Ed Sheeran writes open letter urging UK government to invest in music education

Ed Sheeran has written an open letter to the UK government calling for immediate and long-term funding for music education.

The letter, who is co-signed by a number of big names including Elton John, Coldplay, Central Cee, Harry Styles, Dave, Stormzy and Robert Plant, urges Keir Starmer to commit £250million towards music education.

Having launched the Ed Sheeran Foundation in January, the initiative highlights five areas that the government can focus on to improve standards: music funding in schools, training for music teachers, funding for grassroots venues and spaces, music apprenticeships and a diverse music curriculum.

The letter contains signatures from hundreds of voices across the music industry, civil society and the education sector, and argues for a cross-departmental taskforce at government level, so that music education does not “fall through the cracks”.

“Dear Sir Keir Starmer, we are writing collectively as artists, civil society and industry, appealing to your personal belief in music and the promise of opportunity for all under Labour,” the letter begins.

It goes on to argue that the music industry brings £7.6billion into the UK economy each year, but says “the next generation is not there to take the reins” as many young people cannot afford to learn an instrument.

“Last year was the first in over 20 years without a UK global top 10 single or album in the charts,” the letter continues. “The time to act is now. State schools – which educate 93% of the country’s children – have seen a 21% decrease in music provision.”

“We collectively ask for a £250m UK music education package this Spring to repair decades of dismantling music. Music education is cross-departmental: Culture, Education, Foreign Office, Health & Social Care and Business & Trade.”

“We understand that there are many pressures,” it concludes. “As artists, civil society and industry, we want to be part of the solution.”

The letter is also backed by Annie Lennox, Eric Clapton, Fred Again.., Bring Me The Horizon’s Oliver Sykes, Richard Curtis, Sleaford Mods, Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody and others.

The intervention follows high-profile speeches at the BRIT Awards earlier this month. Myles Smith, while accepting the Rising Star Award, said: “I was a kid raised by a single mum on free school meals in a state school that only had instruments because of government-backed schemes. And I’m somehow here, a four time BRIT nominee, a graduate from a Russell Group university and having the biggest hit single of 2024.”

“But tonight, whilst I have the attention of the nation, and this award which gives me this really cool speaking power, I want to ask three questions. My first is to the government – if British music is one of the most powerful cultural exports we have, why have we treated it like an afterthought for so many years?”

“How many more venues need to close, how many music programs need to be cut before we realise that we can’t just celebrate success, we have to protect the foundations that make it,” he added.

At the same ceremony, Ezra Collective, who won Best British Band, spoke out on the subject too. “This moment right here is because of the great youth clubs, and the great teachers and the great schools that support young people playing music,” they said.

The Ed Sheeran Foundation aims to provide inclusive, high-quality music education for children across the UK, with a particular focus on areas where it is currently less accessible. It notes that a 2019 BPI survey found that one in four schools that serve disadvantaged communities currently offer no music lessons at all.

Last year, Sheeran criticised the Conservative government for supporting bankers over bands. “I’ve been doing probably for the last seven years stuff with music in high schools because in my area, so basically in 2017/ 2018, my old music teacher came to me and he was like, ‘look, the government that is currently in charge, do not value art at all, arts, drama, music.’ And they cut all the funding for comprehensive high schools,” he explained.

“So my music teacher came to me and was going, I think they had to share between art, music and drama, like £700 per year for all three subjects. So I started funding that at my local high school. And then you see a massive uptick in kids doing production, kids doing songwriting, kids doing this.”

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