The end of UK music as we know it?

“We are sleepwalking into a situation where, by the next generation, there may not be sufficient musicians to sustain a viable musical culture.”

Julian Leeks, founder of music education organisation Sound World is not usually a fan of melodrama but says the situation really is that stark: it could be the end of UK music as we know it.

“The numbers, going back several decades, point in just one direction,” he says, considering the wider implications including the future of the grassroots and alternative scenes.

“Will we have sufficient good young musicians to play in those venues? It’s far bigger than the concerns of any one genre. If it’s left with the current direction of travel it’s going to affect everything.”

Sound World has been conducting research over the past year and recently launched a podcast, A Land Without Music?, to explore the issue with neuroscientists, educators, policy makers, high level musicians and composers.

Sound World runs educational events in schools, commissions new music, organises concerts, and is planning a residency at The Mount Without that will continue to build their community of ‘adventurous listeners’ – photo: Sound World

Leeks started out playing in bands before going on to study composition to PhD level, becoming a music teacher and composer as well as commissioning music and organising events to build the Sound World community of ‘adventurous listeners’.

He is concerned music education is becoming a luxury for the privileged few, recalling a time when it was freely available and live music was embedded in the cultural life of schools.

“Music might be viewed as a healthy industry today because of the amount of money it brings into the country – but looking at what’s happening now and imagining it’s a predictor of the future is getting it the wrong way round,” he says.

“The musical culture we have now reflects the educational environment we had 20 years ago. The environment today is a very different picture: it’s massively reduced provision, greatly reduced participation and instrument learning, far fewer teachers available.”

The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) report an 11 per cent decline in the number of young people taking music lessons between 2014 and 2020, while the uptake for GCSE music has fallen by 27 per cent between 2010 and 2022.

A Level uptake has declined by 45 per cent over the same period, with Birmingham City University revealing that under current trends the qualification will disappear from state schools in under ten years.

“It’s the value of music that needs to be appreciated, and what it can do for a broader school environment, the attainment of pupils. It changes the environment of a school with benefits right across the curriculum,” says Leeks.

Percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie is the patron of Sound World and appears on the podcast to discuss the possibilities of a land without music – photo: Phillipp Rathmer

He is wary of talking about music’s utilitarian benefits – where its value is often intrinsic, inspiring, emotional and intangible – “except for the fact that those utilitarian benefits are enormous.”

Music has been shown to fundamentally effect the way the connections in the brain develop, enhancing cognitive ability, literacy, critical thinking and mental health, as well as improving confidence and self-esteem, creativity and teamwork.

Podcast guest Daisy Fancourt, a psychobiology and epidemiology professor, has found positive impacts on stress hormones and inflammatory markers, and improved immune responses and cellular level changes in HIV patients, from listening to music.

Her research shows drumming is a useful intervention for depression; and singing is more effective for post-natal depression than conventional treatments.

Saxophonist and broadcaster Jess Gillam is one of a variety of guests exploring the musical landscape with Julian Leeks in his new podcast – photo: Sound World

As well as research, A Land Without Music? covers a wide range of topics including how guests – Sound World patron Dame Evelyn Glennie, saxophonist Jess Gillam, composers Nico Muhly and Sally Beamish, neuroscientist Dr Iain McGilchrist, Bristol Grammar head of music Guy Guerrini and more – discovered music, AI and technology, and new ways of inspiring children through music teaching.

It’s hoped it will eventually encourage some useful crowdsourcing of ways to bolster the future of music.

For Leeks, the situation is urgent and this is his call to arms: “I’m interested in how musicians perceive this,” he says. “We tend to be surrounded by music so probably end up with a skewed view of the health of music which doesn’t reflect the broader reality. Maybe that leads to a degree of complacency.

“Musicians might feel that being a musician is enough of a contribution, and understandably they don’t want to become activists or campaigners – but part of me thinks now that maybe that’s not enough.

“Someone has to stand up for music and if musicians aren’t going to do it, why would anyone else?”

Listen to A Land Without Music? at open.spotify.com/show/2KSOgmU9psIMXGlhtwYCAP?si=sNuerCQaTKC-z_NV06rYnw

Main image: Sound World

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