Despite strong philosophical arguments supporting the inclusion of music in all students' education, declining student participation rates in school music activities during the middle years of schooling remain an ongoing issue for music education researchers. This paper presents the findings of a case study examining the motivational factors influencing student enrolment behaviour in the elective classroom music curriculum within the social context of an independent secondary school in regional Australia. The analysis discussed in this paper focuses on the socio-cultural contexts of school culture, peer group, family values and student perceptions of teachers as factors shaping student academic motivational orientations.