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The Youth Music Initiative was established in 2003

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Creative Scotland orders review of Youth Music Initiative

Funding body says review will inform the ‘strategic future development’ of the programme, which currently has a budget of £9.5m a year.

Mary Stone
2 min read

The Scottish government’s Youth Music Initiative (YMI) will be subject to an independent review to find out whether it meets the needs of young people, the culture sector and wider policy areas, it has emerged.

Established in 2003, the programme aims to promote engagement with and equitable access to music-making opportunities through funding for local authorities and the youth arts sector.

For the current 2024/25 financial year, YMI has a budget of £9.5m, including £500,000 for wider youth arts, administered by YouthLink Scotland.

Tender documents published by Creative Scotland reveal plans to evaluate both the programme’s funding strands.

In assessing its funding for local authorities via the YMI Formula Fund, which aims to allow all 32 local authorities to deliver projects offering equitable access to music-making projects, the review will inform the “strategic future development” of the programme.

The programme’s second strand comprises four funds – Access to Music Making, Strengthening Youth Music, YMI CPD & Training Fund and the Youth Arts Open Fund – supporting freelancers and organisations to deliver projects for children, young people, and the wider youth music sector.

Future improvements

The review will consider the effectiveness of each of these funds and look for future improvements.

The review is expected to involve desk-based research and interviews with YMI-funded projects.

The organisation or individuals delivering projects will also be required to work with an advisory group – consisting of people in the youth music sector, thee Scottish government and Creative Scotland – which will act as a “sounding board”. 

Creative Scotland, which is subject to a review of its own work, is due to announce the details of its Multi-Year Funding (MYF) awards imminently.

Outcomes for 281 grant applications, amounting to £87.5m, were initially due by the end of last October but were pushed back to the end of January 2025 while Creative Scotland waited for clarity on its budget from the Scottish government.

The funding will be provided from April.