Hey I don’t mean to put you off but you can literally be self managed, unsigned and have over 50 million streams but you won’t get many opportunities in the music industry because of your talent or your following. If you want to play festivals, if you want the press to write...

about you, if you want offers of big shows and support slots it won’t happen unless you have money behind you and contacts in the industry. Humble people with industry success tend to admit this (I know a few upper middle class kids who think it’s purely down to ‘graft’ )...

but in general the idea that the music industry is somehow a meritocracy is a complete fallacy. I think we survived so long because we understood this early on, but it did get frustrating towards the end of crywank when wealthy musicians I know whose dads are friends with...

BBC radio DJs get on the Glastonbury festival lineup with no music releases, and I still get ignored after self booking tours around the world for my band that has seven albums and an international following. It does grind you down. The industry is structured in a way to repel...

and also steal from poorer people. The best advice I can give a musician is just to make your goals creatively based and not industry based. If you want to do things like go on tour or release an album don’t wait for someone to give you the green light, just do it yourself.

Sorry if this is too negi but unless you’re wealthy or have the contacts, or your better at networking than you are at making music than they won’t happen. You have to do it yourself. It’s a weird thing as many musicians who did self-release don’t get the credit they deserved...

until many years after their releases which can be so draining whilst you’re creating and releasing. In general though these tend to be the releases people treasure the most.

If you want it as a career it’s just worth knowing it’s a career for the rich. I felt out of my depth.