Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, More Call on U.K. Government to Fund Music

Amid teasing his next album, Ed Sheeran has called on the U.K. government to secure longterm funding for music education in an open letter backed by Harry Styles, Elton John, Central Cee, and more. 

The letter (which is available to read on Sheeran’s Instagram) was sent to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.K. government officials, asking them to commit £250 million (about $322 million) to “repair decades of dismantling music.” It notes that the music industry brings £7.6 billion into the U.K. economy each year, “yet the next generation is not there to take the reins.”

“I launched the Ed Sheeran Foundation because I believe in the importance of music and that music education should be accessible to all,” Sheeran said in a statement. “When I was at school, music gave me purpose, it helped with my mental health, it bought me and many others joy, and it gave me my career.”

Sheeran said that recent conversations with students and teachers led him to believe that “music education is suffering,” and kids with the talent and passion to pursue music “don’t have the support to realize their dreams of entering the music industry.”

The letter lays out five areas the Ed Sheeran Foundation, wants to address. That includes funding music programs in schools similar to the way sports programs are funded in the U.K.; training 1,000 music teachers to address a serious drop in recruitment (and the closure of university music departments); and establish a new task force of teachers and industry professionals to create “a diverse, industry-informed curriculum.” 

The Foundation also hopes to launch a U.K.-wide fund to support grassroots, youth-focused venues and music spaces. And it wants to improve “fair and industry-fit music apprenticeships” across the country, including “new festival apprenticeships and industry readiness support for youth at-risk.” 

Sheeran added in his statement: “This creative industry brings so much to our culture, our communities, our economy, our personal wellbeing, but music education has fallen through the gaps. That’s why I’m tasking government, collectively, to correct the mistakes of its past and to protect and grow this for generations to come.”

Other signatories of the letter include Coldplay, Stormzy, Dave, Yolanda Brown, Myles Smith, Annie Lennox, Paloma Faith, Sleaford Mods, members of Mumford & Sons, Fred. Again, Eric Clapton, James Bay, Richard Curtis, Robert Plant, and Maisie Peters.