Creating a vibrant and connected youth music ecosystem in Wales
Across the first five years of Anthem so much has been achieved. The Atsain Fund ran from 2022 – 2025 and we managed to support 56 youth music projects across Wales and reach 4636 young people. We have worked with 81 young people through our FFWD>> cohort, and enabled 180 young people to have a live music opportunity through our Unlocked showcasing strand.
The last year has been about hearing where the youth music sector in Wales is right now and what it needs from Anthem. Alongside our final Atsain funding round in 2025, we undertook a consultation to help us understand how socio-economic barriers stop young people from accessing music in Wales. Led by researcher Ella Beavington, the consultation findings uncovered clear themes, including lack of spaces, equipment and transport networks.
What I found most interesting about the report was the findings around confidence. Often this is seen as a ‘soft skill’ that young people just need to acquire to progress. The Atsain Consultation identified confidence as one of the main issues, but the consultation analysis shows what sits underneath this, highlighting discouragement, lack of visible pathways, lack of supportive environments, and young people not seeing themselves reflected in the opportunities around them
What young people tell us in 2026
In March 2026 we also undertook a series of Atseinio conversations, connecting with youth music organisations from Swansea, Cardiff, Newport, Caerphilly and Caernarfon to talk directly to young people about what they were experiencing in 2026. Our Anthem Young Leader Sheryl Njini reviewed the conversations and you can read her in depth analysis below. Again financial barriers, equitable access, clear progression routes, and ongoing support were all referenced.
Wales is home to a passionate and vibrant youth music community, with organisations, venues and practitioners doing vital work within their local areas. However, the reality is that provision is often fragmented, making it difficult for young people to navigate opportunities and benefit from long-term involvement in music. It’s clear that Anthem’s role is to bridge those gaps, connecting young people to the people, opportunities and support that can help them thrive.
A new vision for Anthem
The knowledge we have gained from this research and the Atseinio conversations has led Anthem to reframe our work. Our 2026 vision is to create a Wales in which young people lead a vibrant and connected youth music ecosystem. As Wales’ leading youth music charity, we will create work that builds skills, confidence and community with young people who are passionate about music. We can only do this in collaboration with the wider youth music community across Wales, and the Anthem ethos is all about partnership, connecting organisations, and putting young people’s voices at the centre.
We play an unique role within Wales’ youth music sector, supporting both young people and the grassroots organisations that exist for them. Working with a national partnership network of over 70 youth music organisations, venues and practitioners across Wales, we can grow the potential of these vital local opportunities into a stronger national ecosystem. Making our vision a reality will help young people access clearer pathways into sustained creativity, leadership and music careers.
Atseinio Conversations March 2026
By Sheryl Njini
The conversations held in March and April 2026, highlight a strong appetite among young people in Wales to engage with music, develop their skills, and build sustainable creative pathways. Across responses from different organisations, several clear themes emerged. While participants spoke about different experiences and genres, there was strong consistency in what they said helps young people get involved in music, what is currently missing, and what needs to change.
One of the clearest themes was the importance of accessible spaces and infrastructure. Young people repeatedly identified rehearsal spaces, studios, equipment, instruments, and venues as essential to participation and progression. They spoke about needed places where they can practice comfortably, experiment, and develop without judgement, as well as practical access through transport links and affordable provision. For many, the issue is not a lack of interest in music, but a lack of local, accessible environments in which that interest can grow.
A second major theme was the need for clearer pathways and better information. Participants consistently highlighted the importance of knowing where to go, how to access opportunities and how to move forward in their development. They asked for better promotion of opportunities, stronger links between parts of the music sector, and more visible pathways into rehearsing, performing, collaborating, funding, and professional development. This suggests that whilst young people clearly need more opportunities, they also need a more joined-up and understandable system.
The sessions also showed that community, encouragement, and confidence play a major role in musical engagement. Many participants spoke about friends, family, teachers, mentors, and youth organisations as key influences. Seeing someone like themselves involved in music, being encouraged to attend, and having supportive peer spaces all came through as important factors. This points to the emotional and social side of progression: young people are more likely to engage when music feels welcoming, communal and possible for them.
Financial barriers were another recurring issue. Young people raised the cost of lessons, equipment, travel, rehearsal, gigs and wider career development. Funding was discussed not only as a general need, but as something that should be more accessible, more targeted, and easier to understand. In several responses, financial pressure was clearly linked to whether young people can sustain their involvement at all.
There was also a strong focus on education and early exposure. Participants described schools, youth clubs, community settings, family encouragement, and early opportunities to perform or experiment as key entry points into music. At the same time, they pointed to gaps in school provision, limited genre representation, and the need for broader music education that reflects contemporary forms and different ways of making music.
Finally, the notes reflect an ongoing concern with representation, inclusion, and progression into careers. Young people want more support for a wider range of genres, especially urban music, as well as better support for women, neurodiverse artists, Welsh-language access, and those living outside major urban centres. Alongside this, they also want more support with the business side of music, including mentoring, branding, marketing, management, promotion, and industry connections. This shows that young people are thinking seriously about music as a possible long-term pathway.
It’s also important to note that there is a clear tension between informal community-based access and formal industry progression. Young people value community spaces deeply, but they also want proper industry support. They do not want to choose between grassroots belonging and professional development. Also, there are clear geographic and structural inequalities. Rural access, bus routes, Cardiff-Swansea links, Bristol/Newport connections were all strong factors within the conversations.
Overall, these sessions suggest that young people in Wales do not lack interest, creativity, or ambition. What they need is better infrastructure, more equitable access, clearer progression routes, and stronger long-term support systems that reflect the reality of how young people enter, experience, and build careers in music today.