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There are two words that musicians use to describe the social structure that they work in, or aspire to work in. The "music scene" and "music industry" refer to the professional and non-professional work done by musicians in cities across the globe. The roles within them are diverse, including instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, songwriters, producers, studios, managers, labels, and record companies. The "scene" and the "industry", are not synonymous however. There is cross-over of people and resources between the two, but they are distinct entities, and to misunderstand this distinction leads to much frustration and disillusionment.

The MUSIC SCENE operates at a local level, in a city, or regional area. It divided into two categories, the professional scene, and the non-professional scene. Both of these are divided further into smaller categories based on genre - folk scene, punk scene, metal scene, jazz scene, etc. The scene is built mainly around the act of live performance. These performances take place in small to medium venues, in pubs, bars, dedicated music venue, and for private functions such as weddings and corporate events. the scene does not have an address, rather it is the collective supply of and demand for music in a particular region, by a range of customers and musicians within that area.

PROFESSIONAL SCENE
The customers for professional performance will be venues, who hire performers to provide entertainment at their venue, or individuals and businesses, who hire performers for events (weddings, corporate events). Pay for these events will vary, especially when the customers are smaller venues, however certain rates tend to become standard for the region. In Boston and New York, this type of work is referred to as general business, or "GB". This description neatly separates the "bread and butter" gigs, in which earning income is e primary goal, from performance work done for primarily artistic, cultural, and intrinsic reasons which may, or may not be remunerative. Performance repertoire will primarily be covers of popular material. Jazz, classical music, and pop music are all performed for GB gigs, and standard performance groups include jazz combos, string quartets, solo vocalist/instrumentalists, duos, and pop/funk/rock bands with vocalists.

NON-PROFESSIONAL SCENE
The non-professional music scene is populated both by musicians who pursue GB gigs, and a host of other musicians from all walks of life, who may engage with music as a hobby, performing occasionally without the direct intention to earn profit from each performance. All genres that are incompatible with the standard model of GB gigs Come from the non-professional scene, or the music industry. This includes almost all original music, and genres such as singer/songwriter, heavy metal, punk, EDM, and Rap/Hip-Hop. Performers in this scene build value by creating music that fulfills intrinsic artistic goals. They will perform and record this music utilizing the resources and personnel at their disposal, often with the intention of "breaking into" the music industry. Performers will stage their own performances locally and in other regions, and market these performances to potential customers, who are in this case fans of their music who will pay for concert tickets, recordings, and merchandise.

There is an uneasy relationship between the professional and non-professional sides of the music scene. Many musicians make it their goal to earn their entire living off performing, and feel compelled to pursue only the professional gigs. These ago performances, however, often lack the intrinsic artistic goals that non-professional gigs do, and this can lead to the job of performing becoming mundane and uninspiring. Also, frustration can occur when the performers operate in the professional and non-professional scenes, but have aspirations to operate in the music industry. There is no direct relationship between any local music scene to the national and international music industry, and solely performing in "scene" is no guarantee of industry recognition or success as the two are distinct entities.