Deadline: 7 February 2025
The Youth Music NextGen Fund is for early-stage musicians and music adjacent creatives.
The fund is especially aimed at those whose lack of finance holds them back from pursuing their goals.
Award Information
- You can apply for to £3,000 in recognition of the increased cost of living. They have also increased the maximum you can spend on equipment to £700.
Cost Covered
- As well as funding time for you to pursue your idea, they can also cover costs linked to:
- Career development – Training, Mentoring and Networking.
- Audience development – Marketing and Promotion.
- Equipment and Software.
- Business development – Administration costs such as Insurance and fees
Eligible Projects
- You can apply to develop a project that you can run and deliver mostly yourself. Here are some examples of ideas:
- A creative music project: single releases, an EP or contribution towards an album campaign. The music can be already made or in the process of being created. Most of the applications they receive are for EPs. They aren’t against you doing them, but they want to see creative approaches into how you make, release, and promote them. Giving a clear explanation of why you are choosing the format you work in is also helpful; it may relate to where you are in your journey, or a personal creative challenge. Telling us about what you have released so far will help us understand why you are taking the next steps you are.
- A music-based business: starting a record label or music platform.
- A platform that supports underrepresented voices and perspectives: supporting leaders that build communities and help facilitate others in pursuing their creative goals.
- An event or series of events showcasing other emerging artists: they want to support new promoters and help new artists gain experience performing on stage.
Eligibility Criteria
- People working towards a career in the music industries, but lack key contacts, resources, and insights. They might be:
- Musicians, Producers, Engineers, DJs, MCs, Rappers, Songwriters.
- Managers, Promoters, A&Rs, Agents.
- Activists and campaigners who are transforming the music industries.
- In the funding decisions, they will prioritise:
- People who do not have the financial means to invest in themselves to get their ideas started.
- People that are too early stage to be funded by larger grant programmes like Arts Council England and PRS Foundation.
- Those who might be discriminated against, for reasons that could include Gender, Race, Disability, location, or other characteristics.
- People who are creative, entrepreneurial and are multi-disciplinary – even if they don’t recognise themselves as such.
Ineligibility Criteria
- They are not able to fund:
- Signed Artists: If you are signed to a record label, publisher or management company, they will not be able to support your project. They want to keep the fund open to people who aren’t at that stage yet.
- People in full time employment in the music industries already: This specifically means working in the area of the industry you want to progress in. For example, they won’t exclude someone who works at a major music venue at the bar, but they would if you were already an A&R at a major record company.
- Groups and collectives: The recipient of the grant will be one individual and they would like to know about how this grant will support your career development and your ideas. If you are intending on working with others as part of your project that is fine, but they want this grant to primarily support you as an individual.
For more information, visit Youth Music.
