Here’s A List Of Some Organisations Offering Financial Support For The Creative Industry

As any self-employed person will tell you (and even most full-time people), COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on our livelihoods. Musicians and those working in the music industry are having a particularly tough time as the pandemic has forced the closure of all live music events and festivals, completely removing some people’s entire incomes. While things are certainly bleak, there are some resources out there that can offer financial support, either through low-interest loans or grants. There have been quite a few to emerge in the last few days so we’ve collected together as many links as we could find. Naturally, there’s small print and not everyone will be eligible for everything, so make sure you read through it all.

Arts Council England has made £160 million in grants available to the cultural sector. The new support package includes £20m for individuals (made up of grants of up to £2,500 each), £90m for National Portfolio Organisations—venues and others that get annual funding—and £50m for organisations outside that scheme.

The £20 million available to individuals applies to artists, creative practitioners and freelancers. Such individuals will be able to apply for grants of up to £2,500 if they have a track record in publicly funded culture. The institution stated that they’re “looking to provide £4 million from this £20 million budget for grants to benevolent funds targeted at other cultural workers.”

Head here for more info.

Spotify has launched their COVID-19 Music Relief initiative, which sees them donate (and match donations made via that page) to organisations supporting musicians. They’re working with a whole host of organisations and charities, and although they’re not offering direct funding, they are making contributions to charities and are supporting some of the schemes listed below.

Head here for more info.

One of the groups Spotify is working with is the PRS Foundation, who have announced a number of schemes and offers, including an emergency relief fund with PRS Music. For individual ‘music creators’ (i.e. songwriters, composers, artists, bands, producers or performers who write their own music), they are offering a range of grants, depending on the the progression of your career, your usual income, and whether or not your tour. There are also funds and support networks designed to support promoters, small labels and other organisations.

Head here for more info.

Help Musicians have launched their Coronavirus Financial Hardship programme that offers one-off payments of £500 per applicant. Although a one-off payment, the fund is designed to give creatives immediate financial relief as well as other resources that can assist struggling musicians.

Head here for more info.

Similarly, for writers, authors and filmmakers, The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, the Royal Literary Fund, English PEN with the T.S. Eliot Foundation, and Amazon UK have joined forces with the Society of Authors to provide grants of varying amounts up to £2,000.

Writers and authors should head here for more information, and filmmakers should head here.


Posted on March 26, 2020