NEXTGEN FUND OVERVIEW

What is the NextGen Fund for?

✓ To support early-stage musicians and music-adjacent creatives.

✓ To help young people invest in themselves, develop their skills, and bring their creative ideas to life.

Who is the NextGen Fund for?

✓ 18-25-year-olds or 18–30-year-olds (if someone identifies as d/Deaf, Disabled, or Neurodivergent).

✓ Those who have never received funding before.

✓ Those who face significant barriers to further their careers and make their ideas happen.

✓ Those who are in early career stages.

New Grants Portal

We have updated the application portal. This means that you will need to create an account to be able to submit your application.

Once you are on the new portal website, simply click on 'sign up' and follow the instructions. You must use the same login email every time to retrieve your application so don’t forget to note down which email you’ve used.

Working with collaborators

While you may collaborate with others as part of your project, the grant recipient must be a single person, and the primary focus must be on supporting that individual's artistic growth and ideas.

When working with collaborators, we encourage you to consider carefully who makes the application, and what you can put in place to support collaboration to take place fairly and smoothly. Our resources on safety and rights in the music industries may support with this.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in applications

We know that using AI can help with writing a funding application. Youth Music is not against applicants using AI to support them with this. However, if you do use AI to help you draft your application, please make sure it’s an honest reflection of your work and plans.

We often find AI answers are quite generic, with multiple applicants responding the same way. This can have a negative impact on your assessment so make sure the application reflects who you are.

Access support

Youth Music is committed to offering a clear and accessible grant-making process that is open to everyone.  If you identify as d/Deaf, Disabled, neurodivergent or have a long-term health condition, you can apply to our Application Access Fund to help you with application. You can also include personal access costs on top of the maximum grant in your NextGen Fund application. Find out more about our access support offers here.

Contact

You can book 1:1 calls during the application period with our grants team to discuss your project and ask us any questions. To book these or ask us any questions us email us on grants@youthmusic.org.uk or phone us on 020 7902 1060.