UK Music’s annual report champions music education in recovery plan
Hattie Fisk
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
The report calls on the government to increase funding for music education and to reverse higher education funding cuts to rebuild the British music industry.
UK Music’s annually published report has outlined the negative impact of the pandemic on the music sector, and highlighted the vital role of music education in rebuilding it as part of a ‘Music Industry Strategic Recovery Plan’.
Focusing on the need for a government-led post-pandemic recovery plan for the music industry, UK Music highlights music education as an important element in ‘securing the talent pipeline’.
The report states that the creation of opportunities through music education equates to ‘investment in the next generation of British music success stories’.
According to the new report, ‘This is Music 2021’, over a third of UK music industry workers lost their jobs in 2020.
Image: Music UK's This is Music 2021 report
Jamie Njoki-Goodwin, chief executive at UK Music, said: ‘It’s more important than ever that we take the necessary steps to protect, strengthen and grow the industry.’
The 27-page document touches upon the ‘hot topics’ in music education from the past year, including higher education arts funding cuts and the decline in A Level Music uptake.
The number of students studying A Level Music has fallen dramatically over the past decade, with over 10,000 A Level Music entrants in 2006 and fewer than 6,000 by 2020. It is suggested in the report that the decline may have been accelerated further by the lack of practical music lessons throughout the pandemic.
UK Music has called on the government to commit to increasing funding for music education by implementing funding schemes, citing those proposed by the Welsh and Scottish governments as examples. A reversal of higher education funding cuts and progression on promised initiatives such as the Arts Premium are also demanded.
The new statistics come from an in-depth poll of the UK public commissioned by UK Music; the research in the report was conducted by public policy consultants Public First.
The survey found that over half of parents (54 per cent) stated that the quality of music education was an important factor in deciding where to send their child to school, and 44 per cent of adults wish that they had spent more time on music at school. When asked specifically, music was a higher priority for more time and resources than foreign languages, PE, media studies or art (see image).
Read the full report here.
