Supporting Grassroots Live Music

Venues and promoters are crucial to England’s music ecology, developing
music and audiences as well as supporting talent development. Grassroots
music venues are where many musicians and music professionals develop
their skills and their craft, testing out new approaches and developing
audiences. These venues also provide opportunities for music professionals to
gain vital experience of live performance. They could be described as the main
‘research and development’ sector of the music industry.
All venues and promoters in England are eligible to apply for Arts Council
National Lottery Project Grants to support projects that help them bring live
music to the public. However, we currently receive few applications from the
grassroots part of this sector.

How do you apply?
Applications to Project Grants: Supporting Grassroots Live Music are made
using our online system, Grantium in the same way as the main Project Grants
programme. The application form is also the same, and it follows the same
process.
We outline the process in the ‘How to apply’ guidance, which you need to
read before starting your application. Find the guidance on our website here.
We will make grants through Project Grants: Supporting Grassroots Live Music during
the 2022/23 financial year. There are no application deadlines within that time, and the
application form is always available

We recognise that there are some significant challenges facing the grassroots
live music sector which mean venues can struggle to focus on developing
their programmes, their audiences and their business models.
As part of National Lottery Project Grants, we have set aside a new amount of
funding specifically to support the organisations and people involved in the
hosting and promotion of live music events in venues: Supporting Grassroots Live Music.