[turnipmonster]

it really depends. if you want to be an actual working musician that can perform in lots of different situations (i.e. club dates, musicals, sideman gigs) then there's really no contest, the way to do that is go to school for it. for jazz and classical music there really aren't too many famous people these days that didn't go to music school.

that said, a lot of them didn't need to go to music school at all. brad mehldau, who's definitely the greatest jazz pianist of his generation, went to school where I went and apparently totally didn't need to be there as he was already incredible at 19.

for singer songwriter and rock type stuff I think it's the opposite, most good bands don't meet in music school, they just write songs and play a lot. being able to make a living as a singer songwriter is a combination of winning the lottery and being the hardest working person ever though, it's not like you can bank on a career. most people who are in rock bands and are trying to "make it" also work random day jobs for years and years and years before they get signed.

for people who know that music is what they want to do with their lives and they won't ever do anything else, music school is almost definitely the way to go.