PRS Foundation announces the twelfth round of promoters supported through the Early Career Promoters Fund
- Since Round 1 over £620k in support has been issued to more than 200 early career promoters
- 55% are based outside London (for the twelfth round)
- Nearly 60% of funded grantees are women and gender diverse
- Early Career Promoter Fund is currently open for applications and closes on 11th December 2025
We’re excited to announce the twelfth of promoters receiving the targeted Early Career Promoter Fund, supported by Arts Council England using strategic funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The 18 early career promoters, selected for support by a network of specialist music industry advisors, are:
Francis Jno-Baptiste: A brunch playing different music genre’s and performances every hour
Nanette Brimble: YardFest Jazz will deliver two Emerging Artist Seasons, doubling performance opportunities for early-career jazz musicians, while growing diverse audiences and building capacity as a promoter
Cat Nguyen-Walker: Funding for 2026 B2B DJ battles – Season 3 launch Grow + Expand
John Harbison: A year-long bi-monthly series at Notting Hill Arts Club, spotlighting diverse grassroots talent and regional acts, leading into our Great Escape showcases.
Mathew Innocent: House music event with DJ’s
Jinx-jae Hood: Events promoting trans singer/songwriters across Leeds and beyond
Henry Farrant: Run a series of events at the Brighthelm Centre with our Big Ears high fidelity soundsystem to cultivate optimism through a range of music
Hayden Oliver: Expanding Trapdoor into a regular platform for genre-blending artists, combining live music and immersive experiences while prioritising fairness, inclusivity, and sustainable growth in the underground
Atay Ilgun: I’ll establish a new curatorial body and event series, and organise its first two events, focusing on merging experimental music, performance, and concept heavy events
Luke Thomas: Develop ‘VoiceBox’, a London queer, grassroots platform for cross-genre and experimental performance, ensuring fair pay while connecting UK performers with an international queer artist community.
Geaola Adeyemi: I plan to keep momentum for Club Makumba by organising inclusive events and DJ workshops in grassroots spaces, strengthening community connections and creative development.
Charlie Morrall: Events celebrating female non binary creatives – collection of bands, soloists, rappers/poets & DJs, as well talks panels and workshops – multi genre events
Hannah Seymour: To develop a selection of large-scale events, providing a unique platform for emerging artists and female composers, celebrating Women’s History Month and empowering new audiences
Siana Byfield: A club night with a Valentine’s theme, but celebrating all kinds of love (not just romantic).
Duncan Sime: New Folk Festival an all-day event showcasing new voices and diverse perceptions of contemporary UK folk music for audiences in the Colne Valley and beyond
Richard Chapman-Boon: Rap Council Presents: Shutdown – London’s finest grime and rap MC’s descend on the Rap Council stage for one day only. 2-10pm, cyphers, clashes, headliners.
Karl Schussig: 2 Flash Parties in East London showcasing emerging talent alongside established DJs, building sustainable grassroots music community
Sian Rees: Three spring Sounds Between shows in grassroots venues, showcasing Londons underexposed, diaspora fusion artists foregrounding live music in immersive listening environments
The Early Career Promoter Fund recognises the vital role independent promoters play in supporting the talent pipeline across England and within the nighttime economy, and offers grant funding and capacity building support for individual promoters, with the aim of bolstering the grassroots music ecosystems.
Grants of up to £3,500 are available to support a range of activity, including:
- The booking, programming and promotion of gigs, concerts, club nights, showcases, tours and other performances
- Costs associated with those activities (including venue hire, production, artist and/or DJ fees, crew fees, administration and other related costs)
- Capacity building (including mentoring, coaching, shadowing, workshops, masterclasses, and other skill building and networking opportunities)
- Other expenditure which helps grantees to programme a diverse range of artists, develop new audiences and build their skills
The fund aims to help emerging promoters to do what they do best – book and promote shows to develop scenes, support artists and DJs and to reach and engage audiences locally, regionally, and nationally, and build sustainable careers in the grassroots music sector. Those receiving support will be able to step up to book and promote talent at a scale beyond their current level, and build their capacity, skills and networks.
Managed by PRS Foundation and funded by Arts Council England using Supporting Grassroots Music funding from DCMS, the Early Career Promoter Fund also aims to help address underrepresentation, ensuring support reaches a diverse range of promoters, and proactively encouraging grantees to support a diverse range of artists and music genres nationwide.
This announcement of supported promoters is from applicants to the 4th September 2025 deadline. Successful grantees from subsequent deadlines will be announced over PRS Foundation’s social media over the coming months.
Promoters can find out more information and apply for Early Career Promoter Fund support from PRS Foundation’s website.
