OPINION: Why Access To Musical Education Will Transform Music In Australia

In case you missed it, this week is election week.

The good news is that, come Saturday, we can all grab a sausage sizzle and hopefully not see another political ad for the next three years—or until your next state election (sorry, Victoria). I’m sure we’re all very excited. But I thought I’d take this opportunity to make a serious point; my big ask for whoever wins government. It’s a pretty simple thing I want.

I want whoever wins to fund the living shit out of music education in this country. That’s it. That’s my ask.

If I were really brave, I’d argue for a huge increase to JobSeeker or whatever it is we’re calling the dole these days. If I were really brave, I’d ask for universal basic income, which studies keep showing works, and it would be the best bit of arts funding in this nation’s history.

When we talk about the golden age of Australian music, we often forget that the dole was around 80% of average weekly earnings in the mid ‘80s—and there were fewer hoops to jump through to get it.

Turns out it’s a lot easier to be a struggling artist when you can afford food and rent without having to work a nine-to-five. But I am a coward. So I’ll leave that aside. Because let’s face it, there’s not a brave politician on the ballot at this election either. 

Instead, I’m just asking us to fund music education because, above all else, access to musical education will transform music in this country. I’m not going to bother you with copious stats; this issue has been well covered elsewhere. 

But the long and short of it is that in Australia, music education belongs to the rich. It is the preserve of private school kids, and this has a massive impact on who is able to have a career in the ‘music industry’. But the effects are bigger than just that—and that alone is plenty.

Another, less understood impact of a lack of musical education is a lack of musical culture. This reduces the audience for live music and forces musicians to conform to narrow commercial tastes. It makes it harder for musicians to find fans to support their careers. And this lack of a musical culture shows itself in the oddest ways. One of the weirdest downstream effects of all of this has been the fact that audiences can’t clap.

There was a trend on TikTok recently where people were asked to clap to the ‘beat’ of a Hilary Duff song. Just search for “on beat trend” on TikTok. The number of people who couldn’t do it—and the subsequent arguments in the comments sections—was truly appalling. Then there’s live music.

I was at Yours and Owls festival in Wollongong not long ago, and it was great, except for the clapping — the clapping was shocking. At one point during Fontaines D.C.’s set, I think there were three different tempos going on in the audience. Surely it’s not that hard to clap on the 2-and-the-4?

And this isn’t just an Australian problem; studies in the UK and the US reveal similar issues. Decades of public sector cuts in Western nations have decimated arts sectors globally. And the clapping issue persists everywhere. You can watch videos online of Justin Bieber stopping a show to get the crowd to stop clapping on the 1 and 3, or of Harry Connick Jr. heroically adding a measure of 5 to a song to get the crowd back to the 2 and 4. 

This all may seem trivial, but it’s a sign there’s a problem. Music has been commodified, commercialised and taken away from the masses. It’s something we consume, not something we engage with as part of our everyday lives. And I think this country is poorer for it.

I don’t want a music industry dominated by voices from a small set of private schools. Heck, I don’t want the music industry to be the only source of music. I want communities that cherish music. I want kids who can sing and play instruments and write songs and express themselves by making a joyful noise, however and whenever they so desire.

I may not be able to get a decent dole or universal income, but if we could have more musical education programmes funded for kids at all schools, especially the disadvantaged ones, that would be a start.

And there’s some good stuff happening. The brilliant ABC Education — Let’s Sing is back, but we need more. A lot more. 

So I’m asking the next government to fund musical education across the country. If nothing else, next time I go to a concert, we might just all be able to clap in time.