Ed Sheeran says all you need to succeed in the music industry is hard work.

The 'Lego House' singer has advised his young musically-orientated fans to persevere and build up their confidence by performing regularly until they get their big break.

Ed said: ''If you want to be a singer make sure you go to a lot of shows of people you really admire, study how they do it, do your own shows, work up your confidence, write as many songs as possible - so each time you perform your song it gets better and better and you hone your craft by playing live and writing songs.''

The 21-year-old redhead slammed the practice of going to college or university to study music, and insists all wannabe musicians need is to start at the bottom and be willing to make tea.

Speaking on BBC Radio1 Newsbeat, Ed said: ''The main thing that people get messed up is they think, 'Right, I need a degree, I'm going to go off and study music at university.' I made this mistake, I went to a music college for a couple of weeks.

''The first lesson was: how do you put up a mic stand? You can learn that on your own! There's no point wasting money going to college at 16, coming out of it at 18 - or 22 if you go to university - with all that debt and you've got a degree - what does that count for?

''What you need is that hard experience. You need to go in at the bottom and start at 16 by the time you're 21, 22, you will be on your way to where you want to be I think if you're willing to stick in the work.''

''Don't be afraid to make tea and don't be afraid to live on nothing... the main thing that counts within the music industry is experience.''