UK Music Funding and Support

Here you'll find the latest UK music opportunities and UK music funding resources that we're aware of, from the British Council and beyond. We update this list as often as we can. Further down, you'll find more information about the key UK music organisations offering funding, support, advice and opportunities for music projects. You can also read below about how we work within the Music team here at the British Council.

 

LATEST UK MUSIC OPPORTUNITIES

We round up music opportunities from the British Council and beyond. Let us know if there's an opportunity you've seen, or you're involved with, that you think we should share more widely.

You can also try the Arts Opportunities page on the British Council Arts website for various funding options and new opportunities. While these are not all music opportunities, many arts opportunities are open to music creators, organisations or those working across creative disciplines and the list is updated regularly.

 

MUSIC OPPORTUNITIES FROM THE BRITISH COUNCIL

SELECTOR RADIO – SUBMIT YOUR SOUNDS, GET YOUR MUSIC PLAYED

If you want the chance to reach our 4 million listeners worldwide, get in touch!

No deadline

 

MUSIC OPPORTUNITIES FROM AROUND THE WEB

Check back soon.

 

ADVICE AND SUPPORT

Many of the pages below provide additional reading and links to further resources you may find useful, even if you are not eligible for a particular scheme.

HELP MUSICIANS UK

Help Musicians offer support to musicians at all stages of their career including into retirement. They offer advice and support in various forms and can point you to additional specific resources for UK musicians in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

MUSICIANS UNION

The Musician Union represents over 30,000 musicians, 'working to protect our members' rights and campaign for a fairer music industry.' They run schemes to help members who are struggling and champion causes and campaign such as those to 'make streaming fairer'.

PRS MEMBERS' FUND

Since 1934 the PRS Members’ Fund has provided support and advice to PRS (Performing Right Society) members and their families, who may be struggling financially, physically or emotionally and are in need of help. The Fund do this directly through provision of grants, information and signposting to other support services, as well as through partner organisations.

PRS FOUNDATION

The PRS Foundation provides opportunities for UK organisations and music creators to apply for.

MAKING MUSIC

Making Music is there to support, advise and provide resources for UK-based amateur and voluntary musicians.

YOUTH MUSIC

Youth Music work in the UK, a national charity investing in music-making projects for children and young people experiencing challenging circumstances.

THE MUSIC EDUCATION YEARBOOK AND BRITISH & INTERNATIONAL MUSIC YEARBOOK

The Music Education Yearbook and British & International Music Yearbook (both published by Rhinegold) have information on music scholarships and education grants within the UK and overseas.

 

BRITISH COUNCIL MUSIC

The British Council's Music team works to create trust and understanding between the UK and the rest of the world through the medium of music. Working in over 100 countries across the globe, we develop and support music work in a variety of ways including:

However, the British Council itself is not a funding body and we cannot respond to ad hoc requests for funding or touring support. We work very closely with other public bodies involved in supporting UK music overseas including Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Wales, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Department for International Trade and the equivalent bodies in the rest of the UK. Each body has its own purpose and we aim to support and complement each other rather than duplicate. In brief, you could say that the Arts funding bodies' main aim is to develop artists, the trade bodies are more involved in export and the British Council works with market-ready artists and organisations.

You can find out more about how these bodies work alongside each other and what opportunities currently exist for UK music in our report, Going International.

 

WORKING WITH THE BRITISH COUNCIL'S MUSIC TEAM

Our specialist music programme managers work closely with colleagues overseas to identify projects which will meet the British Council's strategic priorities in their country, often planning at least a year ahead. If you have been invited to perform overseas and would like to explore the potential for British Council support, we strongly recommend that the overseas partner approaches the local British Council office in the country concerned to discuss the project in general terms with our local Arts team before submitting full details. Also the British artist, ensemble or music company should contact our Arts staff based in London to assess the likelihood of British Council support.