Soundtrap for Education and FutureDJs Inspire Kids to Take DJ-ing and Music Production Beyond the Classroom

Soundtrap, a Spotify company, and FutureDJs, a company igniting students' passion for music, are partnering to help nourish the future careers of budding musicians. Combining Soundtrap for Education's easy-to-use online music and audio creation platform with FutureDJs' music production and DJ-ing programmes will help students create, record and save their best creations.

Soundtrap for Education and FutureDJs are teaming to offer music programmes and instruction that will give students in years 7-12 one-on-one or paired lessons covering the music essentials that form part of a GCSE in Music, including such important elements as timbre, keys and scales, arrangement, composition and ensemble. Together, these companies will visit UK schools to help students identify and refine their best creations and turn them into high-quality online music. They also hope to nurture students and inspire them to extend their talent beyond the classroom by now having access to tools required for professional-level music production and composition.

The following schools are first to receive a visit from FutureDJs and Soundtrap for Education:

All Hallows Catholic College, Cheshire
The Windsor Boys' School, Windsor
Shiplake College, Oxfordshire
Addey and Stanhope School, London
Acland Burghley School, London
Orchard Park High School, Croydon, London
Knutsford Academy, Cheshire
Westminster School, London
Deyes High School, Liverpool
Thomas Keble School, Gloucestershire
Windsor Girls' School, Windsor
St George's School Windsor Castle, Windsor
Sandbach Boys School, Cheshire

An example of what is achievable via the partnership is young Sandro Chalmers of Liverpool, whose love of music moved him to get extra instruction from FutureDJs' tutors in his school's music department, leading to an invitation to play the opening set at the Amsterdam Open Air Festival. The 13-year-old opened the festival, appearing onstage with superstar DJs Claptone and DJ EZ, and was the youngest DJ in the world to do so. Sandro is just one example of how the skills training available through FutureDJs combined with Soundtrap for Education's rich, intuitive recording tools can help catapult dedicated, music-loving kids into professional careers.

"We chose to work with Soundtrap for Education because it's known for its ease of use and because the platform is cloud based so students can access their work from anywhere without having to install expensive software on their devices. Today's students have a solid connection to technology, so it's natural for them to link electronic equipment with music," said Austen Smart, CEO, FutureDJs.

"When you give students easy access to the technological tools that they use in everyday life, they are more inclined to develop a stronger understanding of music by exploring how music is structured, created and built upon," Smart added.

"FutureDJs is transforming how students learn music through DJ-ing and electronic music production using the technology essential to the daily lives of today's young people," said Per Emanuelsson, director of Soundtrap at Spotify. "Integrating the FutureDJs and Soundtrap for Education platforms makes possible a holistic approach to music that gives kids an achievable way to realise their dreams by developing the essential skills of creativity and collaboration. It opens the doors to future career opportunities in all areas of music and music production."

About Soundtrap

Soundtrap is the first cloud-based audio recording platform to work across all operating systems, enabling users to co-create music and podcasts anywhere in the world. There are three Soundtrap products: Soundtrap for Storytellers, a podcasting solution; Soundtrap for Music Makers, a music creation tool; and Soundtrap for Education, used by children 6 to 16 years and through higher/further-education markets. Soundtrap provides an easy-to-use, powerful and collaborative music and audio creation platform for all levels of musical interest and abilities. Soundtrap is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In December 2017, Soundtrap was acquired by Spotify. For more information, visit https://www.soundtrap.com/.

About FutureDJs

FutureDJs is on a mission to remix music education for the world and connect young people to their music departments through DJ-ing. By teaching them the skills of DJ-ing in school with peripatetic lessons, they fire students' passion for music. Through learning to DJ, students can learn the fundamentals of music and open a gateway to a whole new world of music production, songwriting, podcasting and composing. Find out more at futuredjs.org/about or talk to them about bringing DJ-ing into your music department at [email protected]