A question in the "Ask me something music related" forum inspired me to write this (I'm also installing Mandriva on my laptop, so I have some time to kill)
If you're considering going to school for or making a career out of music, you have many, many different choices and opportunities depending on your styles, tastes, skill, and educational background.
If you're considering going to school for music, there are several different things you must consider before you pick your school. The first big one is what kind of program or school you want to go to.
1) Music conservatory/professional academy:
If you go to a conservatory, you can get a BFA or "certificate" for your applied area (main instrument). In addition to your private lessons, you will take classes on music theory, aural skills, piano, instrumentation, music literature, and music history. If you want to make a career out of playing music (in an orchestra or as a solo performer), this may not be a bad choice. However, since several conservatories don't have traditional degree programs (and since you generally don't take many other classes), you may find it hard to use this educational experience to get you a job outside of music. The level of competition is extremely high, and unless you already have professional experience, a strong recommendation, or ties with a recruiter for the school (yes, the schools recruit), it's going to be very hard to get any kind of scholarship. Many people will go to a regular school, get their B.A., and then go to a conservatory for 1-2 years before continuing on to get their M.A/D.M.
If you're considering a conservatory, you need to seriously look at this school and find out what it's like before attending. Try to get a few lessons in with the teacher for your applied area. If you can't get along with them, or disagree strongly with their teaching style, don't go there, because you will spend more time with this person than anyone else in your life. The tuition will be outrageous, and studying with someone who has a bad professional reputation can ruin your chances of not only succeeding in the industry, but sometimes even getting accepted into grad school.
2) College of music (as part of a larger school).
This involves an actual degree program (B.A, B.F.A, or B.S) in the applied area of music (General study, Performance, Education, Composition, Theory, History, Recording/Production). In addition to taking your music courses to satisfy your music degree, you will also do the required coursework for your degree (so a B.S. in recording arts will also require a large amount of lab sciences [especially physics and acoustics]). For programs like Music Education, this is really the way to go. Tuition is generally much less, and the school will still go to great lengths to recruit and hire faculty members successful in the professional field. If you want to go on to grad school, this is a good stepping stone.
If you want to get a music education, this is my recommendation. Just like in a conservatory, the school will pride itself on its faculty, so you'll probably want to find out about the faculty and try to get a few lessons in before applying or attending. Like the conservatory, you will be taking a lot of courses dealing with musicianship, but they will generally be a bit easier and will be generalized towards all musicians, not just those in your applied area.
3) Liberal Arts college
Tuition will be very high (as most are private schools), and there aren't usually many people in your degree field. For large ensembles, most of the members will be ringers hired from other area universities or players in the community who aren't very active professionally. The only reason I'd recommend this route is if the school has a teacher with a very, very good reputation, and if you can get a good scholarship. As a rule, though, steer clear of this one.
-------------Career Choices---------------
One of the hardest things to do after getting a music education is finding a job. Once again, the big question is what you want to DO in music.
If you're interested in business, one of the best recommendations I can give is trying to get an internship with NAMM. This will put you in contact with artist management companies, recording studios, record labels, music lawyers, and many other musical professionals.
If you have an interest in academics and don't want to be a professional performer, consider music education.
If you have an interest in academics but DO want to stay active as a professional performer, get your M.A/D.M and try to get a job at a university. Many universities will either encourage or require active participation in the professional community. As a side note, you can actually make a living and go to school for free if you can get either a fellowship or a position as a Graduate Assistant while going to grad school. Most schools will do this for the fields of music theory, history, and pedagogy.
If you want to just make a living playing professionally, a good start can actually be in the US Military. Performers in military ensembles are recruited and hired as non-combative, so you won't be forced to put your trombone aside to grab a machine gun. They pay very well and, if you already have a degree, you can start out commissioned as an officer. If you have experience writing or arranging music, you can get it played, and it gives you the chance to lead ensembles. Also, if you stay in for 20 years, you can retire with a military pension and pursue other career opportunities. Many, many professional orchestral performers (and many jazz musicians) have gone this route with fairly good success. Of course, you do still have to go through basic training, and since you're active military, you do have to go through P.T. every morning.
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This is not by any means a complete list, or all available options. I just wanted to post thoughts on things I have either learned a good deal about or have experience with. If you have any specific questions about music education or industry jobs (on the classical side), I'd be more than happy to answer. If you have questions about the "popular" side, ask Jammie. I'm sure her experiences are very different from my own, and I know our educational paths and goals are pretty different (considering I'm going to be applying for assistantships right away)
