Grants up to £2,500 are available to support individual young music artists, professionals and adjacent music creatives across the UK to help build confidence in applying for funding, project planning and delivery. The funder particularly wants to hear from people who have never applied for funding before.
The Fund is for early-stage musicians and wider music adjacent creatives to invest in their own projects and make their ideas happen. The NextGen Fund is especially aimed at those whose lack of finance holds them back from pursuing their goals.
Grants of up to £2,500 are available to 18–25-year-olds (and up to 30-year-olds who identify as d/Deaf or Disabled) who live in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Youth Music wants to support the future of individuals involved in the music industries, including singers, rappers, songwriters, producers, DJs, A&Rs, managers and agents, right through to roles that have yet to be defined.
The Fund is designed to help emerging artists and professionals develop the skills needed to participate in the fast-moving music industries. Modern creatives are having to be more versatile than ever, and they want to see young people challenging themselves to adapt to the modern climate. This could be developing skills like video editing, graphic design, coding alongside their artistic venture.
Individuals can apply to develop a project that they can run and deliver mostly by themselves. Some examples of ideas are (please note that this is not an exclusive list):
- A creative music project: a single, EP or contribution towards an album campaign. The music can be already made or in the process of being created.
- 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, and
- 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.
Applications from the following applicants are likely to be prioritised for grant support:
- People that are too early stage to be funded by larger grant programmes like Arts Council England and PRS Foundation.
- People who are creative, entrepreneurial and are multi-disciplinary - even if they don’t recognise themselves as such
- People who do not have the financial means to invest in themselves to get their ideas started, and
- Those who might be discriminated against, for reasons that could include Gender, Race, Disability, location, or other characteristics.
Further information, guidance and details about how to apply can be found on the Youth Music website.
The next application deadlines are 5pm on the following dates:
NextGen Fund Round 9 Deadline: Friday 28 June 2024 for notifications in September 2024
NextGen Fund Round 10 Deadline: Friday 15 November 2024 for notifications in February 2025