In this guest blog, our colleagues at Help Musicians talk you through the financial support they offer to musicians, and give guidance on completing a funding application. 

Help Musicians is a charity that loves music and for 100 years has been working hard to make a meaningful difference to the lives of musicians across the UK. A musician’s life can be precarious with ups and downs throughout a career, so the range of help on offer ensures there is something relevant to every musician at different stages of their lives and careers.

We know that creating music can be expensive, navigating the business often requires professional advice, and the specialist skills needed to record, release and grow can be costly to gain. We provide financial support to help musicians achieve their creative potential, develop their skills, grow their portfolio and build a career. Whether you’re looking to release new music, embark on a music-led collaboration or work on developing your skills, opportunities for support from Help Musicians are always available.

Applying for financial support is a completely different skillset to music creation and can be a daunting process. When applying for support at Help Musicians, a series of blogs are there to help guide you through each stage of the application process; from identifying the support that is right for you, to choosing whether to apply via written application or video, to how to write your budget.  

Once you're ready to apply for our support, our application is split into five parts:

1. Writing a biography; your biography is your moment to shout about your music and career so far. 
   
   
2. Writing about key milestones; your key milestones should act as a timeline for your proposal.
   
   
3. Writing a summary of your creative activity; this is when you can get into the details of your ideas and tell us why our support is significant to you and your career. 
   
   
4. Writing about the impact on your career; the 'impact on your career' section is where you help us understand why your proposed activity will be an important step for your career at this point.
   
   
5. Writing a budget; a budget can be tricky, so use your timeline as a prompt while you work through this, making sure you account for all costs at each step.
   
   

For more detail on how to fill out your application, our series of blogs and videos are there to help you answer each section. If you have any questions about the support we can offer, want to talk through your plans, or are looking for advice about the application process, book some time to talk it through with one of the team - they are there to help you along the way.

 

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