Research Puts Music Top for Workplace Skills

New research commissioned by the Royal College of Music has found that business leaders rate music as one of the most powerful ways to develop key workplace skills, strengthening the case for music education at every stage of a young person’s learning.

Surveying 2,000 UK adults and 302 business leaders, the report highlights the value employers see in music education and participation. Business leaders ranked music first across five of seven key competency areas, including creativity and innovation, teamwork and collaboration, adaptability and flexibility, communication skills, and time management. These are not niche musical abilities, but transferable skills that employers increasingly need in fast-changing workplaces. Nine in ten business leaders also said music helped them concentrate at work, while seven in ten felt music-based wellbeing initiatives would bring tangible benefits for staff.

The findings arrive at a time when access to music in schools remains under pressure. While employers recognise the confidence, discipline, listening skills and resilience that music can nurture, parents were less likely to encourage children to study music than business leaders. This suggests a disconnect between the skills valued by industry and the signals families may be receiving about the place of music in education. The report also points to music’s wider cultural and social power. Almost half of British adults now see music as the UK’s greatest export, ahead of scientific research, technology innovation and manufacturing. Music was also ranked as the most effective way of uniting people in an increasingly divided world by both the public and business leaders.

For Music Mark members and the wider music education sector, the message is clear: music is not an optional extra, but a vital part of preparing young people for life, work and community. High-quality music education gives children and young people opportunities to collaborate, solve problems, express ideas, build confidence and experience the value of practice over time. In doing so, it supports personal development while also helping to build the creative, adaptable workforce that employers say they need.

The research strengthens the case for sustained investment, cross-sector partnership and a shared commitment to ensuring every child and young person can access high-quality music education, regardless of background or location. It also gives advocates a timely evidence base for conversations with schools, policymakers, families and employers about the role music can play in attainment, wellbeing, employability and social connection.

Read the full press release to explore the findings in more detail.

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