Man sneakily switches to 'Mickey Mouse' uni degree and now earns £3,000 a day

01 November 2023 , 15:02

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Man sneakily switches to 'Mickey Mouse' uni degree and now earns £3,000 a day

When you're deciding what to do with your life it can be hard not to listen to outside noise. Do you go to university, do you do an apprenticeship, do you start a job? And what do you do if you make the wrong choice?

There are so many choices you're expected to make as a teenager and young adult - and you're not always going to get it right on the first try. But it's important to remember that you can make a change.

That's exactly what Gaddiel Nketia, a 23-year-old sessions keyboard player from Manchester did - and it certainly payed off. Gaddiel, who was self taught after watching hours of YouTube videos and grew up playing the piano at his father's church, switched his prestigious university course for a so-called "Mickey Mouse degree", named so because they are deemed 'worthless' and with 'limited opportunities' - and now he can earn £3,000 per day.

Gaddiel Nketia's parents didn't think it was a safe option (The Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies)

Gaddiel's parents Docia and Charles Nketia never considered music to be a "safe option", so in 2018 he decided to study computer science at Nottingham Trent University. After realising he wasn't enjoying it, Gaddiel secretly switched to a music production BA (hons) course at The Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies, and didn't tell his parents until a few weeks later.

Speaking to the Mirror, Gaddiel said: "In hindsight, it was a great decision to change my course. But I did it without telling anyone. I can be quite spontaneous, and I know if I'm not enjoying something, I won't give it 100%. A career in music wasn't seen by either me or my parents as a safe choice - but, I just knew I wanted to give it a shot, and it's been so rewarding.

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He grew up playing the piano (The Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies)

"So it was only when I went home after changing that I asked them if it would be OK to switch - but I already had. Changing my course during my first year of university from Computer Science to Music Performance was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made"

The musician thrived, and after three years he won the Student Of The Year award in his final year, and graduated with a first class honours degree in 2021. Despite his parents scepticism about music as a career, Gaddiel was in high demand, and earned around £30,000 in his first year as a self-employed composer.

Gaddiel Nketia followed his dream (The Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies)

He earned £30,000 in his first year out of university (The Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies)

Now Gaddiel composes music and plays keys for artists, TV companies and film - and even played during the Sugababes concert at Silverstone, and composed the music for the James Bond No Time To Die promo on Sky. He said: "It's crazy. I don't really think about it too much. The Sugababes gig was my favourite - it was at Silverstone after the F1, in front of thousands of people. But surprisingly I wasn't as nervous even though I thought I would be as there were massive crowds but I'd put in hours of preparation, and the experience I got playing previous gigs definitely helped."

Gaddiel has since moved to London, and can make up to £3,000 per day doing composition work for TV companies. He has even been been nominated for the Music Producer Award at the Youth Music Awards, and will be performing at the Ama Lou Tour at the Islington Assembly Hall.

However, he does warn that those who want to work in the music industry need to work hard to succeed. Speaking about why music is considered a 'Mickey Mouse degree', Gaddiel explained: "There is some truth to it but there's a flip side. If you really want to work in the music industry, you have to have tunnel vision. If you go into university with a ready-to-learn attitude, meet people and don't shy away, you can take away so much more.

"For the sake of my own career I'll go out of my way to talk to people and my confidence has grown. It's a matter of reaching out and proving yourself. Although I don't use my degree as much as someone who studied maths might do to get a job, as once you're in this industry, jobs will come through word of mouth. I'm still getting work through people who were introduced to me during the Confetti course."

Ariane Sohrabi-Shiraz