The thing about being a music major (or any artsy majors) is that haters love to rag on you. There’s something about “unpractical” majors that causes people to think that they have the right to tell you you’re going to
Fail horribly
Be eternally broke
Never succeed at any of your dreams
Literally live underneath a bridge and eat mold to sustain yourself.
Fortunately, none of that is true. When it comes to responding to the the people who think telling you this is okay, I can help. Here’s how to shut down the haters:
At least I’ll enjoy my job.
Also known as “Because money is what makes people happy?” Fine Arts majors end up in a ton of non-arts positions, and are still almost always happy with their training. People tend to change careers multiple times in their lives. However, arts people rarely regret their art training. They also tend to enjoy their jobs more than people who aren’t in artsy careers.
It’s better to regret failure than regret never trying.
Seriously, think about what you’d prefer in twenty years. Would you rather have tried to become a career musician, and not quite made it? Or would you rather have been a dental hygienist for most of those years, because that was the safer bet? I can’t speak for you, but I’d rather try and fail than not try at all.
I’m sorry you’re feeling so down about yourself that you need to take it out on me.
If someone is trying to cut you down, they likely don’t feel great about themselves. The occasional concerned query could be excused as someone worried about you. However, if it’s constant and dismissive, then they’re just cruddy. Ignore them.
Pretty much any artsy major involves a LOT of politicking, a lot of interacting with your classmates, and a lot of learning self-discipline. Essentially, you’re gonna get good at all of the “soft skills” that are needed to run a business with more than one person in it. Figure out how to emphasize those skills in your resume, and you’ll have a solid chance of non-musical employment.
Haters gonna hate. That’s on them. You just need to get on with your life, and leave the other crabs in the bucket. They can give themselves ulcers over your decisions – you’re gonna go do you and you’re gonna do great.
You got this.