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Labour MPs have accused the government of cutting funding for music education following the publication of a review into lessons in schools.
Education secretary Michael Gove told MPs the £82.5m funding had been protected for 2011/12, in what he called a "very good settlement".
However Labour MPs said the announcement was a cut in real terms and warned that local councils were cutting music services.
A new report by Classic FM chief Darren Henley argued strongly for the funding to continue, calling for a national strategy to engage children from all backgrounds.
The government said the funding will be used to encourage more gifted musicians to become teachers through the Teach First scheme.
A National Plan for Music Educaiton setting out how children can receive the best possible music education will be unveiled later this year.
During questions in the Commons, Diana Johnson (Lab, Kingston upon Hull North) asked what assessment the government had made of the effect on music education in schools of reductions in the department's funding for music services.
The education secretary said following the publication of the report, funding for music education in 2011/12 wil be the same as in 2010/11 at £82.5m.
He told MPs: "This is not a cut. It is in fact a very good settlement for music services which is consistent with our broader strategies for school autonomy and deficit reduction."
Johnson said the funding, although ringfrenced is a "real terms cut and local authorities are already slashing music services in their areas".
She told the education secretary "rather than blowing his own trumpet" he should "admit this is really a cut" just as was with school sports funding.
In response, Gove said "everyone in the world of music" including famous musicians, tenor Alfie Boe and cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and welcomed the announcement.
He added: "Everyone in the world of music is saying that today is good news for all children who want to learn more about music"
Shadow education minister Toby Perkins claimed that there was a "chasm between rhetoric and reality" with the "big announcement being a cash freeze which in real terms is a cut"
Perkins told the Commons 60 per cent of schools surveyed by the National Association of Music Educators were cutting music provision.
Unless there was protected funding in the years ahead "all your rhetoric will actually lead to less music provision in deprived areas in the future," he added.
In response, Gove said instead the "chasm" was "between the apocalyptic rhetoric heard from Labour and from their sock puppets elsewhere".
He added: "The reality of increased funding for those areas that need it most and new funding for the Teach Music First scheme which will ensure that some of our most talented musicians from leading music schools and conservatoires are working in our most challenging schools."
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