Dive Summary:

• Spotify and the New York City Department of Education will jointly host a hackathon later this month focused on encouraging developers to create music education apps, with a judging panel expected to include representatives from startups like Spotify and Rap Genius, a Universal Music executive and City Hall officials.
• The challenge will be shaped by the input from music teachers, who were asked to name their most important problems and issues, and a few teachers will be available to consult with developers at the hackathon.
• A fifth of NYC eighth grade students finish middle school without meeting the state's minimum arts education requirements, and music and arts programs nationwide continue to face cuts due to shrinking budgets, so educators are hoping more technological tools can supplement learning and prevent students from falling behind.

From the article:

Forget recorders and bongo drums; the classroom musical instruments of tomorrow could look more like GarageBand and Spotify. And it’s not necessarily because educators want to familiarize students with technology. It’s because, in an age of declining budgets and disappearing school arts programs, technology might be a way to cost-effectively keep and improve music education in the classroom. ...