Trying to plan my future – what do you guys do/did? Advice please!

Hey pbolle
I wish I had been smart enough to ask questions like this when I was your age. Looking back this is my advice to someone in your situation. Remember, your first year or two of college is for dabbling, finding out what you like and are good at before you declare a major. I assume university in Canada is similar in this regards to the US. With that in mind, think of some areas of concentration that might compliment your musical ambitions. I can think of a few. I would definitely take a business course or two, as success in any field takes business knowledge these days. Also, any technical subjects such as computer science or engineering will go well with music production. I don’t know if you’ve studied any 2nd languages in HS, but in today’s world a 2nd language can open a lot of doors for you, and if you end up traveling a lot once you’ve “made it big”, it will come to be invaluable to you. There are some things you can do outside the classroom as well. Practice your soft-skills whenever you get a chance: i.e. learn how to relate naturally and comfortably with as many different types of people and organizations as you can. A lot of success is who you know, or can manage to get to know quickly. You will also be presented with a lot of opportunities to practice your music as well. See if they have a dj club, try to get a gig in the student lounge, you could dj for the schools athletic teams, and of course every college town has lots of clubs and bars you can play in. Best of luck!

Oh man you’re in for a treat! The first few years after high school are tumultuous and you learn a tonne- inside and outside of school. If you’re serious about trying to get into the music industry there are a few things that I could suggest. First off, Odd brings up a few good points. Treat your first year of undergrad as a way to test the waters. That being said, if your serious about music there are some courses that will help. Courses like Entrepreneurship (learn to work with what you have to create something that you’re good at), Computer Science, Graphic Design, Digital Marketing (these three will be important when you look to market yourself/your brand online), Copyright Law, IP Law (important to know how the industry profits/how to protect yourself, your property and your brand from pirates and infringers), Languages (polish your french canadian up), and Philosophy (not really music related but I think everyone should have a kick at thinking about what we think about).
When it comes to outside the classroom, Odd is spot on again. University represents a unique opportunity in your life to network and further your career. Get involved on campus. Offer your services to the people who are in charge of social events (usually the Social Director on the University Student Council). Try to present yourself and your skills in a way that doesn’t force yourself on people, yet lets them know that you’re professional about your performance. Collaborate!!! You’re going to be in close proximity with some skilled like minded people and jamming ideas with them is only going to make you better. It’s a lot of give and take but it’s all about learning and evolving. And, when you get gigs, make sure to follow those gigs up with promotion, listener interactivity, and brand recognition. If people hear about your playing, witness you destroy people’s minds with your sound, get to chat with you afterwards and find you’re quite chill and down to earth, and can connect your name/logo/brand with an upcoming even that they saw on a flyer/FB event/blog/etc with all those good feelings that they experienced when they last saw you, oh dud you’ll KILL IT!!! 😀 😀
Remember though. Never stop learning. Seriously there’s so much in this wild world to understand that you always have to approach life willing to figure out what it’s giving you. Never think you’re done learning. You’ll kill it!
(ps watch out for ladies requesting songs. They may try to take advantage of you :P)

Frankly, I say you should study business or multimedia. Don’t go into a music-centric major.

Here’s why…most of what you really learn happens on the job. You could study business, marketing, management, and still keep up with the industry, learn how it works, and end up working for a label down the road just as easily as you would an ad agency. You could end up getting into nightclub management and promotion. It’s pretty versatile.

The multimedia end is another path. Learn design and interactive media. That way you can make flyers, album art, websites, etc. So if music fails you can at least do other work.

My feeling if you really want a music life is to push for it outside of school. Get into producing, learn how to do it right and make great stuff. Push it online and build a fan base. Believe me, it’ll be easier for a high schooler into college to grow because you’ll have more time than someone who has to pay the bills and possibly take care of a family.

You might graduate college with top tracks on Beatport and labels wanting you to make stuff for them, or you could be nowhere and at least have skills you can use to get a normal job. It’s a win-win.

To this day I’m thankful my father pushed me not to get into the music biz…because pretty much all the colleagues I had who did that are broke and struggling while working McJobs or going back to trade schools to get job skills. I might not always have the time to do the music thing, but I at least can set my own rules as to how I want to do it.