Musicians and Singers
Play one or more musical instruments or sing. May perform on stage, for broadcasting, or for sound or video recording.
$59,400 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
of the working time. Estimate.
- 17%
- 2%
- 81%
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: 10%.
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 . 26 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specialize in playing a specific family of instruments or a particular type of music.Done daily by most who do it. | 29% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 4.2 work days | Stays with people | |
| Play from memory or by following scores.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Arrange and edit music to fit style and purpose.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 6% | 4.2 h50 min to 1.3 work days | 18%Half by May 2027 | |
| Practice performances, individually or in rehearsal with other musicians, to master individual pieces of music or to maintain and improve skills.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Make or participate in recordings.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Make or participate in recordings in music studios.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Listen to recordings to master pieces or to maintain and improve skills.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | 87%Half by now | |
| Memorize musical selections and routines, or sing following printed text, musical notation, or customer instructions.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 2.5 h25 min to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Interpret or modify music, applying knowledge of harmony, melody, rhythm, and voice production to individualize presentations and maintain audience interest.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Seek out and learn new music suitable for live performance or recording.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 h50 min to 5 h | 76%Half by now | |
| Teach music for specific instruments.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform before live audiences in concerts, recitals, educational presentations, and other social gatherings.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people |
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). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.