Grants of up to £10,000 available to get songwriters and writer-producers to the next stage of their careers

Grants can support a number of different creative and professional development activities including recording, musician fees, attendance of songwriter camps and sessions, training/skills courses and maternity/child care costs.

PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading funder of new music and talent development launches today The Writer Producer Fund in association with the BASCA Trust, a charity dedicated to music education and supporting songwriters and composers.

The Writer Producer Fund is a ground-breaking new opportunity for songwriters and writer-producers working in popular music genres to further develop their careers and writing/production credits with grants of up to £10,000. 

PRS Foundation and the BASCA Trust have initiated this fund in response to the fact that songwriters and writer-producers have not benefited from dedicated grants or major funding programmes of this kind in spite of their role at the centre of the music industry creating the content which drives its success. This new fund recognises the importance of songwriters and writer-producers and aims to support the most talented songwriters and writer-producers to realise their potential. 

PRS Foundation’s Writer Producer fund is open to UK based ‘behind the scenes’ songwriters and writer-producers that have had at least three commercially exploited works, whether performed live, received media coverage or radio play, or released via commercial channels. Applicants can apply for support for:

• Recording costs 
• Costs relating to songwriter camps/ co-writes/ collaboration 
• Musician fees
• Creative / professional development
• UK studio space rent
• Training / Skills courses 
• Marketing and promotional costs related to songs/tracks reaching an audience
• International activity that could build your profile and benefit your creative development (other than international conference events which can be covered by the International Showcase Fund) 
• Project related maternity or child care costs

Applications can be made through the PRS Foundation website. Applicants will need to submit at least five of their works as examples. The first deadline for applications to be submitted by is 19th June 2017 at 6pm. 

Songwriter Carla Marie Williams who has co-written for artists including Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Craig David, Girls Aloud and Kylie Minogue says,

"I'm so delighted the Writer Producer Fund has been created. As a professional songwriter of 10 years, I can seriously say The Writer Producer Fund will most definitely be a crucial new resource for songwriters wanting to invest in themselves and create new opportunities for their careers, whilst maintaining momentum. The fund will inspire and motivate a community of songwriters and will hopefully help to increase UK songwriters success worldwide! Exciting times!”

Vanessa Reed, CEO at PRS Foundation said, “We’re delighted to launch this new fund, the first of its kind, to support the career development of talented songwriters and writer-producers, who play a critical role in the UK’s music industry.  Talented music creators who work behind the scenes rather than on stage and in the limelight tend to be overlooked when it comes to funding. Our new initiative responds to that gap, allowing some of the most exciting songwriters and writer producers to access the crucial support they need to take that next step in their career. I look forward to seeing who applies over the next few months and to working with our friends at the BASCA Trust on maximising the reach of this important resource.”

Vick Bain, CEO of BASCA and a trustee of the BASCA Trust said “The culture of music is always changing. The Writer Producer Fund offers songwriters and writer-producers, who are often “behind the scenes” of great music, the capacity to gain new skills and develop professionally in their careers. I am very excited about this scheme which will reach out to communities of music creators who are not necessarily performers; and perhaps have not been able to access such extensive support before”