Long-term impacts of artistled songwriting workshops with individuals in regional Australia: A pilot study

Young people in regional communities demonstrate poorer long-term economic, health and employment outcomes than do youth from urban areas. Active participation in creative arts has the potential to improve educational performance, enhance personal development and improve social cohesion in socially excluded communities. The Musomagic programme represents a creative arts partnership model between school, community and artist, engaging young people in regional and remote communities in songwriting and music video workshops. This retrospective study used inductive and iterative thematic analysis of interviews with seven Musomagic mentors to examine the long-term impacts on the lives of young people and the community. The results show that Musomagic can deliver long-term positive impacts. These impacts were most strongly apparent in personal and community themes, and somewhat less so in the school theme. The researchers discovered that development of confidence was perceived as a key enabler that led to the personal, school and long-term impacts.