Such a headline promises much. You may find it beguiling or perhaps the reverse. You may even wonder why such an overtly populist title should merit attention in a journal such as this. It certainly makes no claim to be a piece of rigorous academic research, but instead aims to persuade through a series of interviews, relying on the power of personal testimony and the immediacy of anecdote to convince the reader of the importance of music education and its relevance to future career success.

There is an increasing level of debate around the value that a musical education can contribute to careers and life in general, amid concerns that levels of funding are falling and the role of music in the school curriculum diminishing, and we see initiatives such as Music Manifesto and Musical Futures seeking to redress the balance. Craig Cortello refers to ‘volumes of scientific research on the benefits of music education’ and indeed there has been considerable interest in the effects of general musical engagement on literacy, numeracy, social skills and attainment levels among children (usefully surveyed by Susan Hallam in ‘The Power of Music’). I have had less success in tracking down research into the transferability of skills learnt in music to other fields. So while there is no shortage of material supporting the case for a wide range of general benefits of musical engagement, there is relatively little to show how these transfer to the world of work. For instance:

1. (a) To what extent are transferable skills developed through musical activity alone or are other factors involved?

2. (b) Which specific aspects of music education are important for developing transferable skills?

3. (c) How transferable are the skills – and what does it take to make them transferable?

4. (d) To what extent are such skills unique to music or can they be acquired as effectively through other disciplines?

Therefore, any evidence, whether anecdotal or empirical, must be worth examining to help us understand which skills acquired through studying music might prove most relevant to the world of business and how these might be learned and then transferred more effectively. Such information is like gold dust to careers advisors, curriculum designers and recruiters.

Cortello's hypothesis is ‘that music and arts will play an increasingly prominent role in preparing our children for life and success in the 21st century’. He asserts that during his research he discovered that the body of evidence and analysis supporting this was already being compiled, but unfortunately provides us with no references. So, what of the evidence presented in this book?

Before reporting his research findings Cortello shares ‘9 parallels of musicianship and business’ and we get a flavour of both the musical experiences he sees as important and the musical contexts in which they are acquired. His examples are taken more from the worlds of garage bands, jamming and improvisation, song writing and playing student bars than from conservatoires and symphony orchestras.

He interviewed 32 individuals, allocating them to three categories: 18 under ‘The Business Profiles (conventional business professionals with unconventional brilliance resonating from their music backgrounds)’; 7 under ‘The Idea Factories (business leaders with music backgrounds working in creativity fields)’; and 7 under ‘Music and My Business (professionals for whom music is a part of their business)’. The method of selection is unclear but the author refers to people contacting him when they heard what he was doing.

Cortello sought diversity in terms of industries and professions, but set no minimum standard of musical achievement; there also appear to be no clear criteria as to what constituted a ‘business leader’ – some are corporate executives, but others are owner-managers or even sole practitioners (e.g. motivational/keynote speakers). He does not include any interviews with business leaders who have no musical background or attribute their skills to other sources; and unsurprisingly there is no account of those whose musical backgrounds failed to bring them business success.

In terms of their musical background, most in his sample are former band members, such as guitarists and drummers, vocalists and song-writers, whose musical education combined some formal training at school or in instrumental lessons with considerable informal training working with their band or group. There are only a limited number of examples involving higher education in classical music. Most focus on the value of active engagement in making music and performing, usually in groups. This raises an interesting question as to whether all forms of music education and experience are equally effective in generating the skills cited.

The interview format is quite loose and the author admits that he gave free rein to his participants, following interesting information even when it diverged from the research topic. Overall the messages reported are quite consistent with the author's earlier list, but, since the findings are not analysed, they serve more to corroborate the author's preconceived list than to provide any further insights. In some cases the links between music and their business activity seem a bit tenuous; in others it is not clear whether the competence (e.g. their organising ability, team-working style, confidence and drive) is due to their musical experience or that these entrepreneurial qualities would have emerged through whatever they chose to do. There is also no validation of their effective use of these competences in business by their staff, colleagues or peers.

So what is the value of this book? The title is not a fair representation of the book: this is not ‘everything we needed to know about business’ – indeed one interviewee talks specifically of recommending music students ‘to make sure to take the business courses’; nor is it an exclusive path – another interviewee suggests that music is an alternative route to the sports field in acquiring confidence, identity and team skills; and not everyone pursuing music will necessarily have the same experiences and acquire the same skills. On the other hand, it is a testimony to the influence of music in these individuals’ lives, whether they are corporate leaders or just happy in what they do.

We might do better to look beyond the author's rather hyperbolic language and relentlessly enthusiastic tone and recognise Cortello's driving purpose: to show how a range of people (not necessarily accomplished performers) value what music has given them, and continues to give them, in all sorts of ways. If his aim was, as stated on p. 18, ‘to look for the attributes, lessons and insights developed in music education to assess its value in determining business success’ then this book falls seriously short; but he will be well satisfied if through this book (p. 39) ‘someone will be moved to action to either learn a musical instrument or introduce an instrument into the life of a child . . . or justify the funding of a music education program or will be moved to take up that fight.’

While the author may be right that this book is likely to reach and influence more people than more rigorous academic work, it also serves to highlight the academic work that remains to be done. It draws attention to some important questions for educators and employers that deserve structured investigation if music education is to enable students (of whatever age) to discover through music the combination of disciplined practice, creative imagination and performance confidence reported by those interviewed, that will serve them well in life, whatever they choose to do.

As to his view that ‘skeptics might look at formal research into the benefits of music education as skewed data from arts educators justifying their existence’, I couldn't possibly comment!