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Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nSupport systems in place for young music talent is in “crisis”, according to the boss of charity Youth Music.<\/p>\n A report from the charity paints a bleak picture of hundreds of closed youth centres, deteriorating mental health and a lack of access to music education.<\/p>\n “It is really urgent,” Youth Music CEO Matt Griffiths tells BBC Newsbeat.<\/p>\n The charity’s announced it’s teaming up with streaming giant Spotify to fund 15 youth clubs over the next year to provide more opportunities and support to pursue music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “We have a real opportunity not just to fund but to story tell,” says Spotify’s global head of social impact, Lauren Wurgraft. <\/p>\n Spotify has drawn criticism from artists over how much they get paid by the platform, and Youth Music says it had to consider that carefully when agreeing to the deal.<\/p>\n But it’s been welcomed by south London rapper Still Shadey who tells Newsbeat music was a “saving grace” and a spark “for something positive” when he was growing up. <\/p>\n The MOBO award winner launched his own scheme to support young people in his area over the summer with funding from Arts Council England, Mirror Mirror.<\/p>\n “We have huge brands taking a step that will hopefully create a catalyst where other organisations can do the same,” he says. <\/p>\n Spotify would not tell Newsbeat how much it’s spending on the project with Youth Music but Matt says it’s “over six figures”.<\/p>\n The money will be used to protect youth clubs across the UK that are at risk of closure in a bid to get more young people into music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It follows Youth Music’s Sound of the Next Generation report<\/a>, a survey the charity does every five years, with its latest one asking 2,100 young people about their lives and attitudes towards music.<\/p>\n “Top of the tree as their favourite thing in their lives is music,” says Matt.<\/p>\n “But there was also a contrasting [finding] about access to music getting more limited, particularly access to making music and creating and composing your own music.”<\/p>\n Girls and people from the North of England are particularly affected according to the report which highlights the cost of music education as a major block. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, research from the YMCA<\/a> suggests that since 2011, about half of England’s youth clubs have closed – rising to 60% in Wales. <\/p>\n The Local Government Association adds that, in that same time, government funding for youth clubs has declined by 73% in real terms. <\/p>\n Shadey says it was “the last phase of youth clubs” when he was growing up, describing the centres as little more than a warm space.<\/p>\n “We felt this was ending, things were closing down, derelict buildings, old PlayStation games, nothing being updated.<\/p>\n “That’s not enough to keep a young person engaged. They want to learn and grow and be a part of something.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lauren agrees that access is a “huge barrier”.<\/p>\n “You can dream about being an artist but if you don’t actually have a place where you can go and create and learn, then that really is never going to become a reality.” <\/p>\n The 15 youth hubs which will be receiving the money haven’t yet been decided – although according to Matt the funding could be allocated as soon as Christmas. <\/p>\n Youth Music says it will be targeting programmes and centres across the UK it already works with.<\/p>\n “It’s very important these aren’t just based in major cities because we know these spaces are important to youth all over the place,” says Lauren.<\/p>\n For Shadey, he hopes projects like this will help with what he sees as the biggest problem facing young people: feeling “disconnected” from the areas where they live.<\/p>\n “Feeling like they don’t belong,” he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Youth Music’s stated mission isn’t just to help marginalised young people make music, it’s also to help them monetise it.<\/p>\n And Spotify has a reputation – it says an unfair one – for not being very profitable for artists.<\/p>\n The platform pays royalties to copyright holders and while sometimes that’s the artist, it often means publishers and labels.<\/p>\n Last year, 1,000 British artists were streamed enough to be paid \u00a3100,000<\/a> but on average they would only pocket 16% of what they earn from the app, all while Spotify reports record breaking billion dollar profits. <\/a><\/p>\n Spotify says UK recording artists made \u00a3750 million in royalties from streaming last year and it has no say in how the money’s split – that’s an agreement between the artists and their management. <\/p>\n Copyright holders are also not paid at all if their song is streamed fewer than 1,000 times in a year. <\/p>\n Matt says squaring that with Youth Music’s ethos of helping artists monetise their work was something the charity had to “think about”. <\/p>\n “The debate about how artists, particularly emerging artists, make a living is very, very live,” he says.<\/p>\n “You make a judgement call that in the end, this is going to make a difference for young people and their lives in music at this urgent time.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lauren acknowledges this scheme is more targeted at opening that initial door for artists of the future than sustaining a career in the industry.<\/p>\n “To basically provide opportunities for them to learn and grow and connect and be nurtured so they can actually even imagine becoming an artist and making a livelihood off it,” she says.<\/p>\n Spotify isn’t the only private company that’s announced schemes aimed at filling the gap in youth services this year.<\/p>\n Working with BBC Children in Need<\/a> and fronted by rapper AJ Tracey, McDonald’s launched its Makin’ It project, partnering restaurants with youth workers so they can host workshops and drop-in sessions.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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Still Shadey<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/bb73\/live\/4ab340f0-b264-11ef-93fc-515d2be0e1f7.jpg.webp\")
Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nSpotify and monetising music<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Youth Music<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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