What skills do I need to succeed in the music industry?

Joshua Alamu: I’ve had to do the courses that look into the anatomy, you study the vocal anatomy. I’ve had to study singing in itself, I’ve had to study performance, I’ve had to study production, arranging, all those different things, in order to combine those skills to help a wider variety of singers. So I think “The more skills that you can accrue, the better.”

Catherine Anne Davies: As well as some technical skills, in terms of paying attention in Physics, to understanding how sound waves are constructed. Erm, and I think that’s why historically it’s often been seen as such a male-dominated side of the industry that that girls haven’t been thought of as being interested in Physics, but I just don’t think that’s true at all.

Alice Woods: Digital skills are so important because everything now is on social media, and that’s how we do the majority of our advertising, so, erm you know, Facebook ads, paid banners on websites, erm you know, even down to SEO and things like that, so “building those digital skills is really important as well.” Erm, and then it’s just really music and creativity.

Paul Epworth: You need to kind of know that it’s about teamwork, so you have to work well with other people. And you have to be sensitive to people so that you’re not shutting their ideas down and telling them, you know… Your ideas aren’t necessarily right, so you can help encourage other people to to put forward their ideas because ultimately the best ideas will always, will always win out, you know. Other skillsets, erm… stamina.

Trevor Nelson: You’ve got to be warm, friendly. You’ve got to be real. And if that’s not your personality, it’s not the job for you, seriously.

Hayley Smith: It’s such a fast-paced environment, so “organisation is key”. You just have to juggle so much.

Joshua Alamu: The passion for it I think is where it starts. The passion to serve other people, I think it starts with that.

Lauren Down: Rugged determinism. It’s a really hard job, you’ve gotta take… it takes all hours, all the day and you’ve gotta really really kind of want and love it. And and kind of, there’s a lot of problems that get thrown at you all the time, so you have to be prepared, you know, to work through those.

Ray Pope: Like, are you creative? Have you got a good work ethic? Can you get out of bed on time? You know, some of the basic things are actually still the most fundamental. Are you going to be reliable? “Do you love music? Are you obsessed with it?” That’s what I’m looking for. And also genuinely a lot of it is about personality. Can you work with other people? Cos it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.