Youth Music Initiative 20th Anniversary Celebration

This year, we’re celebrating 20 incredible years of the Youth Music Initiative (YMI).

The impact of YMI can be felt far and wide across Scotland, and in 2022 we’ll be shouting far and wide about the joy, resilience, community and opportunities that YMI has been helping to nurture since 2003.

Discover all the ways you can get involved in the celebrations!

Find out more about the #YMusicMatters event

YMusicMatters Keynote talks

Watch the introduction from YMI Manager Morag Macdonald, keynotes from Tinderbox musicians, and the Personal Stories and National Picture panels.

#YMusicMatters Event 2023

As part of our 20th anniversary, we're hosting a special industry event on Thursday 2 March to bring the Youth Music sector together and celebrate #YMusicMatters

Watch and share our 20th anniversary video

Download the promo pack

We’ve created a toolkit for you to use that’s packed full of key messages, images, designed graphics, and suggestions for social media posts, as well as our launch video. Support the 20th anniversary – download our toolkit and share the assets with your community.

YMI 20th Anniversary Promo Pack

Download the YMI 20th anniversary promo pack.

Follow along on social

Send us your story

Have you been involved in YMI? We’d love to hear from you so we can share your story! Whether you’ve been a participant or involved in leading a project, we want to shout far and wide about everything you’ve been doing.

Get in touch with the team: ymi@creativescotland.com

Read the latest stories

Spotlight - Music Broth

This month we hear from Music Broth, whose ethos is making music playing, learning and enjoyment accessible to all and who are 1 of the 44 projects being supported by Creative Scotland with backing from the Scottish Government’s Youth Music Initiative (YMI).

Published: 08 Feb 2022

Spotlight - Youth Music and the Environment

The youth music community is truly inspiring in their work surrounding the environment. This month, we bring to you a round-up of activities and resources from across the sector related to the climate crisis, climate justice, and COP26.

Published: 09 Nov 2021

Spotlight - Youth Music

For over 20 years, UK Charity Youth Music has been funding music making projects for young people across England, supporting 0 - 25 year olds to make, learn, and earn through music.

Published: 06 Oct 2021

Spotlight - Back to School

The YMI Formula Fund sees funding distributed directly to all local authorities in Scotland to support in-school delivery of music making activities. As well as having a focus on providing pupils with their first experiences music making, the fund also supports music making in non-mainstream settings, such as special schools, and with groups of young (...)

Published: 07 Sep 2021

Spotlight - Glittery Bums and Glasgow sun: a blog from Shobhita at Ensemble

A spotlight on Ensemble, the award-winning Glasgow based project funded by Creative Scotland’s Youth Music Initiative and run by Wheatley Care. The project has launched a brand new music video for the fourth single ‘Glittery Bums (feat. The Sistas, Clare McBrien, Jonnie Common)’ from their debut album ‘No Place Like It’. (...)

Published: 10 Aug 2021