Behind the scenes songwriters, producers and music creators to receive grants of up to £10k to get to the next stage of their careers

Streamlined application process to access grants that can support creative and professional development activities

Building a unique community to encourage networking and foster creative relationships and collaborations

PRS Foundation, the UK's leading charitable funder of new music and talent development launches today (Thursday 21 November 2019) the Hitmaker fund.

Hitmaker will build upon and replace The Writer Producer Fund, the ground-breaking opportunity to support songwriters, producers and music creators working behind the scenes in popular music genres to further develop their careers and writing/production credits with grants of up to £10,000. Under the previous guise the fund has supported talent that has worked with the likes of Nicki Minaj, Paramore, Stormzy, Kylie and many more. One such supported production team being The Fanatix who have since gone on to secure a publishing deal with Universal as well as a record deal with Sony.

The Fanatix production team said, "The fund came at a pivotal time for us, we were gaining momentum and knew access to funds would leverage even more opportunities and lay the foundation for upcoming project releases. We used the fund to allow ourselves more time to create, pay studio fees, marketing and equipment which helped us to continue winning key cuts, secure high profile sessions and develop projects for releases e.g Stylo G x Nicki Minaj x Vybz Kartel, David Guetta, Idris Elba, Giggs, Popcaan, Kranium, Yxng Bane, Fredo, Not3s, NSG, B Young, plus many more.

"The activity and support from the fund coupled with hard work, and a strong team helped us set up a great foundation to springboard from. We are also fortunate that the combined activity and efforts also resulted in deal offers for publishing and records which we signed recently."

The new Hitmaker fund will have a streamlined application process and will build a community of behind the scenes music creators through events and a unique online network designed to connect talent and encourage collaboration.

At a time where it is becoming harder for up and coming behind the scenes creatives to earn sufficient funds to forge a sustainable career in the music business, PRS Foundation's Hitmaker fund serves to address the need to support these creators who are the bedrock of the modern music industry.

PRS Foundation's Hitmaker fund is open to UK based 'behind the scenes' songwriters, producers and music creators that have had at least three commercially exploited works, whether performed live, received media coverage, radio play, streams or released via commercial channels.

Applicants can apply for support for:

• Time to create
• Training / Skills courses at places such as Point Blank / SSE
• Creative / Professional development
• Studio hire
• Purchase of equipment / software / hardware (covers up to 25% of costs)
• Tracking
• UK writing space rental / lease
• Maternity leave and childcare
• International activity that could build profile and benefit creative development

Applications can be made through the PRS Foundation website:
http://www.prsfoundation.com

Applicants will need to submit at least five of their works as examples. The first deadline for applications to be submitted by is 6th January 2020 at 6pm.

Joe Frankland, CEO at PRS Foundation said, "The success of The Writer Producer Fund has shown the creative and career impact of significant support for those working behind the scenes. This new and improved Hitmaker fund will build upon this foundation and connect more music creators to fast-track long-term careers. I'm looking forward to seeing who applies and how the support will impact their career."