This study examines the curriculum change process in England, Australia and British Columbia (Canada), focusing in particular on changes to the music curriculum in each of these settings. Although the main focus of the study is on the attitudes of practicing teachers towards the changes, background information and opinions were sought from other educators not currently involved in classroom teaching, who had been involved in the design and/or implementation process at a different level. Semi-structured interviews were used to gain this perspective, while a questionnaire was used as the collection instrument for data from teachers. The findings show that there were common areas of agreement and concern in each of the contexts. In all three contexts, the majority of respondents indicated that they believed there was a need for the change. In England, where the new National Curriculum was replacing a traditionally school-based curriculum, almost all the respondents indicated that they believed there was a need for the change, while only approximately two-thirds of the respondents from the other two settings perceived a need for the change. More than three quarters of the respondents from the Australian sample disagreed with the move in that country to develop common outcome statements for the subjects grouped in the Arts Key Learning area. A similar concern was conveyed by some of the Canadian sample, who feared that grouping Fine Arts subjects together would decrease the amount of time and resources allowed for music. The design and implementation processes used were not perceived positively, and respondents from all settings believed that teachers had not been involved enough in the design process nor had they been given enough information about the change or their role in the change. Respondents indicated that insufficient professional development had been provided about the change, and the level of involvement in the design of the change and the amount of professional development undertaken stood out as major contributing factors towards poor attitudes to the new curriculum and its design and implementation processes. The area of assessment was problematic, with respondents indicating that they were not confident of the assessment requirements, or with the appropriateness of some of the assessment proposals to meet the needs of music education.