Over the past decade, we have witnessed a rapid evolution in the music industry due to technological advancement in both live and recorded music, as well as increasing calls to tackle the root causes of inequality, prejudice and nepotism, which continue to mark the sector. This has created a gap between what is taught in educational settings and the necessary skills young people – particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds – need to succeed.
To understand better how we can support young people to bridge this gap, Youth Music created the Industry Connect Report (tinyurl.com/2fa78m4d), written by Kate McBain (BIMM University) and Dan Tsu (Lyrix Organix) in consultation with almost 200 organisations, including youth services, music charities, further and higher education, community groups, and ‘industry’ organisations.
Non-linear solutions
The report found an ambiguity surrounding the transition from education into paid work, due to the tendency to view music careers as a linear trajectory from education to employment, rather than appreciating all the contexts in which we learn, develop, work and earn, and seeing them as part of a much wider, interconnected whole.
The solutions are simple. At school level, discussions about careers in music should be oriented as much towards off- and backstage roles, and the wider creative sector, as it is towards artist and performer roles. We must also acknowledge that ‘informal’ learning is increasingly key to how young people engage with music, with many considering what they learn in the digital realm, on platforms such as TikTok, as impactful as formal education.
This points to the need for programmes and funding initiatives, such as those supported by Youth Music, which guide, inspire, and empower young people to chart their own path, without prescribing or limiting the possibilities for learning and experimenting.
The education sector can support by looking at post-16 compulsory education and how it sits within the wider music ecosystem, and whether it is truly serving the needs of both the industry and its future workforce. We're noticing that degrees are no longer presumed to be the only or best route to employment, and the extent to which a university education can be seen to prepare young people for employment is widely variable. Misunderstandings about what universities do (and don't do) prevents them from being actively included in the conversation around pathways into employment.
To make music education and pathways programmes more valuable to students, these should contain more practical and industry-relevant content. For example, skills for freelance careers, business development, finance, legal, teaching, mentoring, marketing and promotion, and self-care. We believe, and the report suggests, that facilitation and mentorship training should be built into music pathways programmes as standard, to increase mentorship opportunities and support more inclusive cultures.
While graduates can accrue almost £30,000 in debt for studying at higher education, there are fewer loans readily available to those who do not wish to study at university, who instead wish to start up on their own, or pursue some other form of training and development. Potentially the most direct route to employment is to become embedded in the workplace, via apprenticeships or development programmes, meaning that the young person can more confidently make the transition from aspiring practitioner to fully-fledged member of the creative workforce. But the volume of apprenticeships needs to increase, with greater incentives and flexibility for small and third-sector employers.
By approaching music careers education in a more expansive and dynamic way, we can move beyond limiting assumptions about how things are and open the possibilities of what could be, creating a more accessible and diverse music industry for all.
