Music to the industry’s ears as indie acts get £250,000 government funding boost to go global
Some of the UK’s most succesful independent music acts have been given a £250,000 government funding boost to help grow their profiles overseas.
MOBO-winning jazz saxophonist YolanDa Brown and Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon are among the 21 British acts to benefit from the eighth funding round of the Music Exports Growth Scheme (Megs).
Funds awarded to labels and management companies will pay for international marketing and promotional costs.
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The scheme is run by the British Phonographic Industry in partnership with the Department for International Trade, with support from the GREAT Britain campaign.
Megs has already awarded £1.6m of government investment to promote more than 100 UK artists internationally since its launch at the beginning of 2014.
Small and medium-sized companies are eligible to apply for Megs grants ranging from £5,000 to £50,000 to help promote their UK acts around the world, with applications for the next round now being received.
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International trade minister Mark Garnier said:
The UK music industry is hugely influential and continues to inspire millions across the world. In 2015, music contributed over £4bn to the UK economy and five of the world’s top ten selling artists were British.
In the three months since the re-launch of the Music Exports Growth Scheme in October, we have awarded almost a quarter of a million pounds of funding to UK acts looking to break into international markets. Britain has an incredible pool of raw talent and, through our GREAT campaign, we will continue to help budding artists take the next step towards global success.