Lynsey de Paul Prize

The Lynsey de Paul Prize is an opportunity for emerging female solo music creators, set up in collaboration with the PRS Members’ Fund, in memory of Lynsey de Paul, who sadly passed away in 2014.

Lynsey was an award-winning songwriter, producer and presenter who helped pave the way for other women writers in music. Lynsey was the first female songwriter to win an Ivor Novello Award, composed 12 top twenty hit records, and achieved success in a business dominated by male songwriters. As a writer and musician, PRS director, and trustee of the PRS Members’ Fund, Lynsey was aware of the challenges women face in the music industry.

In line with Lynsey’s commitment to supporting women songwriters and musicians, the winner of the Lynsey de Paul Prize will receive a £2,500 development bursary and five runners up will each receive a £1,200 development bursary. In addition to this, the winner and runners up will each receive £500 of mentoring support from a music industry expert.

The same awareness of the need to support women music creators drove PRS Foundation to introduce their Women Make Music fund in 2011. The desire to draw attention to the gender gap between men and women music creators has allowed PRS Foundation to support almost 200 projects by female musicians through Women Make Music.

Eligibility:

This prize is open to applications from emerging women songwriters, based in the UK, who show great musical ability and promise.

• Applicants must have some experience of writing/producing music for an audience, e.g. have published tracks on soundcloud, played live, etc.
• They must present a clear case as to what they would do with the grant and how it would benefit their development
• Applicants should not have management, label representation, publishing or other business relationships in place at the time of application. We recommend our Open Funding Programme, Women Make Music, and Momentum Fund for artists with teams in place.
• We will prioritise music creators who sing and write lyrics and are therefore unlikely to support instrumentalists
• This programme is not open to those who have previously received PRS Foundation funding.

The Application Process

We are not currently accepting applications for this fund