Music

PRS for Music is extending its partnership with cloud computing service Oracle.

The music royalty distributor has moved its royalty payment database to Oracle Exadata Database Service on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), which it says has accelerated payments to its 165,000 members.

PRS for Music is the first collecting society in the world to have migrated its data processing systems to OCI. It attributes the move as “instrumental” in hitting a record-breaking £836m of royalties in 2022.

In the third quarter of 2023, PRS for Music broke its quarterly payout record, distributing £239m.

The society has previously promised to be distributing more than £1bn in royalities annually by 2026.

“Working with Oracle to migrate our distribution systems to the cloud was a seismic shift in infrastructure for PRS for Music, and a landmark moment in our industry,” said Mark Krajewski, Managing Director, Strategic Alliances and Chief Information Officer of PRS for Music.

“Exadata Database Service on OCI has been a catalyst for our ambitious data strategy, and with cutting-edge technologies in place we can continue to pioneer new activities to define the future of music royalty management. 

“We have more control over our data than ever before, allowing for better data-driven decision making and greater speed, transparency, and accuracy in royalty distributions.”

Two music programmes designed to provide support to people with dementia and their carers have been launched by The National Academy For Social Prescribing (NASP).

The £5m Power Of Music Fund has been established to distribute small grants to grassroots dementia choirs and music groups, with support from organisations including Utley Foundation, Arts Council England and Music For All.

Applications for the fund open on 22 November 22, providing money to cover basic costs, including room hire, transport and refreshments. 

One grant of £500k will be available for a new Centre of Excellence, which will test new approaches to embedding music as part of dementia care, gather evidence of cost savings for the NHS, and design new models of care which could be scaled up and spread across England.  

Already active is the Music Can website, which aims to help people living with dementia, carers and practitioners feel confident about using music as part of care, offering a directory of support, playlists, music activities and advice.

The platform builds on recommendations from last year’s Power of Music report and has been led by Universal Music UK and developed by Boston Consulting Group.

Speaking about the launch, Charlotte Osborn-Forde, CEO at NASP, said: “Music can be a lifeline for people living with dementia and their carers, creating moments of joy and connection when so much else is hard to cope with. 

“It is the perfect example of social prescribing and something that can have long-lasting impact on people’s wellbeing and take pressure off the NHS. 

“But dementia choirs and local projects often find it hard to keep going from one month to the next, and they are rarely well connected to wider healthcare services, meaning lots of people miss out on the benefits." 

“We want to help make music a standard part of dementia care – with doctors, link workers, and others offering music-based activities and referring people to the Music Can platform.”
 

The Department for Education has announced that trainee music teachers at secondary level will be entitled to a bursary of £10,000 from September 2024, after previously axing the support in 2020.

The tax-free sum, which is less than half that on offer for languages and STEM subjects, will be paid in equal monthly instalments over the duration of a trainee teacher's course.

It's hoped the bursary's reintroduction will significantly boost the number of music teachers. Last month, an Ofsted report on music teaching in schools found some schools were experiencing challenges recruiting music teachers at the key stage 3. In a few cases, music had been temporarily removed from the curriculum because of a shortage of specialists.

According to the National Foundation for Educational Research, just 31% of the target for music teacher recruitment will be met in 2023. 

UK Music’s Interim Chief Executive Tom Kiehl welcomed the return of the bursary for music but said: ”There is still far more to be done to fix the current shortage of music teachers.”

Chris Walters, National Organiser for Education, Health & Wellbeing at the Musicians’ Union, added: “We urge the government to revisit its own National Plan for Music Education and review the other barriers that stand in the way of the plan’s delivery, including straitened school budgets and mixed messaging to schools about the importance of the arts.”

Meanwhile, Deborah Annetts, Chief Executive of the ISM, noted: “Despite the good news for secondary teachers, there is no bursary at primary level, where a lack of courses remains a point of great concern." In over two-thirds of the primary schools, Ofsted found that non-specialist teachers taught music, with over half lacking the subject knowledge to teach the curriculum well. 

The government has announced that trainee Art & Design and English teachers will also be offered a £10,000 bursary for 2024/25.

Research that aims to compile a history of record shops specialising in Black music from the 1950s onwards has received a £247,494 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Led by Leicester-based organisation 2Funky Arts, the project called 'The Record Store and Black Music, A UK History' will produce a film, publication, podcast series and educational resource using collected interviews with artists, DJs, store owners and customers as well as documentation.

Describing the work as “groundbreaking”, 2Funky Arts said: “For the Windrush generation and Black diaspora, the early independent UK record store was a music-fuelled vehicle for resistance against systemic racism. 

“Such sites became fertile ground for new music, and cultural eco-systems that shaped society’s relationship with Black music.”

A talent development organisation has launched a fundraising appeal to support the next generation of jazz musicians.

The Tomorrow’s Warriors charity aims to raise £100,000 through its #IAMWARRIOR appeal to help sustain its free-to-access Young Artist Development and Emerging Artist Programmes. 

Music Week reports that the organisation relies on the support of funding and donations to continue to deliver its learning programmes that provide music education to the next generation of jazz musicians, with a focus on young women and those from diverse and low-income backgrounds. 

Mercury Prize winners Ezra Collective are among jazz musicians to have previously benefitted from the programme.

DJ and broadcaster Gilles Peterson said: “Tomorrow's Warriors occupies a unique and vital space in our cultural landscape. Their work in helping positively shape future generations is of critical importance, especially in light of the tribulations we currently face."