Opportunities

Providing financial support to professional musicians who fall through the gaps of government support or are unable to make ends meet

Help Musicians is a charity that has been supporting professional musicians for nearly 100 years. In this incredibly difficult year, we have been doing all we can to support the thousands of musicians who are falling through the gaps in government support and are really struggling to survive.

The Arts Council opened applications for a new Culture Recovery Fund, specifically to support organisations at imminent risk of failure until the end of the year.

Who can apply: Organisations who were financially sustainable before Covid-19 but are now at imminent risk of failure and have exhausted all other options for increasing their resilience.

Grant range: Between £25,000 and £3 million (£1 million for for-profit organisations)

Key dates:
Permission to apply requests will be accepted from 8 July 2021
Application Open Date: 12pm (midday), 12 July 2021
Application Deadline: 12pm (midday), 30 September 2021.

Each year, Keychange recruits women and gender minority Artists and Innovators to take part in a year-long programme of development.

The focus of this programme is:

1. To help you to get to the next stage in your career and realise your potential
2. To bring about meaningful change across the music industry and help you to overcome the barriers you face because of your gender.
3. To connect you to opportunities created by an international network of individuals, organisations and audiences

If you are selected to be part of the Keychange participant programme, you will join an exceptional network of women and gender minority artists and innovators.

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.

Applicants must be: Songwriters (behind the scenes creators of new music who don’t also perform or produce), or Producers (those working on production who contribute to the songwriting process and are acknowledged as writers).

The Open Fund for Organisations supports new music projects led by promoters, talent development organisations, venues, festivals, curators and large performance groups*.

Projects must involve the creation, performance and promotion of new music and enable songwriters, composers, or solo artists, bands, producers and performers of all backgrounds to develop creatively and professionally.

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.

The fund can support projects by songwriters, composers, or artists, bands, producers and performers who are writing their own music or commissioning others.

The MOBO Help Musicians Fund exists to facilitate opportunities for musicians making Hip Hop, Grime, R&B, Soul, music of African origin, Reggae, Jazz and Gospel.

Whether you need financial support to get into the studio, business advice to help market your new release, investment into merchandise to elevate your brand or a grant to hire your dream session musicians, the MOBO Help Musicians Fund may be able to support you.

The MOBO Help Musicians Fund offers a package of support including: £3,000 grant towards music project, 1:1 business advice sessions tailored to each awardee’s individual needs and 1:1 health consultation with British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM) professionals.

Do It Differently Fund exists to support musicians to create new music, develop their skills, and build income streams and business skills to drive their careers forward with the tools they need, regardless of genre or career stage.

Whether you need financial support to get into the studio, business advice to help market your new release, investment into merchandise to elevate your brand or a grant to hire your dream session musicians, Do It Differently Fund may be able to support you.