Music is the shared language that connects us. It crosses boundaries, bridges divides and helps us understand one another. In a time when it feels too many of us have lost the ability to understand one another, music matters more than ever.
It is woven into the fabric of our national life. In the UK, a live gig or concert takes place every 137 seconds. It accompanies our celebrations and our sorrows, marks our milestones and brings people together.
We are rightly proud that the UK is one of the world’s three largest exporters of music producing artists who light up the world. Music is not simply one of our greatest success stories; it matters deeply to who we are as a nation. That is why, today, we are publishing “Turn It Up: Our plan for music”:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/turn-it-up-our-plan-for-musicBut music’s value cannot be measured only by chart success or export figures. It is a civic space—as important as any high street or town hall—where communities come together, where young people discover confidence and creativity, and where new ideas flourish. When someone is excluded from a life animated by music, we all lose. Our culture is poorer, our communities are weaker, and we miss the talent that might otherwise have enriched so many lives.
That is why this plan is rooted in one simple principle: music belongs to everyone. It is broad and inclusive. It should never be the preserve of those whose parents can afford lessons or instruments. Every child deserves the chance to experience the richer, larger life that music can bring.
Nowhere is that more important than for children in care. We are their corporate parents and we should be as ambitious for them as every parent is for their child. Like sport, art, dance and drama, music can be the lifeline that sustains them at the most difficult moments of their lives. We owe it to them to ensure those opportunities are not the exception but the expectation.
We celebrate the artists who represent Britain on the world stage: Ed Sheeran, Adele, Harry Styles, Stormzy, Dua Lipa and so many others. But great artists do not emerge by accident. No man—or woman—is an island. The success of every great artist rests on the support of someone who believed in them—a teacher, a parent, another artist or a friend—great venues, communities who back them, audiences who care.
Every headline act started somewhere, often in the grassroots music venues where they learned their craft. Yet those foundations have come under increasing pressure. In the last decade, creativity has too often been pushed out of classrooms and communities. The number of young people taking arts subjects at GCSE has fallen dramatically. Grassroots venues have struggled to survive, leaving too many towns and cities without the places where musicians develop their skills and audiences discover something new.