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ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, AND RECREATION

Significant Points

- The industry is characterized by a large number of seasonal and part-time jobs and relatively young workers.
- About 40 percent of all workers have no formal education beyond high school.
- Rising incomes, more leisure time, and growing awareness of the health benefits of physical fitness will increase the demand for arts, entertainment, and recreation services.
- Earnings are relatively low.

Nature of the Industry

As leisure time and personal incomes have grown across the Nation, so has the arts, entertainment, and recreation industry. The industry includes about 122,000 establishments, ranging from art museums to fitness centers. Practically any activity that occupies a person's leisure time, excluding the viewing of motion pictures and video rentals, is part of this industry.

Industry organization. The diverse range of activities offered by this industry can be categorized into three broad groups-live performances or events; historical, cultural, or educational exhibits; and recreation or leisure-time activities.

The live performances or events segment of the industry includes professional sports, as well as establishments providing sports facilities and services to amateurs. Commercial sports clubs operate professional and amateur athletic clubs and promote athletic events. All kinds of popular sports can be found in these establishments, including baseball, basketball, boxing, football, ice hockey, soccer, wrestling, and even auto racing. Professional and amateur companies involved in sports promotion also are part of this industry segment, as are sports establishments in which gambling is allowed, such as dog and horse racetracks and jai alai courts.

A variety of businesses and groups involved in live theatrical and musical performances are included in this segment. Theatrical production companies, for example, coordinate all aspects of producing a play or theater event, including employing actors and actresses and costume designers and contracting with lighting and stage crews who handle the technical aspects of productions. Agents and managers, who represent actors and entertainers and assist them in finding jobs or engagements, are also included. Booking agencies line up performance engagements for theatrical groups and entertainers.

Performers of live musical entertainment include popular music artists, dance bands, disc jockeys, orchestras, jazz musicians, and rock bands. Orchestras range from major professional orchestras with million-dollar budgets to community orchestras, which often have part-time schedules. The performing arts segment also includes dance companies, which produce all types of live theatrical dances. The majority of these dance troupes perform ballet, folk dance, or modern dance.

The historical, cultural, or educational exhibits segment includes privately owned museums, zoos, botanical gardens, nature parks, and historical sites. Publicly owned facilities are included in sections on Federal, State, or local government elsewhere in the Career Guide. Each institution in this segment preserves and exhibits objects, sites, and natural wonders with historical, cultural, or educational value.

The recreation or leisure activities segment includes a variety of establishments that provide amusement for a growing number of customers. Some of these businesses provide video game and gaming machines for the public at amusement parks, arcades, and casinos. Casinos and other gaming establishments offering off-track betting are a rapidly growing part of this industry segment. This segment also includes amusement and theme parks, which range in size from local carnivals to multiacre parks. These establishments may have mechanical rides, shows, and refreshment stands. Other recreation and leisure-time services include golf courses, skating rinks, ski lifts, marinas, day camps, gocart tracks, riding stables, waterslides, and establishments offering rental sporting goods.

This segment of the industry also includes physical fitness facilities that feature exercise and weight loss programs, gyms, health clubs, and day spas. These establishments also frequently offer aerobics, dance, yoga, and other exercise classes. Other recreation and leisure-time businesses include bowling centers that rent lanes and equipment for tenpin, duckpin, or candlepin bowling.

These facilities may be open to the public or available on a membership basis. Sports and recreation clubs, including community centers, that are open only to members and their guests include some golf courses, country clubs, and yacht, tennis, racquetball, hunting and fishing, and gun clubs. Unlike private clubs, public golf courses and marinas offer facilities to the general public on a fee-per-use basis.

Technology is a major part of producing arts, entertainment, and recreation activities; for example, lighting and sound are vital for concerts and themed events and elaborate sets often are required for plays. However, most of this work is contracted to firms outside of the arts, entertainment, and recreation industry. (For more information about entertainment technology jobs, see the sources of additional information at the end of this statement.)

Training and Advancement

About 40 percent of all workers in the arts, entertainment, and recreation industry have no formal education beyond high school. In the case of performing artists or athletes, talent and years of training are more important than education. However, upper-level management jobs usually require a college degree.

