also part of the
music lawyer’s job is to understand the law as it relates to
35 online activity: downloading music, piracy, and file-sharing.
Music lawyers work closely with the record labels, artists’
managers and the artists themselves.

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 Maybe you’re not the next Michael Jacksons, but if you’re a
music fan, there’s a whole world of interesting and well paid-
40 work out there for you.

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Read the text again. Choose the correct answers.

1 What is something artist managers do not do while working

for a band?
a) talk to the band’s lawyers
b) check the band’s official T-shirts
c) talk to record labels
d) deal with hotels and airlines
e) discover new talent

2 How much do record label managers make a year?

a) Between $115,000 and 120,000
b) Between $115,000 and 200,000
c) Between $100,000 and 115,000
d) Between $100,000 and 200,000
e) Between $15,000 and 20,000

3 What is one thing you might have to do if you work for a

record label?
a) Discover new talent
b) Understand the law about downloading music
c) Know the media industry well
d) Concentrate on making music
e) Talk to hotels and airlines

4 What is something that music lawyers should strongly

consider studying in college?
a) Managing the media
b) Hotel management
c) Sales and marketing
d) Music merchandising
e) Label design

5 What is something that music lawyers need to understand

well?
a) Music theory
b) Copyright law
c) Developing the artist’s image
d) Raising money for shows
e) Musical tastes

Circle the correct alternatives.

6 Recording artists ___ don’t have managers spend a lot of
time doing non-creative administrative work.
a) who
b) whose
c) where

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 d) which
e) when

10
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 7 Some careers in music, ___ aren’t easy to understand until
you’re already in the music industry, can be very well-paid.
a) when
b) whose
c) where
d) who
e) which

8 ___ free music off the Internet, even though it’s often illegal,
is something lots of people do.
a) Download
b) Downloaded
c) Downloading
d) To download
e) Downloads

9 Many bands are happy to ___ their music on the Internet if

it means more people will hear it.
a) catch on
b) close down
c) set up
d) give away
e) turn up

10 A lot of people have studios in their homes nowadays. As

a result, many bands don’t need to use the large, expensive
studios to ___ their songs.
a) sample
b) file-share
c) record
d) influence
e) download

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15
 A001153
Answer Key
1 e)
2 b)
3 a)
4 d)
5 b)
6 a)
7 e)
8 c)
9 d)
10 c)

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