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OaSIS 2025 Version 1.0
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51121.02 – Composers

Composers create musical compositions such as television and film scores, theme music, songs, symphonies and music for interactive products such as video games.

Overview

Example job titles

  • Composer
  • Songwriter

Core competencies

  • Critical Thinking and Decision Making to evaluate musical elements critically, problem-solve to resolve complex harmonies or structures and make informed, flexible decisions about instrumentation, arrangement and pacing
  • Reading Comprehension to understand and interpret written material, such as music theory texts, historical context and critical analyses and to apply this information in creating compositions
  • Auditory Attention and Hearing Sensitivity to focus on intricate musical details, discern subtle differences in pitch, tone, rhythm and timbre and accurately assess and adjust complex sound textures and harmonies in their compositions
  • Fluency of Ideas to generate a diverse range of innovative musical concepts and themes in order to create unique compositions that resonate with varied audiences and meet specific artistic or commercial goals
  • Creativity and Innovativeness to blend diverse musical styles and technologies seamlessly while continuously exploring new soundscapes and narrative techniques to enhance emotional depth in their compositions
  • Knowledge in Arts to understand musical theory, history and various genres to create music that is both technically proficient and stylistically appropriate

Main duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

  • Create musical compositions such as television and film scores, theme music, songs, symphonies and music for interactive products such as video games.

Additional information

  • Composers often work as arrangers.
  • Conductors, composers and arrangers usually specialize in a particular genre of music such as classical, country, jazz or popular.

Similar occupations classified elsewhere

Exclusions:

  • Musicians and singers (51122)
  • Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations (51120)

NOC hierarchy breakdown

NOC version

NOC 2021 Version 1.0

Broad occupational category

5 – Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport

TEER

1 – Occupations usually require a university degree

Major group

51 – Professional occupations in art and culture

Sub-major group

511 – Professional occupations in art and culture

Minor group

5112 – Creative and performing artists

Unit group

51121 – Conductors, composers and arrangers

Occupational profile

51121.02 – Composers

O*NET in-it

This page includes information from the O*NET 27.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Employment and Social Development Canada has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.