Traditionally, music-making has been a time-consuming and expensive undertaking. Buying an instrument has often been a costly outlay, and that’s before lessons have even been considered. Even those embracing electronic music have been faced with costly bills for decks and equipment.
Therefore, accessibility has been a longstanding issue, particularly for young people from low-income backgrounds who would need to balance the cost of studying for several years.
A damning 2021 report by Arts Council England (ACE) on inclusivity in classical music stated that a child from a low-income background has “‘virtually no chance of becoming a professional musician” without consistent financial support for music lessons. Without the monetary means, the challenge of mastering an instrument and making a career out of it can be an uphill battle.
But in recent years, the role of technology in music education has exploded. From simple YouTube videos to fully-fledged artificial intelligence generators, tech is creating a more equal playing field that shuns the confines of traditional learning – for better or worse.
Naturally, PR has an essential role in helping a music tech company stand out in an extremely saturated market.
The internet cuts out the middle man
As the popularity of the internet continued to grow in the 2000s, YouTube was at the forefront of the free content frontier. Amongst the surging wave of videos, music education videos began to emerge; some would focus on the basics of a specific instrument while others would devise entire series, meticulously dissecting music theory and providing step-by-step instrument guides by difficulty. Armed with an internet connection and a device to play videos, keen learners could remove the cost of lessons and learn from their bedroom at a time which suits them.
Even before YouTube, electronic music producers relied on expensive equipment to manipulate sounds. The advent of plug-ins allowed producers to create effects quickly at low cost with minimal fuss. It also heralded a migration to a software-based approach and immediately put a vast catalogue of sounds at the fingertips of anyone who was savvy enough to experiment with them. At least, that was certainly true in the early days; ease of use is now considered a significant advantage.
AI and music on autopilot
Fast forward to the present day and AI is democratising the landscape further. Users can generate anything from instrumentals to full tracks in a matter of minutes from simple text prompts, meaning a finished product can be produced with very little application or creativity. Critics question the musical talent on show; should you be considered a musician or an outstanding prompter?
Granting equal access to all is undoubtedly a positive move but the results are definitely up for debate, especially when controversy lingers around how the AI models are trained in the first place.
Suno AI, one of the most recognisable music generators, was hit by a lawsuit from multiple record labels in 2024, alleging copyright infringement. Whatever judgment is passed down will impact AI’s trajectory in music making, regardless of its merits when it comes to democratisation.
With AI dominating the landscape, all emerging music tech companies risk being lumped together and tarnished by negative press. That’s when a PR strategy really comes into its own, establishing a story that differentiates a brand from the pack and positioning you as trustworthy and valid.
The future of democratisation
For traditional music education, the outlook continues to look grim. Conducted by magazines Music Teacher and Gramophone, the ‘Growing Musicians, Shaping Lives’ 2025 survey found that nearly half of teachers reported a decline in extracurricular music participation over the past five years. The story is the same for instrumental lessons, with 45% noting a drop.
While technology certainly has a significant part to play, the traditional methods shouldn’t be discounted entirely (much like PR). Perhaps the route forward is a combination of the two; give consistent funding to the tried and tested techniques and plug them into a quicker, ethical future. No bum notes in sight.
If you’re looking to get your music tech company heard over the noise, why not reach out to Gallium Ventures to see how we could help.