About PRS Foundation

We are the UK’s leading charitable funder of new music and talent development. PRS Foundation has for 25 years invested in the future of music – funding new music and supporting careers from the grassroots up.

Since 2000,PRS Foundation has given more than £50 million to over 9,000 new music initiatives. 7 out of the last 8 Mercury Prize winners had received PRS Foundation support and the charity has supported music creators that have gone on to win BRITS, RPS, AIM and Ivors Award-winners.

PRS Foundation supports outstanding talent from all backgrounds, covering the whole of the UK and all genres, with grantee success stories including Little Simz, Wolf Alice, Dave, Sam Fender, Years & Years, AJ Tracey, Anna Meredith, English Teacher, Yola, Glass Animals, Ezra Collective, Sasha Keable, Ghetts, Shiva Feshareki, Sarathy Korwar, Floating Points, Nadine Shah, Lostboy, Imogen Heap, IDLES, Kae Tempest, Kojey Radical and Yard Act.

We enable songwriters and composers to realise their potential. Grantees go on to create exceptional new music, sustain careers and reach new audiences thanks to direct support which is in tune with the needs of music creators.

We also stimulate sector development from the grassroots up through the organisations and industry professionals we support – working across the UK and in all genres. And our targeted action approach helps us to address talent pipeline gaps and to forge a more inclusive, equitable and richer music industry for the benefit of all.

Music creator grantees almost triple their PRS for Music income within 2-3 years of receiving a grant, and this investment in talent development helps to generate over £10m per year for the UK music sector.

Widely respected as an inclusive, collaborative and proactive funding body, PRS Foundation supports an exceptional range of new music activity through direct grants to music creators and through support for pioneering organisations, including venues, festivals, promoters and other talent development organisations. PRS Foundation leads the charge to create a stronger, fairer and inclusive music sector and is home to the Women Make Music fund, co-founders of global gender equality initiative, Keychange and most recently the POWER UP initiative to tackle anti-Black racism in music.

If you’re a talented UK-based music creator or an organisation or industry professional looking for support, find out more via Funding page.

Our mission:

We play a pivotal role in the future of new music and talent development across the UK; our support transforms the lives and careers of music creators from all backgrounds, so they realise their potential, create exceptional new music and reach audiences anywhere in the world.

Registered Charity Name: The Performing Right Society Foundation
UK registered charity number: 1080837

PRS for Music

PRS Foundation was established in 2000, with thanks to support from main donors PRS for Music whose ongoing support enables us to fund new music and support music creator development from the grassroots up.

PRS for Music’s grants to PRS Foundation are primarily funded from non-licensing revenues, most notably from interest earned on royalties awaiting distribution.

The core donation from PRS for Music enables PRS Foundation to raise between £1.5m-£2m each year from other sources in order to reach more music creators and to support more grantees.