# Choose Your Next Step

Part of the Music Merit Badge Digital Resource Guide: [Introduction & Overview](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/music/guide/index.md)

*6. Careers and Hobbies*

> **6.** Do ONE of the following:

You must choose exactly **one** option here. Both choices ask you to think beyond the badge and imagine how music could stay part of your life after this merit badge is done.

## Your Options

- **[Req 6a — Research a Music Career](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/music/guide/req6a/)**: Study one real career connected to music, including education, cost, job duties, advancement, and salary. This option helps you understand what professional life in music can actually look like.
- **[Req 6b — Turn Music into a Hobby](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/music/guide/req6b/)**: Explore how music knowledge and skills could grow into a long-term hobby, including goals, costs, training, and organizations. This option helps you build a realistic personal plan.

## How to Choose

**Choosing Between Career and Hobby** — Pick the option that answers the question you are most curious about

- [ ] **Choose 6a if:** you want to know how people earn a living in music and what preparation that path requires.
- [ ] **Choose 6b if:** you want to keep music in your life for enjoyment, service, creativity, or community without making it your job.
- [ ] **Time and research:** both options require real research, but 6a usually asks for more career-specific facts like salary and advancement.
- [ ] **What you will gain:** 6a builds career awareness and realistic expectations. 6b builds self-direction and a practical plan for continued involvement.

Some Scouts discover that music is something they love but do not want as a career. Others discover the opposite. Either result is useful. The purpose is to think carefully and honestly.

> **Tip**
>
> If you already know a musician, music teacher, sound engineer, or arts leader, Req 6a can be especially strong because a real interview makes the career picture much clearer. If you mainly want to keep music in your life while exploring other careers, Req 6b may be the better fit.

[Req 3c](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/music/guide/req3c/) and [Req 4](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/music/guide/req4/) can help you here. The experiences you enjoyed most in those sections often point toward the future path that fits you best.

[National Association for Music Education](https://nafme.org/): A useful starting point for understanding music learning, careers, and ways to stay involved in music over time.

To begin, look at the career option first and see how a music-related profession is researched in a practical way.

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- Previous: [Intellectual Property and Sharing Music](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/music/guide/req5/index.md)
- Next: [Research a Music Career](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/music/guide/req6a/index.md)