What Is a Singer and How to Become One

By ZipRecruiter Marketplace Research Team

A professional singer is a vocal performer. In this career, you choose the music genres that suit your voice best, such as country, jazz, pop, or rap, and perform both original and unoriginal compositions. You can find work as a backup singer, solo performer, or singing jingles in the advertisement industry. Your job duties vary significantly based on your specific career. If you are a recording artist, you spend most of your time in the studio and performing to promote your song or record. If you work as a backup singer or member of a vocal ensemble, you spend much more time practicing with your fellow performers.

The qualifications needed to start a career as a singer depend entirely on your specialty. If you want to perform as part of an ensemble or in an opera or musical, you need to earn a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance. In this degree program, you learn about the various elements of music and voice such as tone and pitch. You also practice and hone your singing skills under an experienced vocal coach. There are also degree programs that focus on composition or music production, which may be beneficial if you pursue a career as a recording artist. However, forming a career as a vocal performer does not require an education. You do need excellent networking skills and a drive to work towards a difficult goal. The most common path is to record a demo, secure an agent or manager, and then pitch your music to a record label.

As a professional singer, you can work as a performer in nightclubs, bars, on cruise ships, and more. Depending on your interests, you may even go into vocal teaching. You often work as a freelancer under contract with record labels, venues, and others who use your singing services. You can become a backup singer in a local band or part of a choir. Other available career niches include singing at weddings, parties, dances, corporate events, or festivals. You can sing live in a theater, especially as an opera or classical artist. You can also specialize in recording for business purposes like commercials and other marketing materials.

There is no set distinction between a singer and a vocalist, and people use the terms interchangeably. In a technical sense, there is little difference between a singer and a vocalist. However, some people disagree, and there are competing definitions. For example, one could say that a rapper or anyone that uses non-traditional vocal styles is a vocalist but not a singer. In another sense, some people define a vocalist as a classically trained singer. In this definition of a vocalist, you focus technique and adherence to the composition. A singer, on the other hand, is a vocal performer that tries to convey the emotion of the composition. You are judged less by your technique. You can highlight this difference by looking at a rock singer versus an operatic vocalist. Both are singers, but the rock singer may not be considered a “vocalist.”