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Quote thom7:

I should make it clear that studio engineering is not my intended career path - I'm fully aware of the competition, level of knowledge and experience needed, the long nights and poor salary etc. that comes with being an engineer. With my background in classical music and love of electronic music, I see myself working more in sound design and composition areas; writing for TV, film, games and possibly sound design for moving image. Not that these are necessarily any easier to get in to, but these are just my areas of interest (aside from DJ'ing and producing my own music, but they aren't exactly 'careers'.

Then you need some more facts -

There are 35 universities that have over 90 music business degrees between them, producing well over 2,000 graduates every year.

A for V, sound design and music for film and video means you will have to attend the Tonmeister course. That means you need three A-class As (maths, physics and one other academic subject) and grade 7 in two instruments - and of course get through the interview.

Those doing music for film or sound design come from three directions -

1. Established musicians who have stumbled into it.
2. Composition grads from one of the top music schools.
3. Surrey Tonmeister.

What you are doing is a complete waste of time, as there is no need for that skill set. Firstly, there is hardly any music business there to be business-like about, anyway. But secondly and more importantly, what exactly is a music business graduate supposed to do? The accounts or finance? No, that's the job of an accountant. Statistics and market analysis? Hardly, that's the job for statisticians and economists. A&R has vanished, as have most other jobs in the industry or what is left of it.

All the clever and successful business people in this industry that I know, studied something completely different, or they have no qualification, or they did law. The only exception I can think of is a certain, well-known music agency in London, where the all-female management team all came from the Tonmeister course.

If you want a real shot at doing film music, it's going to have to be either composition at somewhere like the Guildhall School of Music, or the Tonmeister. There just are no more lucky breaks, brass rings, or wild cards. There's just too much competition. Music is a winner-takes-all game and society has no need for second- and third-rate music or musicians.

As you have ruled these possibilities out, you are going to have to either transfer to a course in something completely different that society needs - or graduate and spend the rest of your life drifting.

Sorry, but that's the way it is!

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