Music mogul Colin Lester visits Solent

Honorary Doctor of Music and Chairman of JEM Music Group, Colin Lester, visited Solent last week to give an intimate guest lecture to music students.

With a wealth of experience managing huge names in UK and international music, Colin gave his advice on making it into the music industry, encouraging students to “be a maverick, start your own businesses and do things differently”, as well as approaching independent record labels to get your music out there. He also predicted the death of albums in five years’ time, with YouTube being the only game in town for music.

During the lecture, Colin surprised the students by making a call to Brit and Grammy nominated singer (and Honorary Doctor of Music) Craig David – giving them the chance to ask questions about the music industry directly to a hugely successful artist. This included questions such as social media’s impact on his career, and where he would like to play most - to which Craig responded the Guildhall and the Mayflower, both of which he walked past on his way to school, which felt like a dream come true for him.

Paul Rutter, Head of Music at Solent University, says of the visit: “It was fantastic for Colin to visit the students and to give them such an honest account of the music industry. Our students were thrilled to also have the opportunity to speak to Craig David, and felt so inspired after the visit.”