If you are going to university and want to expand your musical career further, or even just start a new hobby through developing your musical skills, university can be the best place to achieve this.
However, it can be daunting to try to get your music out there, or to know how to do this as effectively as possible.
Speaking to Patrick Brooks, a 22-year-old musician at Cardiff University, he explained how to further your musical goals while studying. Below are his best tips and tricks to push your music forward.
Patrick stated that music was ‘something that I always knew I wanted to keep going and progressing with’. This highlights how many musicians who decide to put themselves out there have an undeniable passion and goal. It demonstrates how many will strive to become the best they possibly can be, by taking any opportunity that comes their way to showcase their skills.
Patrick further describes how being in the city environment can be an exciting prospect for a musician from a small town like himself. This is due to there being many more opportunities for people to hear his music.
How to get your music out there at uni
Patrick explained how Cardiff University has many great music societies to join, such as ‘live music’. After joining this in his first week of university, he is now part of the committee. This goes to show that putting yourself out there can be really beneficial to your musical career, as you can make lifelong friends with many similar interests as you, while also becoming an integral part of the society itself. This led to Patrick being able to play in Cardiff bars on a weekly basis.
For many students, balancing music with university life and academic studies can be hard. However, you are not alone in this feeling of spreading yourself too thin.
Patrick explains that, if you are dedicated to music, you will have to sacrifice somethings to put that part of your life first. This may include missing some time with your friends to make sure you get enough practise in, as well as balancing your academic life.
However, you soon settle into your routine and decide what you want to dedicate the most time to. You can always make an active effort with your friends to see them on a week where your schedule is less hectic.
Tips to promote your music
A question many young people face is how to get your music out there effectively. Patrick has adopted many different techniques to do this. Through sharing his thoughts in this article, I hope many other people will adopt these very helpful and useful tips.
Get your music out there by using different platforms such as Spotify, Apple, and Amazon Music. Patrick believes they are the most accessible ones and should not be overlooked.
Patrick is releasing a debut single named ‘Crossroads’ and an EP in late April, so I will link his social media below if you wish to explore his music.
He stated that, for students wanting to get their music out there, releasing a single can lead to a lot of promotional build-up that can get people excited to hear what you’ve been working on recently.
This includes social media posts, promo videos, photos, and links to the pre-saved singles and EP. Of course the use of regular social media such as Instagram should be utilised so people can be reminded of what is yet to come.
Be confident
The final advice that Patrick gave is just to be confident. As a musician you are going to face some ups and downs, yet keep trying. Messaging the places that you wish to perform at, and deciding to put your music out there for people to hear, will only increase your confidence.
Patrick very rightly states that ‘the worst thing people can say is no, and you can always bounce back the next chance you get’. This highlights that, in the musical world, knock-backs are inevitable, but don’t let this break you. There will always be that opportunity if you keep trying and putting yourself out there as much as possible.
Thank you to Patrick for all this helpful advice to musical students and people who wish to perform at university. Make sure to watch out for his new single being released in late April, with links below to his music and social media.
Patrick’s Instagram is here: patbrooks99
Also check out Patrick’s TikTok at patbrooks99
