It means to confront a difficult situation. The origin is unknown. It may have been the pit orchestra in a theatre; a nervous actor who steeled himself to go on stage would be facing the music as well as the audience. It may have been the soldier being dismissed from his regiment in disgrace; it might have come out of the New England tradition of contra dancing, which was apparently most popular in New Hampshire, where all the first examples come from. The earliest record is from 1834.

Übersetzung:

die Suppe auslöffeln

Gegenteil(e)

The opposite of "to face the music" is "to escape responsibility".

Synonym(e):

You could also say: to confront unpleasantness as a consequence of one's errors.