The New Music Creator Fund offers grants to individual music creators who need support to get to the next stage of their creative practice. The program will support costs which relate to collaboration with other artists and practitioners. Individual performers may also apply as long as their collaborator is a music creator. The aim is to enable music creators to take the lead in the development of new and existing ideas and projects. The Fund is also striving to stimulate creativity and collaboration between music creators and other artists from any discipline or background and to build community in response to the restrictions all have been facing.

This fund encourages new collaborations. These collaborations may revolve around existing work that music creators want to bring to life, record, or transform for a new medium. It could focus on the creation of new work, the R&D time needed with artistic collaborators and/or a live or virtual performance of some kind. Most important is that the proposed work will have a positive impact on the next steps in the creative practice of all participants.

Applicants will be able to seek support for a variety of activities which may form part of their collaboration. Applications must be led by music creators and can involve creative collaborators from any discipline.  Projects may be in progress or recently beginning. They can be process or performance-oriented, rather than leading to a definitive final outcome.  

The Fund aims to support and represent a broad range of individuals across the country and musical spectrum.

The following will be prioritized:

• Music creators who have evidence of experience making music professionally and are engaged in music on a professional level.  
• Projects that do not already have funding or limited funding  
• Projects involving new collaborations 
• Projects that involve artistic growth or stretch, innovation, or have an impact on creative practice  
• Projects that display originality of sound, music, and artistry, shaping the future of music creation and sound.  
• Projects that impact or contribute to the community in some way.  

Allowable expenses include:

• Support for the time you need to create new material and initiate new collaborations with your proposed artist(s) 
• Creation fees for a work in progress that does not have additional support 
• Performer or other collaborator fees
• Project specific equipment 
• Recording costs 
• PR/marketing 
• Technical assistance/skills building  
• Support for digital presentation 
• Workshopping  
• Joint R&D (research and development) into new project ideas  
• Other costs you consider to be essential e.g. childcare for yourself or a collaborating artist 

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)