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Home > Black Honey, Lyla Foy, and Rina Sawayama among the 20 artists to receive support from PRS Foundation’s Momentum Music Fund

Black Honey, Lyla Foy, and Rina Sawayama among the 20 artists to receive support from PRS Foundation’s Momentum Music Fund

  • 20 hotly tipped artists supported, including Flohio and Nilufer Yanya
  • Next ‘Momentum Day’ taking place at Live at Leeds on 4th May

PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading funder of new music and talent development, Arts Council England, PPL and Spotify reveal the next 20 artists who will receive support from the Momentum Music Fund. Momentum has established a reputation for funding and spotlighting the best emerging talent in the UK since it was created in 2013. The artists, who have been selected by a network of industry experts, are:

  • Abi Ocia – EP Recording and Marketing
  • Black Honey – Album Recording and Single Releases
  • Caro – UK Tour
  • Flohio – EP Recording and Release, plus Digital Content
  • Hak Baker – Album Recording and Marketing
  • INHEAVEN – Album Recording and UK Headline Tour
  • Leon Vynehall – Debut Album Recording
  • Litany – Album Recording and Marketing
  • Lyla Foy – Album Mastering and Marketing
  • Nilufer Yanya – UK Tour
  • NIMMO – Debut Album Recording
  • Only Girl – Recording and Production of 2 EPs
  • Orla Gartland – EP Marketing and Live Development
  • RALFY – EP Recording
  • Rina Sawayama – Single Campaign
  • Suspect – Music Video Production and Campaigns
  • Swimming Tapes – Album Mixing
  • Szun Waves – UK Tour
  • Tempa – EP Mastering and Marketing
  • Whyte Horses – Album Marketing

Both Flohio and Hak Baker were named in The Guardian’s Top 40 newcomers of 2018, Rina Sawayama in London in Stereo’s New Sounds of 2018, while Nilufer Yanya was in DIY magazine’s Class of 2018.

The next Momentum showcase and talent development panel will take place at Live at Leeds on Friday 4th May. Emerging artists in the area will have the opportunity to get advice and support from industry experts at The Unconference, which takes place at Leeds College of Music and The Wardrobe, 10am until 6pm, with speakers and panels TBA. Entry for this event is free but does require registration. Momentum artists Our Girl and Fenne Lily will all be performing alongside special guests TBA at the Momentum Music Showcase from 7.30pm on Friday 4th May and The Wardrobe. Entry to the showcase is free and no ticket is required. To see the full Live at Leeds line-up, buy tickets and see what events are happening over the bank holiday weekend visit www.liveatleeds.com.

Momentum supported Caro, from Leeds, said, “The Momentum Music Fund will allow us to continue touring and promoting our music in this expensive industry. It’s exciting to have people putting their faith in us and we’re very thankful for the help along the way. It’s very important for us to keep the ball rolling and we can make sure of that now with this support.”

Vanessa Reed, CEO at PRS Foundation said, “The artists selected for this round align perfectly with the name and purpose of this fund – the ‘momentum’ that’s building around their careers is propelling many of them on to the 2018 tip lists and they need some extra investment to take their careers to the next level. It’s encouraging that a few artists in this list are already taking their music to audiences overseas – Hak Baker and Nilufer Yanya stormed Eurosonic last week, while Flohio has made waves since she was a runner-up in our Emerging Talent Competition with Glastonbury Festivals. I look forward to following their next steps.”

Peter Leathem, Chief Executive at PPL commented“We are extremely excited to see such a broad spread of artists included in this latest Momentum Music Fund announcement.  Supporting and nurturing emerging talent is crucial in safeguarding the future of the music industry and we are proud to be continued supporters of the Momentum Music Fund.”

Ben Lane, Music lead at Arts Council England said: “Many congratulations to all of the successful artists in this latest funding round of Momentum, it will make a real difference to each of them. We look forward to seeing the impact this support will have on each of their careers over the coming months and years.”

Bryan Johnson, Head of Artist & Management, International at Spotify said: “Congratulations to the twenty artists selected for this round of Momentum Funding! We look forward to working with all artists and their teams, and providing them with the platform, tools and opportunities to expand their fanbase and showcase their music to our global audience of 140+ million users.”

Since 2013 the Momentum Music fund has supported over 200 artists, over 90 new albums and more than 100 UK tours totaling over 650 UK live dates. The 2016 impact report analysing the first three years of the fund revealed that every £1 invested by Momentum has generated £7.46 for the UK music industry.

Managed by PRS Foundation, the Momentum Music fund awards grants of £5,000-£15,000 using public funding from Arts Council England and support from PPL. Spotify, the official digital partner on the fund, contributes additional funding and a reward package containing exciting promotional opportunities and a close working relationship between Momentum artists and the Spotify team.

For a full rundown of all the artists supported so far see: https://prsfoundation.com/funding/momentum-music-fund/momentum-artists. The next deadline for applications to the Momentum Music Fund is 29 January 2018 via the PRS Foundation website. We are particularly interested in receiving more applications from outside of London: https://prsfoundation.com/funding/momentum-music-fund.

Listen to the latest Momentum supported artists on the Spotify Momentum playlist here.