Dear Musicians,

I so happened to stumble upon a study on the state of music education in Canada, and it's an interesting read. It basically says that there's not enough funding which results in the decline of quality music education around the country.

Music education is important, there's no question about that. It is believed that music helps develop the brain in areas involved in language and reasoning. It is believed that there is a link between music and spatial intelligence. Music helps develop creativity, increase your SAT scores, develops compassion and empathy, it builds perseverance in achieving excellence etc.

I could go on and on listing all kinds of studies that have revealed some sort of benefit related to music education. So it goes without saying that societies would be better off with more music in their lives.

I believe, however, that a discussion on music education cannot leave out the all-important aspect of career opportunities for musicians. I'm absolutely aware that a music education should not and cannot have for goal to transform every single music student into a professional musician. You cannot, however, avoid the fact that if you offer more and better music programs that more individuals will eventually want to make music their career, and that is precisely the problem.

The job market is saturated because hundreds of schools across North America are cranking out as many students as they can because that equates to good business and secure jobs for those that teach and their administrators.

It could be argued that with less music programs and less skilled teachers, those individuals that have a lot of talent and a burning passion to learn music will do so regardless. Could this lead to a smaller but more skilled pool of musicians? And could this help to solve the over-saturation of the music job market?

What's your opinion on this? Let's hear it.

very good read.  thanks!

well, what are we trying to achieve here?  As a professional musician, I agree that I am grossly underpaid, and don't have the opportunities that I want.

The market (which consists of those who will write a check to me for doing my thing) determines whether or not I'm necessary.  Who cares if I copy others, or if I have ever composed something new?  Performance counts!  I get hired a lot, but not because I have a degree..... I don't have one.  I get hired because I'm reliable, I read very well, I'm easy to work with, and I show up on time.  Shouldn't we look at the bottom line?