Employment opportunities for musicians in sixteenth-century England were limited to performing and teaching, either in one of the large religious establishments – the cathedrals and the Chapel Royal – or as a court or household musician. There were also a few posts for musicians in towns and cities that maintained small groups of instrumentalists, or waits, for civic occasions. A performer might be required to compose or arrange music as well as to perform it, but this was viewed as part of his job, attracting at best a small ex gratia gift from his patron. Musicians sometimes also took on additional work, such as acting as a household steward or as a courier, engaging in intelligence work, or making, selling and repairing instruments. Although musicians mixed with the wealthy and well-educated, they were essentially servants and artisans and were paid accordingly.

In continental Europe composers attempted to improve their status and sometimes their income by publishing their works. By the middle of the sixteenth century the publication of printed music was well established in a number of cities, including Venice, Paris, Antwerp and Nuremberg, but not in London, even though it was an important centre for printing books. Several factors may have contributed to this: a lack of potential customers for printed music in England; the way in which music printing was controlled in London; and possibly a lack of entrepreneurial drive amongst potential music publishers.