Fast Track: application guidance

To apply you must:

• Have a track record of making 40% of your income from music over the past two years or longer
• Be aged 18 or over, living in the UK, with the right to live and work in the UK and with a UK bank account
• Not have more than £10,000 savings or access to other capital that could fund your planned activity

This support is categorised as Band 3. Full eligibility criteria can be found here. We strongly recommend you read these before making an application.

Beyond this, to receive this award you have to:

• Be able to deliver the activities we’d be supporting you for within 6 months of receiving the funds
• Have control over one or more aspects of your career, i.e., self-managing, self-releasing or self-producing

No. This support is for individual musicians.

However, you can use the funds towards participation in a group project as long as the money is spent on the eligible items (below) and you can show how your involvement will help your own career in music.

In the application is it important you focus on your own music history and goals and not your group’s history and goals.

If multiple members of your band or group are eligible then you can apply as individuals but we will only fund the same project once. The applicant who is approved will need to be involved in all other aspects of the support.

If multiple members of the same band or group are eligible then we will consider funding different projects delivered by the group, but we are highly unlikely to fund multiple projects from the same group or band at within 12 months of each other.

No, you can only apply for, and take part in, one creative and career service at a time. 

This means that if you are awaiting the outcome of another career development application you will not be eligible to make any further applications. 

This also means that if you are receiving support from another career development award or service you will not be able to apply for any other career development support until the other support has ended. This would usually be when you have completed your activity and submitted a final report. 

This does not impact access to our Health and Welfare services, and you are welcome to apply to us for physical health, mental health or financial welfare support at any time if you need. 

This grant is for musicians who require a short turnaround on support during a pivotal moment in their career.

You can spend the grant on any of the three types of activity below.

Please note you can apply for up to £500 and simpler applications can be more easily assessed so we encourage you only apply for the costs you need right now and apply for less than £500 if that’s all you need. 

Instruments and Equipment

• Purchase of musical equipment
• Music production and composition software / hardware
• Performance related technology that will enable you to improve your income from music 
• Costs relating to essential upgrade/​, repair or maintenance of existing instruments and equipment
• Repairing an existing laptop that is used as your primary music equipment

Opportunities

• Gigs that will have a long-term impact; whether that be a high-profile support slot, adding an impactful venue to your tour or performing at a festival, exposing you to new audiences or networks
• Touring costs such as van hire, transport, rehearsal space hire, tech costs, visa advice, visa costs, or payment for session musicians
• One-off, last-minute recording opportunities i.e. studio hire 
• Part-funding of a wider project, especially where those aspects are crucial to get a project over the line. This could include engineering fees, mixing/​mastering fees, PR (where professional PR will have an impact – i.e. you have already had demonstrable press coverage and platforming), content creation (music videos/​social media content). 

Skills development

• Costs or registration fees for short courses, mentoring or coaching
• Registration fees for conferences which present demonstrable skills development and networking opportunities specific to your career growth
• Consultation or one-off lessons to improve your musical skills and creative practice

Here is what we can’t currently support:

• Activities that take place within 6 weeks of a submitted application
• Costs towards your own time
• Ongoing overheads, e.g., utilities and insurance or costs of buying or insuring vehicles
• Anything that doesn’t clearly develop your career as a musician
• Contribution towards long-term formal courses of study or research (e.g. undergraduate or postgraduate study)
• Continuation of regular one-to-one lessons
• Attendance as a performer at showcases already supported by funds like the International Showcase Fund (e.g. SXSW, CMJ, A3C, Womex, Reeperbahn, Folk Alliance International, Canadian Music Week) 
• Costs associated with entering competitions 
• Funding towards a larger project where this contribution makes up less than 10% of the total project cost
• Buying a laptop

You can apply for Fast Track support within the following windows:

• Monday 20 May - Friday 7 June 2024, 5pm
• Monday 1 July - Friday 19 July 2024, 5pm
• Monday 26 August - Friday 13 September 2024, 5pm
• Monday 14 October - Friday 1 November 2024, 5pm

If you are eligible and have read the guidance on this page then the link to begin your application can be found at the bottom of this page.

Applications are made using our online portal.

We want everyone to be able to access our services, so if you have access requirements then please find out more about how we can help here.

If you are a musician with a disability, from the Global Majority, a woman or LGBTQ+ musician, then you can apply for Inclusive Selection when you make an application. Find out more

We always receive more eligible applications than we can support so we prioritise applications based on:

Timing and urgency: the timing of this opportunity is critical rather than it being something that you could do at any time 

Long-term: you can show us how this support will help you grow your music career and income in the long term, not just make a short-term difference 

Track record: you can show consistent dedication to your music over time 

We expect this fund to be very competitive, with around 1 in 5 applications being successful.

We recommend you go over all our application guidance before applying for the best chance of success.

We try to assess these as quickly as possible and we will let you know within 6 weeks of your complete submission date.

Please don’t apply for activities that happen sooner than 6 weeks of the date you submit. We cannot fast track applications and we cannot provide updates on when you will hear back from us.

Please note, if you don’t provide all required information for us to assess your eligibility or application we will pause your application while we wait for more information from you and this will slow down the process.

You will need to accept the terms of the grant online. Usually people receive the grant within 10 days of accepting the grant.