A £10 MILLION initiative to encourage more young people to become involved in music has been renewed for the coming year.

Scotland's Youth Music Initiative (YMI) was first run in 2003 and is now entering its 12th year.

The £10m comes from the Scottish Government, administered by Creative Scotland, and funds towards the scheme have now totalled £97.5m since it began.

A total of £8m of the funding will be allocated to Scottish local authorities to deliver music making in schools starting in August 2015.

Some £1.6m is available for organisations and individuals to apply to deliver music making activities outside school time through The Access To Music Making Fund.

Janet Archer, chief executive at Creative Scotland, said: "The continuation of the YMI will make a significant contribution in realising this and provide valuable opportunities for Scotland's young people to achieve their potential in or through music making.

"The YMI will create new music making opportunities delivered by Scotland's diverse and talented music practitioners. Participants will learn music making skills, build their confidence, be provided with progression opportunities and hopefully have a lot of fun."