How to Become a Music Director on a Cruise Ship

I found a little write-up today by a music director on Princess about how to get the MD job.  The writing is a little disjointed, but the information is correct.

The position of Music Director (MD), sometimes also called “Bandmaster,” is a management position within a cruise ship’s entertainment department.  The MD, in coordination with the Cruise Director, manages the scheduling, rehearsing and discipline of all of the other musicians onboard the ship.  The largest portion of the music directors time is spent dealing with the show band, in which the MD will also play an instrument.

Music directors are often pianists (on Holland America cruise line the MD must be a pianist or guitarist) but can, in theory, be any instrumentalist in the show band.  I’ve seen pianists, guitarists, drummers, bassists and saxophonists be music directors on ships.

Musicians usually become music directors by being promoted from the show band after 1 or more successful contracts.  It’s usually between contracts that musicians are promoted, as in, after finishing one contract as a side musician, the cruise line or talent agent might ask you to be the music director on your next contract if there is an open position on the next ship.

The perks of being the MD include a pay raise and a private cabin.  On my first ship I made $50 a day and shared a cabin with another musician.  The MD made $90 a day and had his own cabin with a full-size bed and a porthole.  (These rates are only an example and are very likely inaccurate to current pay rates.)

The music director perks are tempered by the burden of management.  If a musician becomes erratic or unreliable, it might be the MD responsibility to fire or discipline him/her.  Any complaints or criticisms about the schedule of music in the lounges would be directed toward the music director.

Personally, I’ve never worked as a cruise ship’s music director.  This past summer I worked as the music director to a guest performer act, but that was a position that only managed the 6 other performers in my group.  My position was more of a liaison to the ship’s entertainment department.

I have worked as a music director in many other situations though – primarily in regional theatre companies and Broadway tours.  Personally, I believe that it is a tough position to be in.  Music directors are invariably stuck in middle-management positions that compromise what leveraging power they are able to manage with.  If an MD wants to fire someone they usually have to ask their boss (in this case the cruise director) for permission, and if there are complaints about scheduling, or living conditions, or treatment – these are often symptoms of mandates that have come from upper management and the MD is usually powerless to change things for the better.  Corporate management, especially on cruise ships, sometimes manages their workers with what many musicians perceive as a general lack of empathy, and more often than not, the MD ends up being the person that delivers the messages from upper management.

For instance, I saw a situation this past summer where the cruise ship I was working on had inexplicably stocked it’s ship with more crew members than it could house.  Many musicians were living with 1 roommate each (as per their contract), but were expected to absorb a 3rd non-musician roommate until the fiasco was worked out.  The music director was expected to relay this message to the musicians.  Of course there was a lifetime’s worth of complaints about this, but the MD was powerless to do anything.  That’s a tough position to be in!

On the other hand, there are some musicians that are very good at being music directors.  These musicians usually have a unique combination of personality, professionalism, communication, charisma and talent that makes them natural leaders among their fellow musicians.  I’ve met guys like this before and I’ve seen them excel in more compromising positions than I just mentioned.  It’s a rare treat to work with somebody like this.

If you are considering becoming a music director, my advice is to put down your music books and pick up a few books on management.  If you are in the position to become a music director, its likely that you already know what you need to about music – but management of people is a whole ‘nother beast.  Pick up a few books on it and you’ll be ahead of the game.