Opportunities

Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as part of £8.5m boost to the music industry announced in June 2023 in the UK Government’s Creative Industries Sector Vision, £4 million has been allocated specifically to support rehearsal and recording studios, promoters, festivals, and venues for live and electronic music performance such as grassroots music venues and club sector organisations to apply for support for projects that help them bring live and electronic music to the public and and support the development of talent.

You can apply for between £1,000 and £40,000, for projects up to three years in length. If you need to apply for more than £40,000, you can still apply to the main Project Grants programme for activity that delivers grassroots music activity.

The Youth Music Catalyser Fund offers grants between £30,001 and £300,000 to organisations in England who want to sustain work, scale-up delivery, or create change in sector practice.

The project must support children and young people who face barriers to make, learn or earn in music, and aims to make music activity more inclusive so everyone can access it.

Your work must meet one of their themes. Read more here: https://youthmusic.org.uk/catalyser-fund

Applications are now open for Catalyser Fund Round 4
Expression of Interest Deadline: 10 May 2024
Full Application Deadline: 09 August 2024

The Youth Music Trailblazer fund offers grants of £2,000 to £30,000 to organisations in England to run projects for children and young people (25 or under) to make, learn and earn in music. The project should trial work for the first time, test a new way of working, or disrupt the status quo (or all three!).

Your work must meet one of their themes: Early years, Disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent young people, Youth justice system, Young people facing barriers, Young adults or Organisations and the workforce.

Applications are now open for Trailblazer Round 6 (Deadline: 12 January 2024)

National Lottery Project Grants is our open access programme for arts, museums and libraries projects. The fund supports thousands of individual artists, community and cultural organisations.

The fund will focus on the needs of smaller independent organisations and individual practitioners

Resonate is a fund and resource which encourages professional orchestras to programme into their repertoire the best pieces of British music from the past 25 years.

Resonate aims to inspire more performances, recordings and broadcasts of outstanding contemporary repertoire, as chosen by UK orchestras, whilst strengthening approaches to programming this music for the benefit of audiences, composers and players in the UK and overseas.

The PRS Foundation will offer financial support with grants of up to 10K to orchestras who commit to exploring contemporary UK repertoire as part of a season/tour and longer term audience development programme.

The International Showcase Fund (ISF) offers grants of up to £5,500 for international export opportunities for UK-based artists, bands, songwriters and producers who have been invited to perform or create new music at international industry facing showcasing festivals, song writing camps or conferences.

In order to be eligible for support music creators must have been formally invited to perform or participate in an international event, with a conference element, that is geared towards music industry professionals, rather than the general public or an international songwriting camp which is geared towards international collaboration and creative and career progression.

Early Career Promoter Fund recognises the vital role independent promoters play in supporting the talent pipeline across England, and offers grant funding and capacity building support, with the aim of bolstering the local, regional and national ecosystems.

Grants of up to £3,500 will be available to support a range of activity – book and promote shows to develop scenes, support artists and DJs and to reach and engage audiences locally, regionally, and nationally, and build sustainable careers in the grassroots music sector.

The Pipeline Investment Fund (PIF) is a new grant-giving fund established by Music Venue Trust with the support of venue members of the Music Venues Alliance.

PIF is now open for small-scale grant applications (up to £5,000) from UK-based grassroots music venues to support two areas of work:
– Small-scale capital applications; including lights, sound, access, ventilation and minor building alterations
– Staff & training; diversifying your workforce, succession planning, skills development, and strengthening local community ties