This article looks at the way music education policy is realised in three curriculum contexts: the formation of the official music curriculum, its implementation by music teachers and its reception by students. Working from within the field of education policy studies, I have collected data on music education in Cyprus in order to explore what music teachers and students might expect from a music curriculum and have compared this with what the official music curriculum actually prescribes. The findings constitute distinct sets of educational ideologies and indicate areas of fragmentation between the three contexts. I discuss some implications and make suggestions for conceptualising music education policy. I conclude that music education policy needs to be construed as a polydynamic process which is polyglot, polycentric and polymorphic in its nature.