Music Composers

I. JOB SUMMARY

Main Topic: Places and Regions
Secondary Topic: Human Geography

Overview:  Music composers create original pieces of music for a wide array of settings and uses. They arrange the instruments, and sometimes write lyrics to accompany the music. The music can be used by orchestras, artists or bands, marching bands, musicals, operas, or even TV shows and movies. Composers can be commissioned by artists or orchestras to compose a piece specifically for them, or they write pieces for their own catalogues and release under their name. The style, sound, and genre of music that composers produce is usually heavily influenced by their geographic location. These distinct sounds allow listeners to recognize musical styles originating in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America. Music can also be region specific, such as Polka music originating in Slavic countries such as the Czech Republic and Poland, and country music that is widely popular in the American South.

Geographers at work: Human geographers, cultural geographers, social geographers, musical geographers

Recommended College Courses: World Geographer, Human Geography, Introduction to Cultural Geography, Geography of specific countries and regions, Location Analysis

Skills: Local geography, communication skills, cultural geography, human geography

Occupation Group: Entertainment and Sports

Learn more about Music Composers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Department of Labor: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/music-directors-and-composers.htm