A new survey by Youth Music has found that the proportion of young people who think of themselves as musical now sits at 55%, a drop of 9% since 2018.
The charity's latest Sound of the Next Generation report also found parental confidence in school music education is very low, with just 11% of parents of under-5s believing their children will get enough of a musical education in school. This tallies with the report’s findings that access to music – particularly in schools – has decreased, and comes in the wake of The State of the Arts report which found arts education is facing a ‘critical challenges’.
However, the headlines of Youth Music's report – which surveyed 2,100 children and young people to delve into their attitudes towards, participation in and consumption of music – are not all negative. Music tops the list of activities that Gen Z and Gen Alpha do in their spare time, making it even more important to them than sport, social media and other social, cultural and creative activities. 83% of young people had listened to music in the past week when they were surveyed in March 2024, while 71% said music is a big part of who they are.
Young people’s relationship with music has changed since the last time the music charity ran this survey, which was published in 2019 before the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis. ‘Listening to music is becoming more bite-sized and fleeting’, the report reads. ‘Music is evoking fewer emotions and becoming a more isolated activity.’
Under a quarter of children and young people now play an instrument, and the ways in which they are learning has also changed. Individual lessons have declined, with only 19% of children learning in that way, compared with 33% in 2018. Group lessons in schools are now more common, as is being taught by friends and family, but actually playing instruments in groups has declined from 48% to 39%.
Access and cost were found to be the biggest barriers to making music for 6- to 17-year-olds, while time and ability came out top for 18- to 25-year-olds. Across the UK, access and attitudes vary. One notable finding is that in Wales, often described as the ‘land of song’, the majority of young people don’t feel musical (only 46%, compared to 57% in England, 58% in Scotland and 68% in Northern Ireland). Wales is currently facing multiple funding challenges in its arts industry, including the recent closure of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama’s junior department.
‘As the opportunity to access music both in and out of school is squeezed, we urgently need investment in our national music infrastructure that includes grassroots provision, an inclusive curriculum and a focus on work-based skills to ensure that the next generation can thrive and grow’, said Youth Music co-chair Charlotte Edgeworth. Her fellow co-chair, Guvna B, added: ‘This report shows that life is tough for young people, but music is a powerful tool. In a world where listening to music tops the list of activities that young people today turn to, it is vital that it’s available to everyone – not just the listening part, but making it and learning about it too.’
This article was published in collaboration with Classical Music, a fellow MA Education & Music title. You can view the article on the CM website here.
