If you’re reading this post, you likely already believe that equity in music education is essential. You’re also likely aware of the truth: equity does not exist.

We have primarily pursued equity in music education by funding organizations that offer music education. The three main sources of funding are:

  1. Federal revenue (taxes)
  2. Grants
  3. Donations

These pursuits have been unsuccessful for these reasons:

  1. Our U.S. Department of Education allocates a greater amount of funding to the educational fields progressing human intellect. The imbalance (dare I say schism?!) that this perpetuates is observable in all facets of life, from the micro to the macro. It is my opinion that federal revenue will not suffice as a means of funding music education until we stop primarily treating education as a means for preparing our children to join the workforce and place greater emphasis on treating education as a means for wellbeing.
  2. Grants are finite and only help a portion of the population. Although grantors are well-intentioned, we must acknowledge the fact that resources (grant-writers in particular) are needed to apply for most grants. Needing resources to obtain resources effectively creates greater inequity.
  3. Donations are finite and only help a portion of the population.

There is but a single solution that will create truly sustainable equity in music education. We need to generate large quantities of funding indefinitely. Then we need to distribute said funding to educational programs in direct proportion to each program’s needs.

So how do we generate large quantities of funding indefinitely? Perhaps a more pertinent question is: what generates large quantities of funding indefinitely?

Besides federal and state revenue, which we have already established do not successfully create equity in music education, the answer is business. A new type of business.

The New Type of Business That Changes Everything

A business that doesn’t treat music education as a product to be sold — but as a mission to be funded. A business that generates revenue through premium services, partnerships, and technology, then uses that revenue to make world-class music education free for every student, in every school, in every zip code.

That is the model Practicing Musician was built on.

Not a nonprofit dependent on the next grant cycle. Not a donation campaign that helps a few hundred students. A sustainable, technology-driven platform that generates its own funding and delivers free, world-class music education to hundreds of thousands of students across 46 countries — with no end date, no income requirement, and no application process.

What Equitable Music Education Actually Looks Like

Equity in music education doesn’t just mean giving students access to an instrument. It means giving every student — regardless of their school’s budget, their family’s income, or their zip code — access to the same quality of instruction that wealthy schools take for granted.

That means:

  • Structured, sequential video lessons taught by world-class musicians — the same caliber of instruction a student in a well-funded suburban district gets from a private teacher
  • 3,500+ lessons across 15 instruments — band, orchestra, and more — available to any student with an internet connection
  • Teacher tools that give music educators in under-resourced schools the same progress monitoring, assessment, and professional development resources that better-funded programs have always had
  • No cost to students, teachers, or schools — because equity that comes with a price tag isn’t equity

The Problem Is Solvable — But Only If We Build the Right Solution

The music education community has spent decades trying to solve an access problem with a funding solution. The result is a patchwork of well-intentioned programs that reach some students, some of the time, in some places.

Technology changes that equation. A single platform, built correctly and sustained by a sound business model, can reach every student — not just the ones whose teachers are good grant writers, not just the ones in cities where donors are generous, not just the ones whose districts happen to prioritize the arts.

Every student. Everywhere. That is the only definition of equity worth pursuing.

Practicing Musician exists to make that a reality. We are not there yet — but with hundreds of thousands of students already learning across 46 countries, we are closer than any funding model has ever gotten us.

If you believe equity in music education is essential — and you’re reading this, so you do — here’s what you can do today:

Sign up as a teacher and give your students free access →
Sign up as a student and start learning today →
Support our GoFundMe to bring music to community centers nationwide →