New ACE fund to support pop musicians

A scheme to help would-be pop musicians achieve their full potential is being funded to the tune of £0.5m by Arts Council England (ACE), which is looking for an organisation to run a pilot small grants scheme for early to mid-career musicians in the contemporary popular music sector. The Music Industry Talent development fund will provide support to “outstanding emerging artists to develop their potential in the commercial music industry.” The scheme will be delivered over the next two years and will focus on “artistic quality and distinctiveness”. ACE describes the scheme as responding to changes in the recording industry: “particularly following the development of digital technology, investment in talent development is more limited than it once was.” Chief Executive, Alan Davey, said: “Through this fund, we hope that we can remove some of the financial barriers that prevent artists in the contemporary popular music sector from progressing… we all need to work together to ensure that talent can find its way and artists continue to flourish, despite recent changes.” The scheme is expected to be launched in April 2013 and will run until March 2015.