A bit of advice for what it is worth.

Forget all those "success strategies" of "demo tape/CD to limo" you read in music mags right now. Unless you are studying music as a normal career path to work professionally (e.g. in an orchestra) or to do live or recording session work in a guaranteed waged environment there is no guarantee of work, and even taking this route, it is still very competitive. The smart people in the music industry are those who live on the aspirations of the aspiring artists. There is money to be made in feeding a dream, and they know it. Nothing exactly wrong with that in itself. They are not just the promoters, agents, or record company bosses. Occasionally these can even be band members using the skills and creativity of others for the ultimate furtherance of their own reputations. Don't be afraid to treat music like any other job and ask "whats the minimum wage and what bonuses can I expect then?" I turned down an offer to work with some very well known musicians just a few years ago because they couldn't give me a straight answer. If they can't answer it, it's probably not worth doing, or it is, but mainly for them and at your expense. Go on, set out your own terms conditions and agenda. If you are good enough at what you do, you are worth it and they will know it. This attitude has given me a few good experiences in the past few years! If there are any aspiring "starry eyed" "I am the next big thing" people reading this let me tell you, get qualified in a few "real job" things like I did, and get a "proper job". Pursue your dream by all means, but do the "rock star" thing in the evenings, at weekends or in your holidays and who knows, you just might get lucky, but don't count on it! To put it another way, "get a life", because that is the thing that goes on every day whilst working for your dream to come true, and there is more than a good chance that for most, that dream as you see it, may never happen.

Stepan