Grants of up to £30,000 are being offered to forward-thinking music industry employers willing to support the careers of young people in the second phase of Youth Music’s Incubator Fund.
Supported by YouTube and players of the Postcode Lottery, the grants are aimed at developing the industry expertise, digital skills and the long-term prospects of young creatives between 18 and 25 years-of-age. The investment will go to ambitious, creative music organisations in England, Wales and Scotland, especially micro-businesses and SMEs, with interesting ideas on how to incorporate young people in a meaningful, productive way to open up their career paths.
The fund, totalling £2 million, was raised in answer to the Arts Council-funded charity, Youth Music’s report, ‘A Blueprint For The Future’, which exposed serious barriers to young people trying to enter the music industry.
Addressing entrenched inequalities in the music industries
‘We see again and again at Youth Music how young people are finding ingenious ways to navigate their way into the music industries,’ said Youth Music’s CEO, Matt Griffiths. ‘Nevertheless, their progress is all too often blocked due to entrenched inequalities in the music industries. We are addressing this with our Incubator Fund, and it’s great to be collaborating with YouTube to increase the impact and support to a range of diverse organisations and young people.’
As part of the programme, YouTube is also offering digital masterclasses, one-to-one mentoring and investment to more than 60 organisations over the next year, including 31 from the first round of funding.
Ben McOwen Wilson, Managing Director YouTube UK, said, ‘The current challenges facing the creative industries are why organisations like Youth Music are more important than ever before, and we are proud to be partnering with them to support creatives in the UK, particularly those from marginalised and underrepresented groups. In helping to establish a platform for the next generation of creative talent to shine through, our goal is to create a lasting legacy that ensures the UK remains at the epicentre of culture and creativity globally.’
The deadline for the second round of Incubator funding is 5 February 2021 and further information and application advice can be found at https://bit.ly/3klvHlx.
