Music as professional practice: work profiles of jazz and popular music artists in Barcelona

Abstract Making a living from music is an endeavour fraught with challenges associated with building a career in a rapidly changing, digitalised world and a labour market characterised by intermittency and the need for diversification. It is difficult to achieve a sustainable career that provides sufficient income to make music one’s primary occupation. As a result, many musicians explore different opportunities beyond performance to make ends meet. This article focuses on artists working in jazz and other popular genres on Barcelona’s music scene, with the aim of analysing how contemporary musicians in these genres combine artistic and professional activities. Using a qualitative methodology, including semi-structured interviews and participant observation, the study examines musicians who have attained relative stability and recognition. It identifies three key profiles of the professional musician (the ‘musician-teacher’, the ‘musician-composer’, the ‘musician-performer’) and reveals how these roles often overlap and contribute to the complex multiactivity of artistic careers.