In this episode, I talk with Claire McColl and Pili Lopez from Dorset Music Service, and Tenley Martin from Leeds Beckett University, about their music and wellbeing training for primary school Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs). It’s a great example of a music service thinking creatively about how to increase access to music, and raise awareness of its value.

In this episode, I talk with Graeme Smith, a research consultant and former head of music and arts at Croydon Council, former chair of Music Mark, and member of Arts Council England's hubs advisory group. We discuss his research to test what works to improve pupils’ emotional wellbeing through the arts in primary schools; the impact and progression framework that he’s developed; and it’s other application, in work to address serious youth violence.

In this podcast I’m talking with Kate McBain and Dan Tsu, researchers and authors of Industry Connect, a report commissioned by Youth Music. It explores the realities of moving from education into careers in music, particularly for young people from underrepresented backgrounds. We unpack the barriers mapped in the report and the solutions emerging from the work, including reframing how we talk about ‘the music industry’ ‘pathways’ and ‘pipelines’.