Ed Sheeran writes pressing open letter to Keir Starmer for music training funding | EUROtoday

Ed Sheeran has written an open letter to prime minister Keir Starmer and the federal government calling for rapid, long-term funding of music training within the UK.

He and greater than 600 different artists and business leaders, together with Harry Styles, Elton John, Stormzy, Robert Plant and Eric Clapton, are interesting for a £250m UK music training package deal this spring to restore “decades of dismantling music”.

“As an industry, we bring in £7.6bn into the UK economy, yet the next generation is not there to take the reins,” Sheeran stated.

The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, 34, is one in all Britain’s most profitable music exports. In 2017, his album Divide turned the biggest-selling of the yr worldwide, and was credited with serving to to propel a document seven per cent progress in export revenues of British music.

That identical yr, Sheeran appeared alongside fellow artists similar to Styles and Sam Smith within the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) international high 10, whereas Dua Lipa beat titans together with Beyonce and Taylor Swift to change into Spotify’s most-streamed feminine artist.

Seven years later, the panorama has modified drastically; final yr was the primary in over 20 years and not using a UK international high 10 single or album within the charts.

“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,” Sheeran, citing the current report, informed Starmer in his letter.

“Learning an instrument and getting up on stage – whether in school or a community club – is now a luxury not every child can afford.”

He added: “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.”

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He cited current speeches from Brit Award-winning artists Ezra Collective and Myles Smith, who each referred to as for higher music funding on the 2025 ceremony this month.

“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?” Smith, who acquired the Rising Star award, stated in his tackle at London’s O2 Arena.

Ezra Collective, who in 2023 turned the primary jazz act to win the Mercury Prize, stated: “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.”

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Sheeran additionally referenced tradition secretary Lisa Nandy’s 10-point plan for the music business, which she introduced in January whereas hailing his hometown of Ipswich.

She visited the realm in Suffolk final yr with Sheeran, later describing “an entire ecosystem through from equipping young people with those skills and that love of music at school, all the way through to being able to perform at smaller live music venues, larger live music venues and get the skills that they need to work in the music industry”.

“That is a model that we would like to replicate around the country,” she stated.

Sheeran has additionally referred to as on training secretary Bridget Phillipson, international secretary David Lammy, enterprise secretary Jonathan Reynolds and well being secretary Wes Streeting to “stand up for music education”.

“Artists and industry can’t deliver on the world stage for the UK without schools, youth clubs and stages at home,” he stated.

“Music in and out of school should be for all, not a few.”

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The letter lays out 5 key areas for enchancment for music within the UK: music funding in faculties, coaching for music academics, funding for grassroots venues/areas, music apprenticeships, and a various music curriculum.

Sheeran is backed by fellow stars together with Harry Styles, Elton John, rappers Stormzy, Dave and Central Cee, pop band Coldplay and Annie Lennox.

Other co-signers embody director Richard Curtis, Sony Music UK chairman and CEO Jason Iley, presenter Dermot O’Leary, and producer Fred Again.

The letter comes after the musician launched the Ed Sheeran Foundation in January, a nationwide initiative geared toward offering inclusive, high-quality music training.

The musician, who has 14 UK No 1 singles to his title and eight UK No 1 albums, has change into recognized for his charity efforts in recent times, organising the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation (ESSMF) and donating to his former faculty, Thomas Mills High School and Sixth Form, in Framlingham.