Music Therapist
🎵Uses singing, rhythm and instruments in rehabilitation: helps people speak again after a stroke, calms autistic children, eases anxiety and pain.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $66.5k a year on average
Other therapists, including exercise physiologists — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £37.8k median a year · 15,000 jobs
Therapy professionals n.e.c. — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
Apps can play the right music, but a live session that adapts to the patient moment by moment remains a human skill.
Who it suits
Interests: 🎭 Music, theatre, dance, 🧠 Psychology, 🤝 Helping and caring, 🩺 Medicine and health.
Key strengths: understanding people, artistic taste.
Where to study
- Bachelor's BMus Music / BA Music Therapy (US, 4 years)
- Master's MA Music Therapy (UK, HCPC-approved)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Music, Psychology, Biology.
🧗 Strong instrumental skills needed. UK: music degree, then a 2-year MA in Music Therapy and HCPC registration. US: 4-year bachelor's in music therapy and MT-BC board certification.
Universities
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Royal Academy of Music London · €34.4k/yr
BMus £29,900 (2026/27); live or video audition via UCAS Conservatoires; scholarships awarded after audition - Royal College of Music London · €36k/yr
BMus £31,300 (2026/27, a government levy may be added); audition via UCAS Conservatoires - Royal Northern College of Music Manchester · €34.4k/yr
BMus £29,950 (2026/27); audition; English per college requirements
🇺🇸 United States
- The Juilliard School New York · €49.8k/yr
audition (pre-screen + live); English test for non-native speakers; performance level decides - Berklee College of Music Boston · €47k/yr
audition and interview; English test for non-native speakers; $27k per semester - Curtis Institute of Music Philadelphia · free
audition; every student gets a full-tuition scholarship; TOEFL 4 (new) / 79–80, IELTS 6.5–7
🇩🇪 Germany
- Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin Berlin · free
No tuition for any nationality (≈ €300 semester fee); entrance audition; German B2.2 for the bachelor's - University of Music and Performing Arts Munich Munich · free
No non-EU tuition; entrance exam (€50); German B1 for performance bachelor's, B2 for pedagogy - Cologne University of Music and Dance Cologne · free
No tuition (≈ €300-400 semester fee); entrance exam; German B2 / TestDaF 3, may be shown by end of 2nd semester
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- Conservatorium van Amsterdam Amsterdam
The audition (entrance exam) is decisive; taught in English * - Royal Conservatoire The Hague The Hague
The audition (entrance exam) is decisive; taught in English * - Codarts Rotterdam Rotterdam
Audition (music, dance, circus); taught in English *
🇫🇷 France
- Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP) Paris
Entrance audition (concours); age limits by discipline; French * - Lyon Conservatoire (CNSMD de Lyon) Lyon
Entrance audition (concours); age limits by discipline; French * - Université Paris Cité Boulogne-Billancourt · €200–2.9k/yr
DAP, B2; 2026/27 moratorium — non-EU pay €178; medicine/pharmacy via PASS/LAS
🇮🇹 Italy
- Milan Conservatory "Giuseppe Verdi" Milan
Audition (80%) + theory (20%); Italian B2 test (€50) before the audition; Universitaly pre-enrolment - Santa Cecilia Conservatory Rome
Audition and theory test; Italian test for foreigners; Universitaly pre-enrolment * - San Pietro a Majella Conservatory Naples
Audition and theory test; Italian test for foreigners; Universitaly pre-enrolment *
🇪🇸 Spain
- Reina Sofía School of Music Madrid
Audition; private foundation school, studies largely funded by scholarships * - Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) Barcelona · €1.5k/yr
Specialty entrance exam; €25.04/ECTS, no non-EU surcharge - Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid Madrid
Specialty entrance exam (Título Superior); Spanish *
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- Academy of Performing Arts in Prague – Music and Dance Faculty (HAMU) Prague · free
Talent exams/portfolio; free in Czech (Czech ≈B2); English programmes charge fees, not checked * - Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (JAMU) Brno · free
Talent exams/portfolio; free in Czech (Czech ≈B2); English programmes charge fees, not checked * - University of Ostrava (Faculty of Fine Arts and Music) Ostrava · free
Talent exams/portfolio; free in Czech (Czech ≈B2); English programmes charge fees, not checked *
Things to know
🕯️ Grief, death, hard life stories
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