MOBO’s newly established charity MOBO Trust has partnered with Help Musicians UK to launch the MOBO Help Musicians Fund to support high potential music artists at the start of their careers.
The fund will offer grants of up to £2,000 each over 12 months to support exceptional talent from across the UK with their musical career ambitions. Those eligible for the grants would be able to fund a broad spectrum of activities that are vital to their development - from vocal coaching, support for live performance and touring, video production, recording studio access, PR, marketing and promotion.
The fund will also be available to producers, groups and songwriters who have been making music and performing, but do not already have significant financial backing.
Kanya King (pictured), founder & CEO of MOBO Organisation said: “MOBO has a long history of championing and supporting the next generation of musical talent in British black music. But with each new generation of artists, come new challenges to develop one’s art and get to the next level, so financial backing early on is critical to the long-term growth of a fledgling artist.
"We are delighted to partner with Help Musicians UK, a charitable organisation we have much affinity with, to offer extraordinarily talented artists the chance to progress at a crucial stage in their careers. In the past year alone, the British black music scene has grown from strength to strength, contributing hugely both commercially and artistically to our industry - MOBO continues to be pivotal in supporting the scene, from the start of a career, through to the pinnacle of success.”
The MOBO Help Musicians Fund is the first scheme to be announced by the MOBO Trust and has been developed as part of the organisation's existing talent development programme. The aim being to encourage applications from genres beyond the existing commercial heartland such as R&B, soul, hip hop, grime, jazz, gospel, reggae and African music.
Claire Gevaux, creative drector of HMUK said: “This is such an important partnership with MOBO Trust and we’re delighted to be offering this new opportunity to support emerging artists realise their career aspirations. We know that the journey to achieve a successful, long term career in the music industry can be incredibly tough. We are dedicated to investing in artists who are performing or creating great music and who, with a bit of support and guidance from this new fund can grow their talent even further.”
For the first round of applications, the deadline to submit online is November 5.
