That's more or less what I read as well. Keep his audience in mind: Berklee music students. Talented, young, bright and ambitious - he's just telling them to sort themselves out and "find themselves" first. Promotion can come after quality content.
As an added corollary: be careful about promotion, because it may succeed. And if your content isn't fully baked, and if you haven't perfected your craft, then you'll be exposed to the world as such. There goes your first impression, and more than likely, there goes your one shot.
