Ed Sheeran writes urgent open letter to Keir Starmer for music education funding

Ed Sheeran has written an open letter to Sir Keir Starmer and the government calling for immediate, long-term funding of music education in the UK.

He and more than 600 other artists and industry leaders, including Harry Styles, Elton John, Stormzy, Robert Plant and Eric Clapton, are appealing for a £250m UK music education package this spring to repair “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 said.

The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, 34, is one of Britain’s most successful music exports. In 2017, his album Divide became the biggest-selling of the year worldwide, and was credited with helping to propel a record seven per cent growth in export revenues of British music.

That same year, Sheeran appeared alongside fellow artists such as Styles and Sam Smith in the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) global top 10, while Dua Lipa beat titans including Beyonce and Taylor Swift to become Spotify’s most-streamed female artist.

Seven years later, the landscape has changed drastically; last year was the first in over 20 years without a UK global top 10 single or album in 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 recent report, told Sir Keir 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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Sheeran cited recent speeches from Brit Award-winning artists Ezra Collective and Myles Smith, who both called for better music funding at the 2025 ceremony this month.

“How many more venues need to close, how many music programmes 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 received the Rising Star award, said in his address at London’s O2 Arena.

Ezra Collective, who in 2023 became the first jazz act to win the Mercury Prize, said: “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 also referenced culture secretary Lisa Nandy’s 10-point plan for the music industry, which she announced in January while hailing his hometown of Ipswich.

Ms Nandy visited the area in Suffolk last year 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 said.

Sheeran has also called on education secretary Bridget Phillipson, foreign secretary David Lammy, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds and health 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 said.

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

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The letter lays out five key areas for improvement for music in the UK: music funding in schools, training for music teachers, funding for grassroots venues/spaces, music apprenticeships, and a diverse music curriculum.

Sheeran is also backed by rappers Dave and Central Cee, pop band Coldplay and Annie Lennox.

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

The letter comes after the launch in January of the Ed Sheeran Foundation, a nationwide initiative aimed at providing inclusive, high-quality music education.

The musician, who has 14 UK No 1 singles to his name and eight UK No 1 albums, has become known for his charity efforts in recent years, setting up the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation (ESSMF) and donating to his former school, Thomas Mills High School and Sixth Form, in Framlingham.