Essentials Fund - Sound and Music

Applications are currently closed.

The Essentials Fund is a new grant scheme open to any composers, music creators or artists working creatively with music and sound, to purchase essentials for their practice. 

We will run several open calls annually, and reflect and evaluate our approach regularly to ensure this offer remains relevant and in line with our strategic aims.

The first round of the Essentials Fund will open on Thursday 10 October 2024, and a second round will be announced in early 2025. We hope to support at least 20 composers each year through the Fund.

The Essentials Fund is made possible thanks to the generous support from Arts Council England and the Francis Chagrin Award. Francis Chagrin was the founder of the Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM), one of the new music organisations that merged to form Sound and Music in 2008.

How does it work?

The Essentials Fund is a small grant of between £250-£400 to support your work through paying for self-learning projects, equipment, mentoring, and other direct costs for a project or to support your artistic development in other ways. We will be running a number of rounds every year.

Below is an example, not an exhaustive list, of the types of activities this Fund can support:

an online course
a programme of coaching or mentoring sessions
acquiring and learning new software or hardware packages
acquiring technical equipment integral to the creation of a specified new work or livestreaming opportunity (e.g., LED lighting panels or camera)
a self-directed composition project that would benefit from a period of rehearsal, workshopping or collaboration with a musician(s), ensemble or other artistic collaborator (e.g., visual artist, other performing artist)
undertaking a recording of existing work with one or more musicians

We are looking for applicants who have a clear idea of the activity or support they would like to access, what difference this will make and who will be able to pay for both the activity and their own time with the Fund. There is no requirement to complete a new work or have a performance date secured.

Who can apply?

The Essentials Fund is open to any composer, music creator or artist working creatively with music and sound. To be eligible you must:

Be based in the UK
Be aged 18 or over
Not be in full or part-time education (in any subject) at the point of applying
Not be on one of our artist-development programmes (New Voices, Seed Award, In Motion, In the Making, or an active commission) at the time of applying
Not have received one of our grants, commissions, awards, or participated on an artist development programme by Sound and Music in the last six months

We strongly encourage applicants from under-represented backgrounds, whether because of a protected or other characteristic, to apply to the Essentials Fund. We want to ensure that our work goes to support artists where the funding will have most impact. We know that despite many positive changes in recent years, there are many barriers in the sector that limit access to opportunities, and we actively want to address these imbalances. You can read more about our Fair Access Principles and our commitment to Equality, Inclusion and Diversity.

If you have any questions about the application process, please contact Grace Bailey (Grace.Bailey@SoundandMusic.org).

How do I apply?

Applications are currently closed.

In this round of the Essentials Fund we will award grants of up to £400. In your application, we will ask to you explain what you want to spend the grant for and the total amount you are applying for. We will select a minimum of 11 composers in this round.

The application form will be on Airtable, and we also accept video or audio applications. If you require the application form or information on this page in a different format in order to apply, please email Grace Bailey (Grace.Bailey@SoundandMusic.org).

In the application form, we will ask you the following:

to submit a short biography (up to 100 words)  
to answer questions on our online form (or submit a video or audio application of no more than two minutes) in which you describe the proposed activity or purchase you want the Fund to contribute to, and the impact it will have on your practice
to complete our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form

Please note that, as per our eligibility criteria, if you are successful in your application for this round of the Essentials Fund, you will not be eligible to apply to In Motion this autumn.

We recommend you consider carefully which pathway is most likely to meet your needs when making an application. If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact us to help you select the right opportunity for you.

What happens next?

Applications will be scored by a panel consisting of Sound and Music team members and an external panellist: artist, composer and creative facilitator Elijah Maja.

High-scoring applications are shortlisted, and the panel then meet to make their selection for the Essentials Fund.

We will inform all applicants of the outcome of their application by Friday 22 November 2024.