Youth Music

Pride is about more than visibility. It’s about safety, creativity, and being heard.

In this piece, NextGen writer, Maisy Neale, looks at how music spaces can support young LGBTQIA+ people to show up as themselves and shape what comes next.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3SCqrzJ

Know your splits. Hold onto your rights. Don’t ignore the fine print.

Our NextGen Community event with Amazon.co.uk and Morrison Foerster gave young creatives a masterclass in music law.

Missed the event? If you’re building a career in music, we've pulled together some of the experts' top insights.

Tap in: https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/news/music-law-101-legal-essentials-young-creatives

Work with us at the Youth Music Awards 2026 ✨

We’re recruiting for a range of exciting paid roles to support on the night of the Awards this October.

This year, we’re heading to the North West, so we’d especially love to hear from young creatives based in Liverpool and Merseyside, Manchester, Cumbria, Cheshire, and the surrounding areas.

Deadline: Monday 13 July

Find out more and apply: https://jobs.youthmusic.org.uk/

This , Youth Music NextGen writer, N. Shehzad shares a personal essay on q***rness, identity, and belonging in punk and metal scenes, exploring how music offers both escape and resistance.

Read the full piece: https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/news/finding-rainbows-through-noise-pride-month

"Q***r artists can act as facilitators of q***r joy by inviting fans to gather in venues."

As part of our youth voice series, NextGen writer Ben shares a powerful reflection on growing up in rural England, and how music venues become sanctuaries of joy, identity, and liberation for LGBTQIA+ communities.

Pride Month 2025: Music Venues as Q***r Utopias | Youth Music This Pride Month 2025, NextGen writer, Ben Oxley, shares a powerful reflection on growing up q***r in rural England, and how music venues become sanctuaries of joy, identity, and liberation for LGBTQIA+ communities.

Some of the most exciting work in music and creativity is happening with the under-5s!

Through our Energiser Fund, we're supporting organisations doing some of the most ambitious, joyful, child-centred work we've ever seen.

We've pulled it all together in our brand new Early Years Hub. Find inspiration, research, and best practice for anyone working with young children.

Come explore 👇
https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/resources/early-years-hub

"Each song came from a different moment in my life, they all kept circling around the same feelings - uncertainty, transition, movement, identity and figuring myself out. Once I noticed that connection, it stopped feeling like random singles and started feeling like one bigger story."

Cardiff artist AIIME C discusses her debut EP 'Up in the Air', blending drum & bass and electronic pop, and how Youth Music’s NextGen Fund helped bring the project to life.

Read the full interview: https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/case-study/nextgen-spotlight-aiime-c

Great to see Sam Fender spotlighted in this piece. We’re incredibly grateful for his support 💙

Through his recent tour, Sam raised £50,000 for Youth Music, helping fund grassroots projects for young people.

Read more via Far Out Magazine:

Lindsey Buckingham has found a new favourite artist in Sam Fender Lindsey Buckingham is a huge fan of Sam Fender, praising the star's use of emotive tone, lyricism, and the Fleetwood Mac influence in his sound.

From sensory sessions for babies and their grown-ups to festival celebrations, early years music practice and DIY publishing workshops, our Energiser Fund partners are creating inspiring opportunities for children and young people to explore, make and connect.

These highlights offer just a glimpse of how funded partners are building joyful, creative experiences in their communities.

This month, we’re sharing updates from Take Art, The Spark Arts for Children The Herd Theatre The Whitworth and more

click the link https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/funding/energiser-fund
to find out more about the Energiser Fund.

New research from our partners at Roundhouse highlights a worrying reality: too many young people feel disconnected, isolated and locked out of creativity.

When young people do get the chance to take part in music, the impact is huge - building confidence, wellbeing and connection. In fact, our SONG report found that 70% of young people say music helps them feel connected to others.

Through Youth Music-funded projects like Roundhouse, we see what happens when those barriers are removed. And our NextGen Community helps young creatives access funding, opportunities and the networks they need to build careers in music: https://bit.ly/4nWcYNH

Read more via The Guardian: https://bit.ly/49vJbql

Young Britons feel disconnected and locked out of creative arts, charity says Research for Roundhouse in London shows 87% of 18- to 30-year-olds believe they have fewer artistic opportunities