British Council partners with PRS Foundation’s International Showcase Fund to connect opportunities for UK music creators in more overseas markets
- This new partnership increases the number of eligible festivals that music creators can apply for support to showcase at, in territories including sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, East and South East Asia and Latin America
PRS Foundation announces today a new partnership with its International Showcase Fund initiative and the British Council to connect UK music creators with showcasing opportunities at more festivals in territories, such as sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, East and South East Asia and Latin America.
The International Showcase Fund is run by PRS Foundation in partnership with Department for Business and Trade, Arts Council England, British Underground, Musicians’ Union, Creative Scotland, PPL, Wales Arts International and Arts Council of Northern Ireland. It offers vital and timely support for artists to take their first steps into international territories by enabling them to perform at key showcasing festivals and conferences such as SXSW (USA), Reeperbahn Festival (Germany), New Skool Rules (Netherlands), Zandari Festa (South Korea), NYC Winter Jazz Fest (USA), Womex, Eurosonic (Netherlands), LUCfest (Taiwan), Jazzahead (Germany), Seoul Music Week (South Korea) and Mutek Montreal (Canda) which attract thousands of people working in the music industry from every corner of the globe.
This new partnership will help foster new UK – international connections with festivals and provide exciting opportunities for artists to expand and strengthen business and cultural links between UK and more overseas music sectors. By increasing the number of eligible festivals, music creators can apply for support to showcase and develop profile in markets and territories further beyond Europe, Canada and the United States.
As part of this new partnership with the British Council, UK music creators will be eligible to apply for International Showcase Fund to support showcasing at an expanded portfolio of festivals. These include Mutek Buenos Aires / Artlab Festival (Argentina), Feira Preta Festival (Brazil), Porto Musical (Brazil), Bahidora (Mexico), Mutek Mexico (Mexico), We The Fest (Indonesia), Monsoon Festival (Vietnam), Echoes of Earth (India), Magnetic Fields (India), AfroFuture Festival (Ghana), Santuri East Africa (Kenya), Africa Rising Music Conference (South Africa), THE MUSIC IMBIZO (South Africa) and Nyege Nyege (Uganda).
The support available to music creators will be open to new ways of showcasing (including writing camps) which are appropriate to the countries they take place in, ensuring that each opportunity has maximum impact in developing international careers.
Becci Scotcher, Senior Grants & Programmes Manager at PRS Foundation said,
“We’re incredibly excited to be announcing this new partnership with the British Council and our International Showcase Fund. We know from our recent 2019 report that showcasing overseas has a hugely positive impact on artists and the UK music industry. Through this partnership we will be able to support artists to access more eligible events to showcase their music, in more territories, create new connections and build their international careers.”
Joel Mills, Director of Music at British Council said,
“We’re delighted to join PRS Foundation’s International Showcase Fund as a partner to expand the opportunities for music creators to perform at international festivals. In broadening the portfolio to developing markets, we hope to enable valuable business and cultural connections. We anticipate it will strengthen UK – international relationships and increase opportunities for both UK artists and the participating festivals.”
