Early Career Promoter Fund

The Early Career Promoter Fund is open again for applications. For the latest advice see our ‘How to Make a Strong Application’ webinar with Grants & Programmes Manager Ben Price on our YouTube channel here.

Early Career Promoter Fund recognises the vital role independent promoters play in supporting the talent pipeline across England, and offers grant funding and capacity building support, with the aim of bolstering the local, regional and national ecosystems.

Grants of up to £3,500 will be 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 supported by Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Early Career Promoter Fund also helps to address under representation, ensuring support reaches a diverse range of promoters, and proactively encourages grantees to support a diverse range of artists and music genres nationwide.

Webinars and video advice on how to apply are available on our guidance page and on our Youtube channel. Further webinars may be held ahead of future rounds – keep an eye on our socials or click like and subscribe on our youtube channel.

PRS Foundation are currently managing deadlines in July and September 2026, and decisions will be made within 6-8 weeks of each deadline.

Check deadlines before applying: click here

Read the Guidance and Apply Here

Support for applicants with access requirements

All applicants who may be working with artists or personnel with access requirements are advised that:

We encourage all applicants to consider better accessibility practice for their live activity and to consider if anyone working on your activities may have access requirements
This may, for example, include those who need additional support workers or a personal assistant to be able to carry out their jobs, or someone who needs to travel in a way that meets their access needs
If you already know who will be working on your live activities, we suggest you ask them if they have any access requirements before submitting your application

Applicants requiring additional access support on top of the main Early Career Promoter Fund grant support are advised that:

Applicants should submit Total Project Budget and Request Amounts that do not consider additional access costs for themselves or other people working on the show. Applicants are asked to outline non-accessibility related expenditure and income within their main budget submission but note audience access costs should be considered in your main budget in the relevant section.
An additional budget question allows applicants to detail additional access requirements which will be considered by our management team and will therefore not be seen or considered by external advisors unless mentioned in main application responses
Funding decisions will not be affected by additional accessibility support requests and if selected, an appropriate offer amount will be pledged
We have ring-fenced a budget for applicants and projects which require additional access-related funding support, and a contribution towards such costs will be offered at the discretion of management
We expect all applicants to additionally consider audience access, but these costs should be part of your main budget submission and not within your request for access top-ups