ABSTRACT
Concurrent with the growth in the importance of popular music in young people’s lives, ideals for inclusive and multicultural education, and advances in technology, overarching socio-political forces in the late twentieth century have encouraged organisations to ‘grow creative economies’. A common factor in New Zealand secondary music classrooms is the inclusion of popular music and an expectation of students creating and performing original popular music. The music industry has strong links with secondary school music departments and has fostered growth and normalised original song writing. A plethora of ‘high stakes’ competitions for young bands and songwriters act as a springboard for careers in the popular music industry and introduce many students and teachers to high quality production values and expose their original music through various media. These initiatives affect music curriculum content and, are used often for assessment opportunities. Many secondary teachers have themselves been educated within this environment. This chapter explores the New Zealand model for engagement with the music industry instigated through a government-funded musician mentoring in schools programme established in 2001.
