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Home > PRS Foundation partners with Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland to offer major international development opportunities to musicians from Northern Ireland

PRS Foundation partners with Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland to offer major international development opportunities to musicians from Northern Ireland

  • Northern Ireland based artists at crucial stages in their careers can now apply for vital funding
  • Grants of between £5,000 – £15,000 are available through the Momentum Music Fund for bespoke development
  • Export ready artists from Northern Ireland are eligible to access support for international industry showcasing opportunities through the International Showcase Fund (ISF)

PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading charitable funder of new music and talent development has today announced a new partnership, with Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Invest NI, to support its Momentum Music Fund and International Showcase Fund, initiatives to offer vital development opportunities to musicians from Northern Ireland.

The new partnerships means that talented Northern Ireland based artists can now apply to the Momentum Music Fund, for grants of between £5000-£15,000, to support bespoke development support such as recording, touring and marketing. Momentum boasts huge success stories including Anna Meredith, Years & Years, Novelist, Public Service Broadcasting, and Bugzy Malone.

Likewise, export ready artists from Northern Ireland are now eligible to apply for financial support, of up to £5,000, through the International Showcase Fund (ISF), to travel to and perform at, music industry facing showcase events including, SXSW, WOMEX, Folk Alliance, Classical:NEXT, Eurosonic, JazzAhead, Reeperbahn Festival and Canadian Music Week.  The International Showcase Fund (ISF) can support costs for international travel, accommodation and visas for those artists invited to perform at an industry event in a territory that will be beneficial to their career development.

The International Showcase Fund is currently open for applications to those artists that have already been invited to SXSW.  Applications can be made at PRS Foundation website here until 23rd November 2018.

Vanessa Reed, CEO at PRS Foundation said, “We’re delighted to announce this new partnership with Arts Council of Northern Ireland which will extend our vital career development and international showcasing opportunities to talented music creators in Northern Ireland. Thanks to this new partnership, artists from the whole of the UK are eligible to apply to industry funds which have a significant impact on music creators’ careers and contribute to the success of the wider music industry: every £1 invested through ISF generated an additional £8.90 in revenues and the Momentum Music Fund has generated £13m for the industry.”

Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music, Arts Council of Northern Ireland added, “The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is proud to partner with PRS Foundation and Invest NI in these important initiatives which enable our artists to take that all important next step in the development of their professional musical careers.  The Arts Council is committed to providing valuable, meaningful opportunities for our artists to develop and these funding programmes offer artists not only the opportunity to connect with the UK-wide industry, but also to showcase the tremendous talent that is inherent to Northern Ireland on an international stage.  Both funding programmes have seen huge success in other parts of the UK and we are thrilled to be able to offer these exciting opportunities now to artists here.”

Brian Dolaghan, Director of Technology & Services, Invest NI said: “Northern Ireland has a strong base of musical talent which has been developed over many years with support from a wide range of stakeholders including Invest NI.

“By supporting this initiative we aim to help grow and develop this sector by supporting external markets and develop closer links within the global industry.”

Since 2013 the Momentum Music Fund has supported over 270 artists, over 160 new albums and more than 170 totalling over 1,000 UK live dates. Managed by PRS Foundation, the Momentum Music Fund awards grants of up to £15,000 using funds from PRS Foundation, PPL, Arts Council of Wales, Welsh Government and Creative Scotland. Spotify contributes additional funding and a reward package containing exciting promotional opportunities and a close working relationship between Momentum artists and the Spotify team. PRS Foundation and Arts Council England initiated The Momentum Music Fund in 2013. Arts Council England originally established the need for this specific fund and supported the programme from 2013-18.

The International Showcase Fund is run by PRS Foundation in partnership with Department for International Trade, Arts Council England, British Underground, Musicians’ Union and more recently Creative Scotland, PPL and PledgeMusic. It offers support for artists to take their first steps into international territories by enabling them to perform at key showcasing festivals and conferences such as Canadian Music Week, SXSW, Reeperbahn, Zandari Festival, Womex, Eurosonic, Jazzahead and Mutek which attract thousands of people working in the music industry from every corner of the globe.

To find out more information please visit www.prsfoundation.com.

PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading charitable funder of new music and talent development has today announced a new partnership, with Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland, to support its Momentum Music Fund and International Showcase Fund, initiatives to offer vital development opportunities to musicians from Northern Ireland.

The new partnerships means that talented Northern Ireland based artists can now apply to the Momentum Music Fund, for grants of between £5000-£15,000, to support bespoke development support such as recording, touring and marketing.  Likewise, export ready artists from Northern Ireland are now eligible to apply for financial support, of up to £5,000, through the International Showcase Fund (ISF), to travel to and perform at, music industry facing showcase events The International Showcase Fund (ISF) can support costs for international travel, accommodation and visas for those artists invited to perform at an industry event in a territory that will be beneficial to their career development.

The International Showcase Fund is currently open for applications to those artists that have already been invited to SXSW.  Applications can be made at PRS Foundation website here until 23rd November 2018.