His odds of "making it" in the music field/indstry are slim to none unless he is incredibly talented, I mean uber, Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton great and has the "right connections".
If you want to see what it really takes to even begin to have a shot, sit down with him and watch the move "Whiplash". That's what it takes, nothing less and even then there is no guarantee that he will even be given a chance because you have to have the right "connections/conacts" otherwise he is wasting his time. Not trying to burst his bubble, just pointing out reality.
What is the definition of a software engineer?