Courtesy of Ethan Castro

Fresno State music composition major Ethan Castro is competing in a worldwide music contest with hopes of collaborating with musician Jason Derulo.

Each contestant made a remix of Jason Derulo’s song, “Don’t Wanna Go Home.”

Castro, a self-taught producer, entered the competition spontaneously and is now ranked 18th out of 520 contestants in an online competition titled Indabamusic.

“About a month ago I was just looking for something to do because I wasn’t that involved with school yet,” Castro said. “I had a couple hours of free time here and there and so I went online to a website that my friend told me about.”

The website, indabamusic.com, is a music creation website for those interested in pursuing a career in the music industry.

“I’d never heard of the website until the contest,” Castro said. “It’s a really cool website that allows independent artists and amateurs to get noticed by professionals or other established artists and allows collaboration.”

The competition has two stages and is currently in the final stage.

“I kind of just let it be until voting started,” Castro said. “I posted it on Facebook and all of my friends just started voting for me.”

Eventually, Castro received an e-mail notifying him that he was one of the top 50 contestants.

Castro was then instructed to upload his remix to the website, talenthouse.com, where other contestants have uploaded their versions of the song as well.

Voters have until Wednesday to vote for their favorite remix.

“Ethan has taken music to a whole new exciting level,” Castro’s friend Andrew Golden said.

Once the contest is over, Derulo will pick one of the top 50 finalists to collaborate a production with him in Los Angeles.

Even if Castro is not chosen to work with Derulo, he has already benefited from the competition.

“I can’t believe how much I’ve learned already just by listening to everyone else’s track,” Castro said.

Castro thinks this competition will benefit him in the future.

“I’ve always been open to feedback because what I’m trying to do with music is to entertain,” Castro said. “I’m looking to do it as a career, so if my audience doesn’t like what I do, then I’m not doing my job right.”

Once the semester is over and he has more free time, Castro plans to enter more music competitions.

Thomas Loewenheim, director of the university orchestra, has worked closely with Castro and has watched him grow as a musician. Loewenheim thinks that competitions like this one will only help Castro improve.

“This will give him exposure, experience and competition,” Loewenheim said. “It will toughen him up and teach him to go back and revise to make his work better.”

Castro has worked with youth orchestras and has a musical background that specializes in the classical period.

“I wish him the best of luck in his future,” Loewenheim said. “He is very enthusiastic and dedicated.”

Golden, a business management major, is supportive of Castro’s passion for music and thinks that he has the right skills to make it in the music industry.

“It’s amazing to hear him because he can take something good and make it better,” Golden said.­ “He’s an-up-and coming artist and he’s definitely going places.”