Edm and college

This is a completely backwards way of explaining "get famous."

Being "good" is a prerequisite to being famous, but "good" comes in many forms.

The Ramones are "good", Madonna is "good", Miley Cyrus is "good", Victor Wooten is "good."

The Ramones are basically a one trick pony and overall not very talented, but were talented enough to make the type of music they played to sound good and were cultural icons. People love the Ramones. They don't need to be good to play good music.

Madonna does not produce her own music. The rumors of how she started her career were that she slept with famous producers who in turn would produce her albums. Whether or not that's true, she does work with many producers, as does Lady Gaga and Katy perry, so in that sense, much of their talent comes from the people they work with and the music industry they are a part of as much as their own personal talent. In order to be like them, you have to be very good with people, understand business deals, be willing to do things that you don't like for the sake of sales and fame, etc.

Miley Cyrus (and Lady Gaga, I'd add,) are actually very high caliber musicians, whatever you think of their actual music. Gaga is a good pianist, and both singers can hit notes that most people can't, very clearly at that. Both of these singers, performers represent (or attempt to represent,) sections of american culture, in addition to working with producers and having great stage presence.

Victor Wooten is arguably a better musician than anyone else listed, but he probably makes less money, because his music is much less commercial. Ironically, he's too technical for most audiences to listen to. But, he is really amazing.

I don't think any of these examples should steer your decisions. You shouldn't make any decisions in regards to success.

If you want to be successful, you will most likely use a pre-determined path that fits someone elses definition of success. The easiest way to do that is to just become a doctor or a lawyer. Boooooo....

You definitely can't learn as much on your own as you can with help. That help doesn't need to be a $40,000 education but you may want to find a group of people or like minded musicians, or something.

The upsides of being in a music college is that your education is almost unparalleled. Seriously. Kids that get out of music college spend all day making music with peers who are equally as talented, and are taught by teachers who are world class. You are almost guaranteed to get better.

The downside? You are in no way guaranteed fame or success. The Ramones are a great example of how talent does not translate into success. The market for talented musicians is really, really saturated. You will likely be competing for peanuts against some of the best talent in the world. Music school is really expensive. Bachelors degrees that aren't in a specific technical or social/business related field are also not worth much these days. The education definitely is, but it doesn't translate into a high-paying job the way it used to. Music schools are notoriously expensive, and you are guaranteed to graduate with both an incredible education, and a degree that most people won't really respect. "Oh you have a music degree? This is an H.R. job, we're not really seeing any experience you have that might fit." They may ignore the fact that your music degree required a much higher degree of discipline than the other candidates they're looking at.

There are a lot of great comments in this thread.

I would add, no matter what school or major you decide to do, you should do yourself the favor of visiting that school, interviewing students who are going or have graduated, and the faculty there. They will very clearly clear up any misconceptions you have and answer any questions you have.

TL;DR: There is no clear path to success in music. It is just as competitive as any major sports league, and on top of that, talent does not equal success. No matter what you do, do yourself the favor of talking to people who are actually doing it. Make decisions for your own personal growth, not for an ephemeral definition of success.

/r/edmproduction Thread Parent