The Music Development Office recognises the value of showcasing opportunities and delegate attendance for artists and music businesses at international and national music conferences.
Showcasing performances can significantly increase an artist's profile amongst new audiences and foster engagement with industry representatives who may further their career such as managers, booking agents and record label A&R scouts. Also, attendance as a music conference delegate can provide new insight into industry issues and significantly increase and artist or business’s networks and further their professional development.
For South Australian artists who are selected for these coveted performances, and/or industry who seek to participate in these valuable conferences, they may face the financial burden of travelling great distances to attend these national or international events.
To address these barriers to market, the Music Development Office offers a range of funding opportunities:
Export Contribution Fund – for artists who are officially invited to showcase at a selected range of international events.
The National Contribution Fund (two streams) -
- Showcases - for artists who are officially invited to showcase at Bigsound or SXSW Sydney
- Regional and Remote Delegate Bursary – for artists and businesses from regional areas who may significantly benefit from attending the Regional and Remote Music Summit.
In partnership with Sounds Australia, the Export Contribution Fund provides a non-competitive $3,000 contribution to travel costs for eligible artists who receive an official invitation to showcase at Folk Alliance International (Kansas, USA), SXSW (Austin, USA), The Great Escape Festival (Brighton, UK), Americanafest (Nashville, USA) ,The Reeperbahn Festival (Hamburg, Germany), and the International Indigenous Music Summit (Toronto, Canada).
If you are officially selected to showcase at any of these particular international events, Sounds Australia will be in contact with you to organise the payment of funding. There is nothing extra you need to do.
For details, visit:
In Australia, the most prominent showcasing opportunities are presented by the annual conferences South by South West (SXSW) Sydney and Bigsound (Brisbane).
The National Contribution Fund – Showcase stream (NCF-S) will offer $1,000 each to artists who can demonstrate their official showcase selection for either of these national opportunities, to be used for travel costs.
The National Contribution Fund - Regional and Remote Delegate Bursary stream (NCF-R) supports artists and businesses from regional areas who may significantly benefit from conferences that focus on the issues faced by remote/non metro parts of the sector.
Regional artists or businesses must be officially recommended by MDO partners Music Australia, Music SA or Country Arts SA to attend the annual Regional and Remote Music Summit.
This stream will offer grants of $1,500 each to support travel, accommodation, and per diems incurred while attending the summit.
Contact us
For further details on how to access this funding, contact Sounds Australia regarding the Export Contribution Fund (international), or the MDO regarding either stream of the National Contribution Fund.
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