Ed Sheeran has been backed by the UK’s leading artists like Harry Styles and Stormzy in a heartfelt appeal to the UK government for increased music education funding
Ed Sheeran is known for his musical penmanship but now he’s taking it to politics. The singer has written an open letter to Keir Starmer and the UK government in a bid to save music education in Britain.
The letter has been signed by over 600 other artists and industry leaders, including the likes of Harry Styles, Stormzy, Elton John and Central Cee, who are appealing for a £250 million music education package to repair “decades of dismantling music”.
The UK music industry raked in a record revenue of £1.49 billion last year, on the back of Covid-delayed tours by superstar artists such as Coldplay, Elton John – and Ed Sheeran himself. However, with the decline of grassroots venues, musicians are arguing that young talent needs government support.
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According to a report by the Music Venue Trust (MVT), a shocking four in 10 grassroots music venues are operating at a loss. In addition, there has been an 8.3% year-on-year decline in live music shows and a 13.5% reduction in ticket revenues across these music spaces.
“As an industry, we bring in £7.6bn into the UK economy, yet the next generation is not there to take the reins,” Sheeran said in his open letter to the Prime Minister. His reference to the music industry’s income is also a nod to his own impact on the economy as an artist. Indisputably, Ed Sheeran is one of the UK’s most successful musical exports. In 2017, his best-selling album Divide, which featured global hits like Shape of You, was credited with causing a 7% rise in music industry revenue.
That year also saw Dua Lipa rise to become the most-streamed female artist on Spotify – beating out pop titans such as Taylor Swift and Beyonce. However, the music scene has since seen a drastic downturn, with last year becoming first in over 20 years without a UK global top 10 single or album reaching the charts. Sheeran argued that this is partly down to children not getting enough opportunities to develop their skills in the classroom.
“Learning an instrument and getting up on stage – whether in school or a community club – is now a luxury not every child can afford,” Sheeran wrote. He continued: “The time to act is now. State schools – which educate 93 per cent of the country’s children – have seen a 21 per cent decrease in music provision.”
As part of his newly-launched Ed Sheeran Foundation, the singer is campaigning for five key areas of growth. He wants increased music funding in schools, training for music teachers, funding for grassroots venues, music apprenticeships and a diverse music curriculum.
Ed Sheeran’s appeal follows on from two speeches made at last month’s BRIT Awards by Myles Smith and Ezra Collective, in which they also urged the UK government to address the demise of grassroots venues and music funding.
The singer’s appeal was also made to the departments of Culture, Education, Foreign Office, Health and Social Care and Business and Trade. Ed Sheeran also cited the work of Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who has made a 10-point plan to help revive music education in schools.
