The routes into music careers are only partially understood, with better evidence around labour market transitions into and for STEM graduates, than for creative subjects such as those that feed into the music industry. This is despite the substantial contribution by the creative sector to the UK economy and the social and cultural public goods the music sector generates. While educational policy has narrowed the curriculum away from music, the arts and other creative subjects, the creative sector consistently sees significant employment imbalances by economic background, gender and geography.This paper reports inter-related elements of a Nuffield funded study which explores: (i) young people’s chances and choices around creative subjects, at critical transition points in further and higher education, and (ii) into employment in the creative sector or elsewhere.Methodologically, insights from innovative arts-based participatory workshops are synthesised alongside results from quantitative analysis using the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England linked to administrative records on educational attainment. Across these elements, the paper focuses on the employment destinations of young people, as shaped by previously expressed intentions and choices around creative subject choices such as and related to music, the subsequent realisation of such intentions, and the intersection with a range of personal, social, economic, and geographical factors. The research engages with how individuals and institutions perceive transition points into employment, the nature of these transitions and the nature of the employment being sought and achieved, and the mechanisms supporting or hindering them. The quantitative analysis suggests that over the life course of individuals, intentions for creative subject study increase and then peak at critical educational transition points. This varies by an intersecting constellation of personal and situational factors, with gender being particularly important. The qualitative analysis sheds light on the reasons for the trends as identified by individuals and institutions and helps to address the existing knowledge gap around the intersection between early educational intentions to study music (and related creative subjects), later creative study opportunities, and the early adulthood employment destinations that emerge from these.Initial findings suggest that the most in-demand creative careers for graduates, which hold for music, include roles in digital sound design, gaming, and roles in music marketing, content creation, production and artist management. Music career preferences appear to be driven by strong personal interest, familial support, and a genuine desire to contribute to the varied career paths that value creativity and innovation.