Youth Music,a leading UK charity dedicated to helping marginalised young people, has launched a landmark research report, seeking to support young creatives facing significant barriers to entering the industry; and is calling for the first-ever cross industry coalition to revolutionise young people’s access to music, in order to close the gap from learning to earning. 

As UK Music’s latest report reveals that the music industry’s contribution to the UK economy hit a record £7.6 billion in 2023, Youth Music’s Industry Connect report highlights the necessary routes to sustain this growth and safeguard the future of music workforce. 

The comprehensive study identifies the issues faced by young people entering the music industry and the significant gaps in the current provisions in music education. These include young people’s innovation and fresh thinking not being resourced under current models, the lack of a centralised strategy to bridge the gap between industry, education and government, and not enough mentoring opportunities for new entrants into the music industry. 

The report was conducted by independent researchers Kate McBain and Dan Tsu, of BIMM University and Lyrix Organix respectively, who consulted with 280 people from 200 organisations, and 50 young creatives across the UK to support the findings and recommendations of the report.

Based on its findings, the Industry Connect report provides four robust recommendations which will enable the education sector and music industry to collaborate to better safeguard and support its future workforce and ensure the health of the creative industries. These recommendations align with, and build on, the new government’s creative industry and skills development priorities:

Youth Music Industry Connect Recommendations:

1. Better joining up industry and education through a national music strategy

● The current strategies, government departments, and the industry itself operate in silos. This creates barriers to young creatives entering and progressing in work, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds. 

● Along with UK Music, Youth Music is joining the calls for National Music Strategy, which doesn’t ignore grassroots and non-formal educators, and which allows them to have a seat at the table.

2. Re-imagining and modernising curriculums and careers advice

● Many current programmes do not teach young people the skills needed to have a sustainable career in the modern music industries.

● 70% of the music industry workforce is self-employed, yet most college and university courses don’t prepare learners for this.

● Most courses focus on artist and performer roles, with fewer opportunities in areas of skills shortages such as digital and other offstage roles.  

3. Enhancing non-formal pathways programmes and increasing access to finance

● Much of the funding and policy work is focused on formal education and accredited work-based learning pathways, overlooking grassroots and non-formal programmes. 

● Young creatives who do not go to university should be able to access routes to finance akin to student loans. 

4. Establishing safer working cultures

● Bullying, harassment, exploitation and poor working conditions are too common across the music industries as the UK Parliament Misogyny in Music report showed earlier this year. Furthermore, young and marginalised people are disproportionately affected.  

● Youth Music is announcing a new partnership with Musician’s Union and Music Guardians to embed greater inclusion and safeguarding within ‘pathways’ programmes.  This is in addition to their existing safeguarding partnership with TiPP. 

The music and wider creative industries have undergone rapid technological advancement over the last decade, creating opportunities for creators, businesses and educators. However, provisions that are currently being offered are falling short and are not equipping young people with the skills needed to excel in the modern music industry. 

This is limiting access to a music career, and disproportionately impacting young people from marginalised groups, a sentiment that is depicted throughout the Industry Connect report. 

As a result, Youth Music is launching a national initiative in 2025, which will support 18-30 year olds from underrepresented communities and bolster the infrastructure for workforce development and music industry growth. 

Matt Griffiths, Youth Music CEO, says: “Whilst the UK music industry contributes an estimated £7 billion to the economy, there is a huge amount of work to be done to ensure we close the gap from learning to earning.

“This is not the time for the industry to rest on its laurels, rather, the government, the wider industry and education professionals must commit to revolutionising the learning opportunities on offer, to ensure that young people have access to the necessary support to succeed. 

“Our Industry Connect recommendations are vital to establish an inclusive music industry fit for the future. They set out a clear pathway for continued growth and to ensure it’s a place for young people from all backgrounds to make and monetise music, not just the privileged few, on and off stage.”

Youth Music is calling on the government, industry professionals and music educators to pledge their support and mobilise as a joint force to safeguard the future music workforce. Sign up to become a member of the Industry Connect Coalition community here: https://mailchi.mp/youthmusic.org.uk/industry-connect-signup-form