Funding For Musicians

Resources from across the industry

There are lots of ways that you can receive financial support in a post-covid world, expounded by a cost of living crisis . In an effort to help you navigate the overwhelming number of funding options out there, we have brought together the various resources available specifically to support musicians and small businesses.

Arts Council England - National Lottery Project Grants Logo

  • Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants - Grants from £1,000 - £100,000 to help with the needs of smaller independent organisations and individual practitioners. Find out more HERE.

  • Developing Your Creative Practise - DYCP supports individuals who are cultural and creative practitioners and want to take time to focus on their creative development. Find out more HERE.

  • MOBO Help Musicians Fund - If you’re a musician making hiphop, grime, R&B, soul, music of African origin, reggae, jazz or gospel then the MOBO Help Musicians Fund is here to support you to take your career to the next level. You can apply for up to £3,000 towards recording music, and everything that goes around getting it out there into the world.

  • Record and Release - Help Musicians can support you to create new music and share it with the world. Whether it’s studio time, mastering, or promotion around a release, we can help you to record and release your music. (Up to £3000 available, plus one-to-one business advice and a personal health consultation).

  • Skills and Professional Development - This fund can provide up to £1,500 to help you enhance your skills or artistic practice. Whatever your circumstances and ambitions — you can apply for support that is specific to your career needs. 

  • Head to the Help Musicians Get Support page for more funding information, including how to receive financial support for postgraduate or undergraduate studies, mentoring, music-led creative collaboration and general advice.  

    For information on support in areas such as: Mental Health, Bullying and Harrassment, Musicians Welfare, and Physical Health, click HERE.

  • Sustaining Careers - The cost of living, the ongoing impact of the pandemic, Brexit, and personnel and venue shortages are creating a perfect storm of issues for the UK’s musicians. Musicians now face a cost of working crisis, in which rising costs and complexities around touring are having a serious impact on their ability to sustain a career. We are responding with a range of support to help musicians build sustainable careers within this challenging environment. Find out more HERE.

  • The Peter Whittingham Jazz Award supports emerging jazz artists or groups with the creativity and ambition to build a career in music. Awardees receive £5,000 in financial support towards your work, this could include recording new material, a period of mentoring, promotional activity etc. Find out more HERE.

  • Advice for funding applications - Help Musicians UK provide a comprehensive list of do’s and don’t’s for funding applications. Find out more HERE.

Musicians Union Logo

  • Parental Grant - Parental grants of £275 are available to all new parents who are MU members.

  • Disabled Musicians Membership - Disabled musician facing financial barriers can benefit from a reduced MU membership rate. Find out more HERE.

  • MU Benevolent Fund - The Benevolent Fund is a modest and limited resource, maintained solely by voluntary donations. The fund offers a small grant to members suffering financial hardship as a result of sickness or accident, or the pandemic.

    To apply, please get in contact with your Regional Office who will talk you through the next steps.

  • British Association for Performing Arts Medicine - Access a range of health and wellbeing services, specialised for performance artists. Includes clinical support and best practice guidance. Find out more HERE.

  • Youth Music Trailblazer Fund - Grants of between £2,000 and £30,000 for organisations that want to support children and young people facing barriers to make, learn and earn in music, through innovative projects that test, trial, or break the status quo. Deadline 23rd June 2023. Learn more and apply.

  • Youth Music Catalyser Fund - Grants of between £30,001 and £300,000 for established organisations that want to support children and young people facing barriers to make, learn and earn in music through sustaining or scaling up their work or changing sector practice. Deadline for expression of interest May 2023. Learn more.

  • Youth Music Incubator Fund - Grants of £5,000 to £30,000 are available to businesses, collectives, and not-for-profits working in the music industries. The fund is designed to create sustainable, meaningful career opportunities for young people aged 18-25, particularly those who are underrepresented; and to support creative employers to innovate and incubate new and diverse talent. Learn more. 

  • Youth Music NextGen Fund - The Youth Music NextGen Fund offers young creatives grants of up to £2,500 to make their ideas happen. We’ve launched the NextGen Fund to help emerging musicians and behind the scenes creatives take a step forward in participating and changing the music industries. Applications for Round 6 deadline May 2023. Learn more about the NextGen Fund. 

  • Access Fund - If you identify as disabled and need further support to make an application to Youth Music, you can apply to the Youth Music Access Fund. This provides funding to cover any additional access costs that might be required for you to make an application to one of Youth Music’s main grant funds.

    The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain Logo

  • The Royal Society of Musicians (RSM) - If you are a member, the RSM accepts applications for financial assistance. Find out more HERE.

Music Support Logo

  • Music Support - Helpline for anyone in the music industry suffering from alcoholism, addiction, emotional or mental health issues. Find out more HERE.

  • Women Make Music - Women Make Music supports the development of outstanding women, trans and non binary songwriters and composers of all genres and backgrounds at different stages of their career. The fund can support projects by women, trans and non binary songwriters, composers, artists, bands and performers who are writing their own music. LEARN MORE.

  • PPL Momentum Music Fund - The PPL Momentum Music Fund offers grants of £5k-£15k for UK based artists/bands to break through to the next level of their careers. Activities eligible for support include recording, touring and marketing. For information on applications and deadlines, click HERE.

  • Hitmaker Fund - The Hitmaker Fund offers an opportunity for songwriters and producers working in popular music genres to further develop their careers and writing/production with grants of between £5,000 – £10,000. For information on applications and deadlines, click HERE.

  • Open Fund for Music Creators - The Open Fund for Music Creators supports the development of outstanding songwriters and composers of all genres and backgrounds at different stages of their career. LEARN MORE.

  • Head to the Funding Page on the PRS website for more information on all PRS funding options.

ISM (i.e. Incorporated Society of Musicians) Logo

  • Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) - ISM members can access 24 hour support helpline and offers face-to-face counselling. They offer funding via direct contact. Find out more HERE.

BPI (i.e. British Phonographic Industry) Logo

  • British Phonographic Industry - Find useful information for those that work in the music industry. Find out more HERE. Check out their Springboard programme bringing musicians and tech startups together HERE.

MMF (i.e. Music Managers Forum) Logo

  • Music Managers Forum (MMF) - MMF offers information and support for music managers as well as a network for managers to share experiences and queries. Check out their free guides to mental health and burnout HERE and purchase a copy of their handbook 'Essentials of Music Management'. MMF also offer training for managers and host events. Listings available HERE.

Help with funding applications:

  • Funding with Mina - Artist and educator Mina posts easy-to-follow monthly round ups of open funding applications and resources to help. Learn more.

  • The White Pube - Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad are the fresh faces of art criticism. As well as talking about art, music, video games and health across many audio-visual formats, they put together a very helpful bank of funding applications. Check out their Successful Funding Application Library. Also listen to this podcast episode 'Everything You Need to Know about Funding'.

Stem:

  • Scale by Stem - Stem is an alternative royalty and distribution service designed to give artists, managers and labels more independence and control over their earnings. Scale is their advance payment service enabling artists to apply for fairer advances free from the control of a label. Learn more.

Government Resources

  • Employment & Support Allowance - If you have a disability or health condition that affects how much you can work. Find out more HERE.

  • Self Employment & Universal Credit - Monthly payment to help with your living costs. For those with low income or out of work. Find out more HERE.

  • Self-Employment Income Support Scheme - The self employed will be able to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of their average trading profits over 3 years up to a maximum of £7,500 (equivalent to three months’ profits), paid in a single instalment. Check eligibility using the new online checker tool HERE.