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[Mike Reigh]

I ask because I have a 13 y.o. son that helps me with shows that are appropriate for him to be on.  We do small scale production for festivals, fairs, etc.; typical live audio stuff.  I have some colleagues that work on a much bigger scale and they're always looking for skilled labor and have enough work that could earn someone a living.  My beef with the profession is the long hours, average pay and thankless work; most days it's an enjoyable job but some days outright suck.  Let's face it, there's not a lot of fringe benefits, or retirement plan.  Should I encourage him to keep at it?  As a career?  Steer him away as fast as I can?  He's always asking questions on the jobs and seems interested and as long as I'm around I'll help him out.     

[TJ (Tom) Cornish]

I ask because I have a 13 y.o. son that helps me with shows that are appropriate for him to be on.  We do small scale production for festivals, fairs, etc.; typical live audio stuff.  I have some colleagues that work on a much bigger scale and they're always looking for skilled labor and have enough work that could earn someone a living.  My beef with the profession is the long hours, average pay and thankless work; most days it's an enjoyable job but some days outright suck.  Let's face it, there's not a lot of fringe benefits, or retirement plan.  Should I encourage him to keep at it?  As a career?  Steer him away as fast as I can?  He's always asking questions on the jobs and seems interested and as long as I'm around I'll help him out.     

There are different versions - touring, regional AV, hotel AV gig, church tech person, freelancer, etc.  The lifestyle can vary substantially between these situations.

Generally speaking you can make more money in fewer hours working in other fields, so those of us who do this do so at least partly for the love of the craft.

If your son loves doing it and understands the lifestyle commitment that can be potentially hard on a family, then go for it.  If not, then another path is probably wiser.  In either case, college is still a good idea, as comparatively few people work 40+ years in the industry.

[Nathan Riddle]

I'm sort of an odd duck.

I'm 24, got my AA while in high-school and my EE 3 years after.

I pursued my Electrical Engineering degree because it is the right thing to do for my future.

I also pursued AV because I enjoyed it and have fun with it.

I now have a job that pays what you would think an EE position would make (just google "average EE salary 2yr").

And a functioning business that I can enact 'good' in the world and be paid a commensurate amount for my time and pay my employees good and provide insurance.

My personal advice to any 'kid' is: Pursue a degree that is marketable, pays the bills, and gives you PTO. Don't pursue something you enjoy IFF it isn't marketable and in demand.

Once you've got that piece of paper that proves to an employer "I can learn new things in this specific field."

Then do whatever you want, if it doesn't work out; fall back on your degree. If an employer asks: "why weren't you working in your career for the past 10yrs" say: "I wanted to pursue my dream of running sound/lights/whatever for the largest band in the country. It didn't work out."

Engineering, software, and technical studies will always be in demand, even when we have robots and AI doing 99.99% of the work for us in 50+yrs.


Lastly, I should put credit where credit is due, both in God's blessings in my life and my parents for encouraging me to work hard and pursue both a career and a passion.

[John Fruits]

IMHO there is nothing wrong with learning all he wants about the business now.  In high school and college someone with "good ears, who knows his gear" will likely have more chances to work at things he likes instead of being stuck asking "you want fries with that".  As for college, that's another discussion. 

[Peter Kowalczyk]

The fact that your son has experience on 'real shows' outside of school production is awesome.  He will be well ahead of the curve if he keeps with it. 

I became intrigued by pro audio about that age.  My interest in audio led me to study electrical engineering, but all through school it was my interest in music that inspired my interest in electronics.  That path has served me well.

I'd definitely encourage him to stay involved, but I'll echo others' comments here: get a degree in a related technical field, such as electrical, mechanical, or software engineering. 

There are many ways to be involved in Pro Audio that don't involve long days and late nights of hard physical work.  If your son can learn real-world production skills on the job, and can lean hard technical skills at a university, then after he burns out on the real-world-workload, he'll be in a great position to work on designing equipment instead of deploying it.

[Dave Pluke]

Should I encourage him to keep at it?  As a career?  Steer him away as fast as I can?   

A couple of less-than-completely-objective thoughts:

1)  I know a great school where he could get an Associates Degree (and, more importantly, a really good education) in Concert Sound & Lighting and/or Recording Engineering to start things off.  If interested, PM me.

2)  Make sure, whatever field he enters, that he also studies BUSINESS and MATH.

3)  "Job Security" is a thing of the past.  The next best thing is being one's own Boss (hence, the Business recommendation).

4)  It takes more than solid skills to succeed - in any career, actually.  Does your son have the right personality to cope with the more challenging aspects of client contact?  If so, go for it!

Dave

[Scott Helmke]

I'm kind of old-school, in that I think that you should only spend the big bucks on school if you're going for hard engineering (EE, computer science, etc) or business. 

Anybody who really belongs in this field will be able to figure things out pretty quickly in their first real job.  I'm sure there are some live sound / recording colleges which teach useful stuff, but college is so insanely expensive these days that I can't imagine it being worth the investment. Four years as a paid box-pusher = no student debt, too.

[Bob Leonard]

No.

[Tim McCulloch]

The lesson is this:  the more cool, hip, fun (or perceived as any of those) a gig is, the worse it pays, the fewer benefits and the greater the demands placed on the individual and his/her family.  Boring corporate stuff pays far better, although it comes with its own stresses and away time.

If income stability is important this industry has a long "pay your dues" period no matter what aspect of it you are in and getting enough time built up until there's a reliable income is a huge variable.  That your son already is getting real world experience will help, but there will still be years of "FNG" for him.

Plumbers and electricians will always be in demand.  Just something to think about.

[Tim Weaver]

No.

This.

I don't know anyone making a great living at this. I know more than a couple people that make a normal 9-5-er's living, but they own anywhere from 100k to a couple million dollars worth of inventory.

You have to love this stuff to make it your life. If he truly loves it, and I mean LOVES it. Get him to a business school. It doesn't matter what your business is, most people fail at the business part. Not the trade/skill part.

[ProSoundWeb Community]