Music Directors and Composers
Conduct, direct, plan, and lead instrumental or vocal performances by musical artists or groups, such as orchestras, bands, choirs, and glee clubs; or create original works of music.
12,540 people do this job in the US. $73,710 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 95%
- 2%
- 4%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 8%. Today's estimate: 13%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 30 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apply elements of music theory to create musical and tonal structures, including harmonies and melodies.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 3.1 work days | 7%Half by Nov 2027 | |
| Write musical scores for orchestras, bands, choral groups, or individual instrumentalists or vocalists, using knowledge of music theory and of instrumental and vocal capabilities.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | 0%Half by Apr 2029 | |
| Produce recordings of music. | 7% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | 0%Half by Apr 2029 | |
| Create original musical forms, or write within circumscribed musical forms such as sonatas, symphonies, or operas.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 2.1 work weeks1 work day to 2.3 work months | 0%Half by Aug 2030 | |
| Fill in details of orchestral sketches, such as adding vocal parts to scores.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 7% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 8%Half by Sep 2027 | |
| Transcribe ideas for musical compositions into musical notation, using instruments, pen and paper, or computers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.3 work days | 25%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Write music for commercial mediums, including advertising jingles or film soundtracks.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 2.1 work days3.3 h to 1.7 work weeks | 1%Half by Sep 2028 | |
| Determine voices, instruments, harmonic structures, rhythms, tempos, and tone balances required to achieve the effects desired in a musical composition.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.3 work days | 25%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Experiment with different sounds, and types and pieces of music, using synthesizers and computers as necessary to test and evaluate ideas.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 2.5 h50 min to 1 work day | 40%Half by Dec 2026 | |
| Arrange music composed by others, changing the music to achieve desired effects.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 work days1.7 h to 4.2 work days | 3%Half by May 2028 | |
| Perform administrative tasks such as applying for grants, developing budgets, negotiating contracts, and designing and printing programs and other promotional materials.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 5% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 4.2 work days | 6%Half by Jan 2028 | |
| Rewrite original musical scores in different musical styles by changing rhythms, harmonies, or tempos.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 8%Half by Sep 2027 |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).