Early Career Promoter Fund (United Kingdom)

In recognition of the important role promoters play in supporting the talent pipeline and bolstering music ecosystems, the Fund will offer grants to contribute towards the costs of the booking, programming and promotion of gigs, concerts, club nights, showcases, tours, festivals and other performances.

Managed by PRS Foundation and funded by Arts Council England using Supporting Grassroots Music funding from DCMS, the Early Career Promoter Fund will also help to address underrepresentation, ensuring support reaches a diverse range of promoters, and proactively encouraging grantees to support a diverse range of artists and music genres nationwide.

What are partners aiming to achieve?  

• The Early Career Promoter Fund recognises the vital role independent promoters play in supporting the talent pipeline across England.
• Through this new fund, PRS Foundation (with support from Arts Council England and DCMS) aim to help emerging promoters to do what they do best – 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.
• This programme will deliver grants for early career independent promoters in the grassroots music sector, aiming to bolster the local, regional and national talent pipeline with the following intended outcomes:
  • Supporting music events in all genres, across England
  • Helping early career promoters to develop skills and feel more confident in promoting artists, DJs and bands in partnership with music venues and festivals in their area
  • Developing new partnerships and relationships between promoters and regional music venues, nightclubs and festivals
  • Developing new audiences for promoters’ work and for artists, venues, and others in the grassroots music ecosystem
  • Helping promoters to deliver events and work at a scale beyond their current level, and build their capacity, skills and networks
  • Upskilling the sector so that promoters develop grant application skills
  • Addressing underrepresentation within the live music sector, with the aim of ensuring more support is going to a diverse range of promoters alongside proactively encouraging grantees to programme and support a diverse range of artists nationwide
  • Helping and encouraging promoters to programme a more diverse range of artists and music

What can be funded?

• Applicants can request grant support of up to £3,500 to support a range of activity, including:
  • The booking, programming and promotion of events including:
    • gigs
    • concerts
    • club nights
    • showcases
    • tours
    • festivals and stages at festivals
    • multi-venue events
    • other performances
  • Costs associated with music activities including, but not limited to:
    • venue hire
    • artist fees
    • DJ fees
    • crew fees
    • production (including A/V costs, production freelancer/staff fees and other production costs)
    • a fee or contribution towards promoter time to deliver the related activities
    • administration costs relating to booking, production, and promotion of events (this might include specific events insurance, public liability insurance, utilities, etc.)
    • PRS for Music related costs to ensure songwriters and publisher are paid
    • other related costs
  • Promotion costs including, but not limited to:
    • Design costs
    • Print costs (e.g. posters, flyers)
    • Distribution costs
    • Advertising
    • Digital marketing costs
  • Capacity building including, but not limited to:
    • mentoring
    • coaching
    • shadowing and partnering with other promoters, festivals or venues
    • attending workshops, masterclasses and/or conferences (they recommend attending at least one industry event and using the grant to cover costs if needed) access to other support to build skills and connections
    • membership fees (i.e. to join relevant music trade bodies or sector specialist organisations such as the Association of Independent Promoters (AIP), Jazz Promoters Network (JPN) or the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF))
  • Other expenditure which helps grantees to programme a diverse range of artists, develop new audiences, take environmental responsibility and build their skills
    • This might include using funds to hire different venues, to improve sound/lighting or other production for events and/or being more ambitious with the level or type of acts being booked
    • Promoters want to improve accessibility or add accessible features to their events (e.g. additional costs associated with wheelchair access or accessible facilities, paying for BSL services, setting up and advertising ‘calm’ zones for neurodivergent artists or audience members, or reducing the cost of tickets for some audiences)
    • Support for environmentally sustainable costs e.g. green riders, limit use of plastics, encouraging use of public transport’

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible applicants must be based in England and funding will be available to early career independent music promoters.
• Funding partners will prioritise ‘early career’ promoters whose practice is still developing. Since grant support can cover costs relating to music events and promotion, plus capacity building, they will prioritise those with a clear need to develop their skills and better establish themselves locally, regionally, and nationally.
• Based on discussions with live sector bodies, they will allow promoters to self-identify as ‘early career’ and provide the following guidance to help potential applicants to determine whether or not they will be deemed eligible by PRS Foundation and external advisors:
  • They are highly unlikely to support those who are completely new to booking and promoting shows, and most eligible applicants will have promoted at least two events (or will bring relevant transferable skills from other similar and relevant roles)
  • Likewise, they are unlikely to support those who can be deemed as established promoters regionally or nationally
  • More established promoters should instead apply for support through Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Music Fund
  • They do not apply age limits and want to be clear that ‘early career’ eligibility can apply to any age group
  • It is likely eligible grantees will be operating on a small-scale in terms of the capacity of events they have been promoting, and the scale or setup of their business
  • Most eligible promoters will be working part-time as promoters and supplementing income elsewhere
  • The forms will ask you to describe the scale of activities and level of income in order to establish whether applicants are too established for this fund
• Most eligible applicants will be considered as ‘out-of-house’ promoters rather than ‘in-house promoters/bookers’ at venues or festivals, or employees working for one specific venue or festival.
• Grassroots music venues or festivals seeking support for activity including promotion, development of promoters, etc. should instead apply for other Arts Council England support. And ‘in-house promoters/bookers’ who do not feel eligible for the Early Career Promoter Fund may decide that other Arts Council England schemes, including Supporting Grassroots Music Fund are more appropriate.
• Those employed by major live companies (e.g. Live Nation, AEG, Academy Music Group, Ticketmaster) are unlikely to receive support via this fund, and it is unlikely those working for large-scale live promotions companies will be considered eligible – particularly where intended career development outcomes can and should be supported by these companies rather than through this funding.
• They will also consider applications from artists promoting music events which develop their own promoter brands and promoter careers and the development of scenes but not their own development as artists. While a much smaller proportion of funding will be allocated to self-promoting artists/creators in this context, this fund recognises the growing demand and importance of supporting artists to develop promotion skills, which may help to fill infrastructure gaps, support DIY scenes and address certain barriers and inferred presentation.

For more information, visit PRS Foundation.