Service occupations. Most service jobs require little or no previous training or education beyond high school. Many companies hire young, lesser skilled workers, such as students, to perform low-paying seasonal jobs. Employers look for people with the interpersonal skills necessary to work with the public.

In physical fitness facilities, fitness trainer and aerobic instructor positions usually are filled by persons who develop an avid interest in fitness and then become certified to teach. Certification from a professional organization may require knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR); an associate degree or experience as an instructor at a health club; and successful completion of written and oral exams covering a variety of areas, including anatomy, nutrition, and fitness testing. Sometimes, fitness workers become health club managers or owners. To advance to a management position, a degree in physical education, sports medicine, or exercise physiology is useful.

Professional and related occupations. In the arts and professional sports, employment in professional and related occupations usually requires a great deal of talent, desire, and dedication. There are many highly talented performers and athletes, creating intense competition for every opening. Professional athletes usually begin competing in their sports during elementary or middle school. They play in amateur tournaments and on high school teams to get the attention of scouts. Performers such as musicians, dancers, and actors often study their professions most of their lives, taking private lessons and spending hours practicing. Usually, performers have completed some college or related study.

Musicians, dancers, and actors often go on to become teachers after completing the necessary requirements for at least a bachelor's degree. Musicians who complete a graduate degree in music sometimes move on to a career as a conductor. Dancers sometimes become choreographers, and actors can advance into producer and director jobs.

Management, business, and financial occupations. Almost all arts administrators have completed 4 years of college, and the majority possess a master's or a doctoral degree. Experience in marketing and business is helpful because promoting events is a large part of the job.

Entry-level supervisory or professional jobs in recreation sometimes require completion of a 2-year associate degree in parks and recreation at a community or junior college. Completing a 4-year bachelor's degree in this field is necessary for high-level supervisory positions. Students can specialize in such areas as aquatics, therapeutic recreation, aging and leisure, and environmental studies. Those who obtain graduate degrees in the field and have years of experience may obtain administrative or university teaching positions. The National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) certifies individuals who meet eligibility requirements for professional and technical jobs. Certified park and recreation professionals must pass an exam; earn a bachelor's degree with a major in recreation, park resources, or leisure services from a program accredited by the NRPA or by the American Association for Leisure and Recreation; or earn a bachelor's degree and have at least 5 years of relevant full-time work experience, depending on the major field of study.

The education and experience of top executives varies widely, but many have a bachelor's degree or higher in business administration or liberal arts. Many positions are filled from within the organization by promoting experienced managers. They may help their advancement by participating in company and outside training programs to learn management techniques. Top executives must have excellent interpersonal skills, an analytical mind, decisiveness, and leadership ability.

Media and communication equipment workers. There are multiple training and education options for these workers, including technical school, an associate degree, an apprenticeship, and on-the-job training. Sound engineering technicians can best prepare by getting technical school, community college, or college training in broadcast technology, sound engineering technology, communications technology, electronics, or computer networking. They may then begin working and learn from more experienced technicians. Less formal training is required for audio and video equipment technicians. Many workers have community college degrees, but they are not always required. Workers may substitute on-the-job training for education and may gain experience by working as an assistant to audio and video equipment technicians.

Employment

The arts, entertainment, and recreation industry provided about 1.9 million wage-and-salary jobs in 2006.

About 58 percent of these jobs were in the industry segment other amusement and recreation industries, which include golf courses, membership sports and recreation clubs, and physical fitness facilities (table 1).

Although most establishments in the arts, entertainment, and recreation industry are small, 41 percent of all jobs were in establishments that employ more than 100 workers (chart 1).

The arts, entertainment, and recreation industry is characterized by a large number of seasonal and part-time jobs and by workers who are younger than the average for all industries. About 44 percent of all workers are under 35 (table 2). Many businesses in the industry increase hiring during the summer, often employing high school-age and college-age workers. Most establishments in the arts, entertainment, and recreation industry contract out lighting, sound, set-building, and exhibit-building work to firms not included in this industry.

Job Outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Career Guide to Industries, 2008-09 Edition, Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs031.htm

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