2. About being a Background
• Background Singers provide backup other
singers or musicians on recordings, in
commercial jingles, or in live performances.
People employed as Background Singers either
perform work full-time, or they may freelance. If
working as a freelance vocalist, one must go
about their business in a slightly different way.
Meaning, they must build up a strong reputation
as a great worker and a great singer, while
remaining flexible and available when needed.
3. Facts
• The difficult thing for most Background Singers
is to be able to walk into a recording studio, look
over a song, learn it flawlessly and then perform
it perfectly with little rehearsal time. In
addition, the vocalist must be able to harmonize
with a group of singers whom he or she has
never worked with before! The background
vocalist must also be versatile in their talents
because they may have one job performing pop
music in the morning, and then later in the day,
he or she might be singing a jingle for a cat food
commercial.
4. Salary
Factors including the type of work, the duration
of work, geographical location and reputation
of the singer all play into how much the
background vocalist will earn. if Singers work
overtime, or take on more songs, they will be
able to earn more. successful Background
Singers might earn up to $100,000 or more per
year.
5. Employment
there are a lot of opportunities available for an
aspiring Background Singers, employment
prospects are fair. prospects become much
more difficult as individuals begin to look for
work with well-known artists or in recordings
and jingles. Going through the audition process
is necessary for Background Vocalists to land a
gig. audition is either made directly to the band
looking to hire, or to agents who will go out on
your behalf to find work.
6. Education and Training
Background Singers are not required to have a
formal education. some may feel obtaining a
college degree is important to use as a fall back
plan just in case their music career does not
work out as planned. some Singers have
graduated from college, many Singers have
graduated from conservatories. Others utilize
vocal coaches and private teachers, while some
have the natural ability to just sing.
