Career Essay
... of living in California will be extremely expensive, but by going to a community college first, the average cost of out-of-state tuition is much less for a community college than for a state university. One of the community colleges that I am considering is the Santa Barbara City College. The average cost for out-of-state tuition there is around $144 per session plus other expenses. Claiming residency in California is a year long process, and after a year there still has to be other proof that you are serious about living in California, and not just saying that for college tuition. In-state tuition is extremely cheap in California, especially a community college. The average in-state cost of tuition for the Santa Barbara City College is $11 per session plus other expenses. While in college, I plan to do private recordings of my songs, and submit them to musical publishers, and music-business professionals. On my free time, I will perform my songs to live audiences in clubs, bars, or any musical event so that my songs and my name will get recognition in order for my status to become well known. Most songwriters work freelance, competing for contracts to write songs for a specific artist, television show, video program, or for contracts with musical publishers and advertising agencies. Other songwriters are employed by so-called “jingle houses,” that is, companies that supply music for advertising commercials. Many songwriters work under contract with one or more music publishing houses. More often than not, they must complete a specific quota of new songs each year. These songwriters receive a salary, called an advance or draw, which is often paid by the week. Once a song has been published, the money earned by the song goes to pay back the songwriter’s draw. A percentage of the money earned by a song over and above the amount of the draw goes to the songwriter as royalty. The money earned by songwriting varies a great deal. The salary range can be from $20,000 to $50,000 a year and it can even reach $100,000,000 or more for just one song- depending on how popular you are as a songwriter, or your reputation with the music world. Songwriting is an extremely competitive field to enter. Everyone wants to be heard, but songwriters want everyone listening to them only. I realize that at the start of my career, I will hardly be making enough money to feed myself, but I plan to take small steps with big ideas to help me get ...