Almost every Finnish child and adolescent takes an interest in music in some form. However, many young people feel dissatisfaction with what music education institutions provide and fail to find them motivating. According to the results of a series of empirical studies, school music education can have a negative effect on many pupils and undermine their musical self-esteem. At the music education institutions where this research was undertaken, music was narrowly defined and there was an absence of contemporary music cultures. Forms of music making were limited and active music listening absent from lessons. Assessment too was a problem with many pupils feeling that the evaluation of their work lacked legitimacy and fairness.