Towards a ladder of popular music support in Wales: The educational impact of Forté Project

Abstract

Introduced in 2016, Forté Project is a publicly funded talent development initiative aimed at young popular musicians residing in the Arts Connect region of South Wales. Using a combination of survey data and interviews with participants, this article analyses Forté Project’s educational impact on musicians, where it emerges as both complementary of, and a potential alternative to, music industry career pathways provided by traditional forms of further and higher popular music education. Within the wider context of the current Wales-based ladder of publicly funded popular music support, this article also investigates how Forté Project might be improved and/or expanded to better serve the educational needs of emerging popular musicians based throughout Wales.