Scottish music is world renowned for its quality and innovative and interactive use of technology. Enterprise and creativity are key drivers in an industry that is predominantly self-employed. We are actively involved in music throughout Scotland supporting musicians, composers, labels and promoters from all musical backgrounds.
Showcase: SxSW 2010
South by South West (SxSW) is one of the world’s largest music industry conference and festivals and takes place every year in Austin, Texas. In 2009 there were over 13,000 industry delegates seeing 2,000 bands and artists on 88 stages over five days.
The Scottish Arts Council, in partnership with PCL Presents and DF Concerts co-ordinated two Showcasing Scotland events and the Scottish presence at South by South West 2010, one of the world’s largest music industry festivals which ran from 17-21 March 2010 in Austin, Texas.
Showcase: Youth Music Initiative
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Young people spend more time listening to, talking about or making music than any other creative pursuit. Music matters to young people. They often define themselves through their musical choices; it influences their lifestyle decisions; how they dress and how they communicate. This means for us, as the national development agency for the arts in Scotland; music is a vital tool for how we engage and interact with young people.
Over the last seven years the Scottish Arts Council’s Youth Music Initiative has developed a range of funding strands and pilot programmes and has so far invested £57.5million in music making for Scotland’s young people. It’s well documented that engaging in creativity can help build confidence, self esteem, emotional well-being and develop important problem solving and communication skills. These are important elements that will shape the next generation and make a substantial contribution to ensuring our young people have the best start in life. The YMI programme is engaged in a long term goal of ‘re-engineering’ how music activities are delivered across the country both within formal and informal learning environments. The YMI is driven by the ethos of putting music at the heart of young people’s lives and learning by working towards removing all barriers to participation.
