Arts Council England (ACE) has set aside GBP1.5m (€1.7m) to support projects hosting and promoting live music in grassroots venues.
Supporting Grassroots Live Music aims to help successful applicants across three years and offer financial support between GBP1,000 (€1,150) and GBP40,000 (€46,000). The money will operate as a strand in ACE’s National Lottery Project Grants programme with its own ring-fenced budget.
By setting aside the budget, ACE aims to encourage applications from small music venues and promoters by reducing the high level of competition they face when applying to the main Projects Grants stream. Grassroots venues often allow new artists to learn their trade and connect with smaller audiences.
“Grassroots music venues are essential both for our world-renowned music industry and communities across the country, and there needs to be a collective effort from both the public sector and music industry to support them.” Darren Henley, CEO, ACE commented, “With this fund we’re ensuring that grassroots venues and promoters working in genres such as rock, pop and hip-hop have the support they need to create the best possible environment for artists and audiences.”
Applicants must be able to prove to ACE that they can cover 10% of the total costs of their projects and the new applications deadline is set for March 2020. Funds will not be limited to certain music genres such as rock or pop, other music genre projects are encouraged to apply allowing a full spectrum of contemporary music to be brought to live audiences.
