Wizdom Layne: How Comes We Don’t Talk To Each Other?

Wizdom Layne, the new Deputy Director of Sound Connections, explores the tension between the music industry and the music education sector, and contemplates how we might take steps towards bridging this gap, in order to enable all young people to access as wide a range of opportunities and experiences as possible.

Wizdom Layne at the Brit Awards 2023.

As a former artist and youth worker, and now as a music industry specialist, I have always been aware of an uncomfortable divide between formal education organisations and institutions, and the music industry that they are meant to prepare young people to progress into. Regardless of whether you leave education after school, college or university, the transition into the creative industries seems a perilous one, especially if you don’t have a personal connection with someone already working within them to help you traverse that path. 

It is similar in informal education settings. Third sector organisations and charities – with limited resources – provide young talent with access to everything from video editing software to time in a recording studio, to radio experience and performance opportunities, all of which help young people to build the experience and networks that they need to progress. Yet these organisations generally lack the direct connection to the industries that facilitates progression.   

One of the few areas bucking this trend are gospel musicians from Black Majority churches, who, anecdotally, appear to account for about 60% of the top live touring musicians behind major pop acts – especially bass, drums, keys and backing vocalists ​ (Omideyi, 2023)​. Despite this, churches do not currently have the ability to provide qualifications for the musicians that they train, although this is something that the Gospel Music Industry Alliance (GMIA) is trying to rectify. 

From an industry point of view, if we’re honest – we don’t really trust education.

Most of us had such a difficult time with formal education, and have taken non-linear paths into the industry, that encountering someone with a degree in Events Management who has never actually put on a real-world event with their own money, seldom sits well. Similarly, we have witnessed the power of private school networks – The Sutton Trust found that 38% of the wealthiest individuals in TV, film and music, and 44% of newspaper columnists attended private schools, with 60% of those in music, performing and visual arts being from more ‘privileged’ backgrounds. 

As a result, the music industry is circumventing education organisations and connecting with brands such as Wray & Nephew and Apple’s Made In LDN programmes to connect with young people directly. The Great Escape Festival puts on industry talks and lectures at their education conference but it’s on a Wednesday in term time, in Brighton, so not easy for the education world to connect with. Unfortunately, BBC Introducing Live has been greatly reduced in scale from the heady days of Tabacco Dock pre-pandemic, which to some extent had taken over from Global’s Big Music Project, something that I was involved in creating in 2014. 

Having been on all sides of this situation, I can’t help but think – can’t you all just talk to each other?

It seems as though relationships between education and industry are at best fractured, and at worst non-existent. But changes in governmental approach, and the industry’s need to replenish its workforce after Covid, amidst a boom in content creators, might just help. It is with this in mind that I have joined Sound Connections, whilst continuing to lead MOBO’s artist development programme, MOBO Unsung, drawing on my previous work running Tileyard’s community engagement programme through We Are Impact (formerly Tileyard Impact).  

The new National Plan for Music Education (The Power of Music to Change Lives) published in June 2022, for the first time encourages Music Hubs to actively engage with the music industry around pathways to employment. It states, ‘Music Hubs should invite local music employers and organisations to join their partnership, to help facilitate stronger connections between music education and progression into musical careers.’ 

At the same time, the development of the Media Broadcast & Production T Level – the vocational qualifications replacing BTEC – is underway, which I’m involved in writing as part of their industry panel. Where formal education concentrates primarily on exams that produce grades, the creative industries value experience, and the new T Level, with exams and 45 days of work experience, should accommodate both. However, there is a lack of consensus as to how this will be done effectively, and it is within this detail that the success of the qualification will be determined. I am heavily involved in trying to help find solutions that utilise the wealth of what is on offer within the music industry, such as on and offstage roles at music festivals across the UK.  

The way I see it, the creative industries must be responsible for opening the door, and education needs to support young people through this opportunity. However, it is clear from my interactions with the DfE and DCMS that there is still considerable work to be done on both sides in better understanding the needs of one another. To do that, we need to talk to each other and work together.  

There are a great number of examples that we can draw on for how this partnership could work: 

Nike and Spotify have recently launched the ‘Make Moves Fund’, inviting their followers to suggest UK-based community organisations that promote well-being for women through dance and movement. This seems like a really great idea and is an approach I have previously seen with Apple’s ‘Made in LDN’ career sessions with Spotlight Youth Centre, and Capital Xtra’s ‘Music Potential’ programme with UK Youth and Universal. There is also American Express Gold Unsigned who are working with BIMM institute and the NME Magazine which is another encouraging collaboration. 

In addition, the MOBO Unsung artist development programme has received amazing support from Marshall Music Group and TikTok/SoundOn, and PRS Foundation, funding from Help Musicians, and training opportunities from We Are Impact and Pathways to Music.  The key is that each partner complements what the others do.  

What next?

The T-Levels and the new Music Hubs will launch in September 2024, and I see this as a potential opportunity for both formal and informal education organisations to better connect with the music industry, and vice versa.  

If you’re working in the music industry: find out who your local music organisations are and connect with them. Find a way to contribute and partner with them whether through time, resources or lending your name (financially if possible), which will give kudos to their work in the eyes of their young people. This is so much more effective than duplicating projects that other people have been doing for years and working in silos.  

If you’re working in the music and education sphere: what partnerships are you lacking? What partnerships can you build on? Are you taking an asset-based approach and connecting with all your local organisations? How can youth workers, Churches and community charities help the young people you work with access more cultural and performance events and experiences? 

Together, let’s make sure that we involve everyone, in order to enable all young people to access as wide a range of opportunities and experiences as possible. Let’s engage local and grassroots organisations with Music Hubs, to help fill the gap with access to greater resources.  

So, if you need an introduction to either side, give us a shout, as we here to help establish those… sound connections. We are committed to bridging the gap between these two sides that ultimately want similar things – to see creative talent grow and succeed.  

Next year, one of Sound Connections’ ambitions is to host a regular night at Rich Mix, providing a platform to showcase talent from young people across all kinds of different organisations, supported by our Wired4Music young producers, to help to connect the developmental experience of performance and networking between talent pools, in the fantastic venue that we call home.  

Please feel welcome to drop us a line at Sound Connections if you would like to get involved or to find out how we might support you and your organisation – wizdom@sound-connections.org.uk.