Play the odds. Being in the right place at the right time when Mr 10% is looking for new talent isn't an exacting science. He used to look in candle adorned upstairs rooms of pubs, then function rooms of working men's clubs hired out for "roots" concerts.

If it's a career you are talking about, Mr 10% is necessary as talent gets you nowhere. It's telling people you have talent that counts.

Mind you, from a pure musical appreciation along the lines of exploring your talent and hoping people agree, YouTube is a great leveller. There are people, especially younger people who craft wonderful interpretations of traditional ballads who have never had to sit next to a crusty fairisle sweater with sandals and listen to conversations over the best pint I ever had. The music moves on and evolves as ever, the medium is a generational thing.

As far as the academic bits are concerned, I am fascinated with history and provenance of songs and happily bore my audiences with it. I also studied music theory in my youth and have found it useful but not as much as you would think.

My concern over academia is analysing abstract concepts. It sounds nice and stirs emotions or it doesn't. I have a healthy appreciation of classical music but there are a few pieces that leave me cold. Possibly through school, being forced to keep my finger on the correct line of the score whilst the teacher walked around checking us. Totally buggered Mozart's 40th in my head amongst others.