One of the options that musicians can choose to support their career in music is by applying for a Music Grant. It is usually awarded by the Government, organizations, or individuals for a specific purpose.
Unlike loans, you don’t need to pay the money back. You will get financial support with no strings attached and not lose control of how you want to proceed with your career. You need not to also worry about your credit history as in most cases, it has no bearing on your application.
And in case you decide to try your luck in any of the many grants, we’ve gathered some of those that you can check to help kickstart your music career.
New Music USA Grants
New Music USA envisions the US a thriving, interconnected new music community that is available to and impactful for a broad constituency of people. As a leading national source for new music, they support the music community:
Fostering new connections thru their programs
Providing Financial Support thru their project grants
Deepening knowledge and encourage appreciation through their online magazine, New Music Box, their radio station Counterstream and their New Music Directory
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
Established in 1979, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation’s work is focused on performing arts touring, support for individual artists, independent films and even international cultural exchange. The MAAF awards over 300 grants per year and have reached 500,000 individuals in the US and in over 20 countries. In 2018, there were at least 2,300 artists who participated in Foundation programming and the programs reached 299,000 people. $1.85 million was also awarded in direct grant support.
The Alice M. Ditson Fund
Since 1940, The Alice M.Ditson Fund has since been playing a significant role in supporting Contemporary American Music and has at least awarded 2,000 grants. They were founded at Columbia University after Alice M. Ditson, the widow of Oliver Ditson bequeathed $400,000 to be used on non-academic fellowships, public concerts, and publications in support of music.
Organizational Support:
This program is intended to support performing organizations, institutions, summer festivals, and conferences whose artistic excellence encourages the public to appreciate classical concert music.
Recording Program:
With an Annual Deadline every 15th of November, the program’s objectives are to document and provide wider exposure for the music of younger and relatively unknown, living American Composers.
Foundation for Contemporary Arts
The Foundation for Contemporary Arts aims to encourage, sponsor, and promote innovative work in the arts created and presented by individuals, groups, and organizations. Over 1,000 artists have contributed their artworks to help grant programs that directly support individual artists. Thus, FCA remains the sole institution of its kind: Created and Sustained by artists to benefit artists.
FCA has awarded more than 2500 non- restrictive grants since it was established to individual artists through its seven grant programs: Grants to Artists, Emergency Grants, the biennial John Cage Award, the biennial Merce Cunningham Award, the annual Robert Rauschenberg Award, the annual Ellsworth Kelly Award, and the annual Dorothea Tanning Award.
New York Foundation for the Arts
With a mission to serve individual artists, promote their freedom to develop and create and provide the public with the opportunities to experience and understand their work, the New York Foundation for the Arts provides the resources that artists and the emerging art organizations need to develop.
Each year, NYFA grants two million dollars in cash grants to artists in New York State.
Awards and Grants:
The NYSCA/ NYFA Artist Fellowship is aimed to fund an artist’s vision at all levels of his artistic development. It is awarded in 15 disciplines over a 3 year period. The application is free to complete and a $7,000 grant is awarded to artists living in the New York State and or one of the Indian Nations located therein for unrestricted use.
Canadian Women Artist’s Fund:
This funding that's granted by the Canadian Women’s Club (CWC) of New York is a $5,000 award intended to financially support an emerging artist in any manner that the artist can use to expand her artistic goals.