Getting Paid for Doing what you love

Anthony Yap is a graduate of the Bachelor of Music (Hons) in Professional Music offered at the International College of Music (ICOM). Currently, Anthony runs his own studio, Big A Productions, and has since worked with local bands and artistes on a variety of projects. Besides studio work he has also worked extensively in events and in less than 3 years has been involved in more than 700 shows. Awards shows, product launches, live broadcasts, rock festivals, weddings, and corporate dinners are just some of the events that he’s been involved with. A notable achievement of Anthony’s was during the recent MTV Asia Music Awards where he was given the opportunity to mix FOH ( front-of-house ) for Project East Asian Revolution.

This is his story :

‘I have always loved music.  Everything about it moved me in such a way that nothing else that I came into contact with came close to even being comparable.  I wanted to pursue a higher education in music upon completion of my SPM but my family was against with the very normal response of “No, you will not be able to make a living for yourself, let alone support your family with a career in music”.  I had no choice but to continue with the STPM in the hopes of securing a placement in a local university.  It was during this period that I came to realize that I would not be able to do anything else but a career in music.  Working 9-5 or any other regular job would just be a platform for me to move into a music career, as everything else would be incapable of keeping me sufficiently interested.  With this is mind, I felt that there was only one option and that was to get a formal education in music.  My uncle was instrumental in loaning me the necessary finances to pursue a Bachelor of Music (Hons) in Professional Music at the only college in S.E.A that specialises in music education, the International College of Music (ICOM)

My parents were (understandably) not supportive of my decision to pursue a career in the music industry.  This is mainly due to the stigma attached to a career in arts in Malaysia that, although not very different from the rest of the world, makes it seem a lot harder to survive in comparison to other countries/industries.  It is a lot better now but I can imagine that it must seem impossible to anyone outside of the music scene that making a living through music is possible.  This was exacerbated by the fact that I did not have a music background, since my parents could not afford to send me for music lessons when I was growing up.  I did not fully comprehend the significance of this issue (my parents did) until I was enrolled in the full time program and had classmates that had been studying and practicing music since the age of 4 years old.  Being mostly self-taught and without any formal music education, I had to catch up to my classmates who had been doing this for the past 10-14 years.  Ear training, Harmony, Performance, Musicality, Sight-Reading and many more are skills and subjects that cannot be learnt overnight. It takes time and in lieu of that, talent and very hard work.  I was also working as a music/guitar teacher during my course since I did not receive any allowance and that just made the situation all the more hectic and difficult. But ICOM prepared me thoroughly for the music world. The BMus program gave me the tools and the confidence to do what I love most – making music!

At the moment there are many jobs in the industry but they are reserved for those who are driven, honest and are equipped with a professional work ethic, not to mention that they would also have to be creative and open-minded individuals with an easy to work with personality.  Jobs were not difficult to come across upon graduation since I had already been busy working from the very first day of college and as such was not a ‘fresh graduate’.  I had loads of practical experience as a result of having done many jobs and those jobs were something that I had to chase for, as it did not land on my lap.

I would say that if music is your dream, go for it as there is nothing like doing what you love. Working sounds like such a chore but when your job description is ‘get paid to have fun’, you will always be excited to get out of bed everyday for the rest of your life. Speak to the counselors at ICOM and see for yourself how the programs help you to be a successful musician.

People lose their motivation and have mid-life crises when they work purely to make a living but this will never happen so long as you do what you love and do it well and excel because you love what you’re doing.  Sure, it is exhausting; mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually, but so is every other job on earth.’