I AM pleased Ray Mallon has discovered the value of music (Echo, June 17).

A world without music would be a poorer place, and yet, to many it is a luxury subject taught in schools and not a career option for parents wishing to guide their children into the world of work.

Many schools are squeezing time allocated to music as they push subjects required to impress in league tables.

The music industry earns billions of pounds every year and England produces performers and composers that are the envy of the world.

As football academies produce the premiership players of tomorrow, so the opportunity to experience music at grassroots level produces the musicians of tomorrow.

There may be a thriving live music scene at present but few venues pay musicians a reasonable fee and, in reality, could probably not afford to.

In my first professional band in the Seventies I played 600 gigs in two years.

Most of the venues I played have gone.

Aspiring musicians now go to college to gain the skills and experience needed to compete in the professional market.

If these courses disappear so will the last opportunity for young people to access the music industry.

Peter Simpson, School Aycliffe.