Musicians and Singers

Mixed — a routine tier and a judgment tier. A 12 rather than 16 because the two halves of the income split cleanly: nobody prompts a model to cover a two-hour reception set or hold a first-violin chair through a Mahler run, but the cue beds, jingle stings, scratch vocals, and 30-second stock underscores that used to pay the rent between gigs are now generated in a browser at broadcast-usable quality.

Hands-on in uncontrolled environments. A 16 fits because the work happens in load-in hours and uncontrolled rooms — hauling a rig up stairs, tuning against stage heat and humidity, reading a conductor's beat, monitoring a wedge mix in a bad-sounding hall, embouchure and calluses maintained by daily physical practice — though it stops short of 19 because studio and remote-session work is done sitting in a treated room.

No licence, no signature requirement. A 1 is correct: no state licenses musicians, and the only gatekeepers are union cards (AFM Local, AGMA) and audition panels, which control access to specific contracts but do not legally reserve the act of performing to anyone.

The human relationship is the product. A 17 reflects that bookings run on named individuals — the bride hired your quartet, the MD calls the same sub list, the congregation knows the organist, your students' parents pay for you specifically — and repeat referral is the whole business development pipeline, capped below 19 only because pit and session chairs are genuinely fungible once you're on the list.

Meaningful discretion. A 10 covers real discretion inside fixed constraints: you decide set order when the crowd flattens, transpose on the spot for a singer with a cold, fake a chart you were handed at soundcheck, and improvise a solo nobody will hear twice — but the downside of a bad call is an awkward night, not injury or legal exposure, which keeps it out of the 14+ band.