dreaming about working in the music/drumming industry

i'm 32 years old and i have a decent job in IT and a young family to support. i started drumming as a new hobby almost 9 years ago and i was immediately hooked. i'm not the best drummer in the world by a long shot, but ever since picking up the sticks i've been very passionate about drums. in reality, i'm probably stuck in my job which pays for my mortgage etc, but hypothetically speaking, are there any opportunities out there for someone of my age to get more involved in the industry?

p.s.
i already play in an amateur band

Not impossible, but very tough.

You have to realize there are thousands of drummers in the same situation who would love to have a drum/music related job.

I've been in and out of that side for 20+ years, I have a million connections, and yet have never landed a decent paying position directly in the drum business.

Two factors:
1) Most drum companies actually have a much smaller staff than you'd expect. And when the recession hit, most of them found a way to get by with even smaller staffs.

2) There is very little turn over. I met guys when I was 17 who still have the same job 25 years later. Most people who land a drum related day job just never give them up.

The only area with high turn over is working the drum counter at a retail store. But those positions pay very little these days. Certainly nothing on par with a decent IT job.

Occasionally a drum related company might have an opening at a customer service desk or general warehouse position, but again, you're looking at a pay cut from an IT position.

In terms of working with a company, location may be an issue.

You could be a sales rep, but you'd need a background in sales and the MI industry, and often they're independent and not actually employees of the companies they represent.

If you seek to work for a company, their location is going to be key. Do you live near or are you willing to relocate to where a company is based?

Bermuda

I always think there is a way to make things work if it's something you truly want. Have you thought about trying to help out part time with a local small drum company?

If you're in IT maybe you could help a local drum company with their website or something. Maybe in return you could go to all the trade shows and things like that?

I realise you may not be a website specialist but you may know more than other people and at least that way you would be involved with a company and maybe meeting people from other companies.

I have no advice except encouragement.
Whatever you do never lose the dream. You may have to modify or compromise it, lower your sights but there's a way. I think there are some good ideas above, helping in the drumming industry. In the music industry...that may be another matter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnFUDVpFwFQ

Remove the word industry. The industry is the by-product of the music, the music came first, the industry is the method of exploiting the music in order to make money. Love making and playing music first, if you have something that people desire, then the money may follow.

"art is quite useless" - Oscar Wilde

We should stop seeing art as a way of creating wealth and see it for what it is, a way of enriching our lives, a way of making us feel something. If money comes from that then brilliant, but money shouldn't be the starting point.

So in answer to your question; making money from music may only ever be a dream, but being part of making music is there for the taking.