5 Music Grants for May 2026
Every month we round up the grants that arts and cultural organisations should have on their radar, with the funder context, what they're actually looking for, and one honest tip for your application. This month's edition is music-focused, covering everything from grassroots venues and early-career promoters to choirs, young people's music-making, and structured performance programmes in dance, drama and music.
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Scops Arts Trust
WHO ARE THEY?
Established in 2019 thanks to an endowment from the late Tony Wingate, a former English teacher with a deep love of the arts (and especially music), Scops Arts Trust is a small but considered UK-wide grant-maker focused on the performing arts. They run three themed grant rounds a year and prioritise small to medium-sized charities, social enterprises and constituted community groups. Each round has a specific focus, so the work that's eligible shifts through the year, and it's worth checking carefully before you start.
WHAT ARE THEY FUNDING?
Grants typically start from a few hundred pounds, with multi-year awards of up to £15,000 per annum in exceptional cases. Round 2 of 2026 is focused on early-career artist performance programmes in Dance, Drama and Music: structured pathways leading to substantive, public-facing performance outcomes. They're explicit that they're not funding participatory, educational, youth or community access programmes for this round, and that scratch nights, sharings and end-of-course showcases don't count as professional performance outcomes. Spoken word, poetry and circus are not in scope. They do not fund individuals directly.
DEADLINE
Round 2 opens 12 May 2026 and closes 26 May 2026 (Stage 1 applications). Decisions by 28 July 2026.
APPLY
ALIRA ARTS TIP
Read the round scope twice before you write. They've narrowed the definition of "performance" tightly for this round, and applications that drift into participatory, educational or community access territory will not be considered. If your programme leads to a sharing or showcase rather than substantive professional outcomes, this isn't the round for you. The narrower the round, the easier it is to disqualify yourself by misreading the brief.
Supporting Grassroots Music Arts Council England
WHO ARE THEY?
Jointly funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England, Supporting Grassroots Music (SGM) is the evolution of ACE's earlier Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund, which launched in 2019. Since then they've invested millions into hundreds of venues and promoters across England. The current version of the fund has a broader scope, taking in not just live venues and promoters but also festivals, recording and rehearsal studios, and sector bodies. The investment is sat outside the National Lottery pot, which has implications for branding and acknowledgement if you're awarded.
WHAT ARE THEY FUNDING?
Grants of £1,000-£40,000 for projects lasting up to three years. Eligible organisations include venues for live and electronic music performance, music festivals, independent promoters, recording studios, rehearsal studios and spaces, and sector bodies operating in grassroots music. Projects should support the transition of artists, bands and industry professionals to sustainable careers, develop new audiences, or support the wider grassroots music sector. England only.
DEADLINE
Round 11 deadline: midday, Thursday 25 June 2026. Decisions Monday 17 August 2026. Rolling rounds run roughly monthly after that.
APPLY
artscouncil.org.uk/supporting-arts-museums-and-libraries/supporting-grassroots-music
ALIRA ARTS TIP
The fund is explicit about wanting projects that strengthen talent pipelines and progression routes for on- and off-stage talent. Vague "support the sector" language won't carry an application. Be specific about which artists, which professionals, which pathways, and what changes as a result of your project. And remember the SGM logo and branding requirements are different from National Lottery awards, plan that into your communications budget now.
PRS Foundation Early Career Promoter Fund
WHO ARE THEY?
PRS Foundation is the UK's leading charitable funder of new music and talent development, and the Early Career Promoter Fund is one of their flagship industry-facing strands. Managed by PRS Foundation and supported by Arts Council England and DCMS, the programme is designed to bolster the local, regional and national ecosystems that emerging promoters operate in. It deliberately targets under-representation in the sector, both in terms of who is doing the promoting and the diversity of artists and genres being booked.
WHAT ARE THEY FUNDING?
Grants of up to £3,500 for early-career independent promoters in England. Funding can cover the booking, programming and promotion of gigs, concerts, club nights, showcases, tours and other performances, plus associated costs (venue hire, production, artist and DJ fees, crew, admin). It can also fund capacity-building: mentoring, coaching, shadowing, workshops, masterclasses and networking. There is a separate ring-fenced budget for access support for D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent applicants and personnel, which sits on top of the main grant.
DEADLINE
9 July 2026 (bi-monthly deadlines run year-round; decisions within 6-8 weeks).
APPLY
ALIRA ARTS TIP
The application has a separate budget question for access costs that's reviewed by management rather than external advisors. Use it. Don't bury access spend inside your main budget request, because that can affect how your overall project economics read. If you or anyone working on the show has access requirements, this is real money that won't compete with your programming budget.
Fidelio Charitable Trust
WHO ARE THEY?
Fidelio is a small, focused trust that supports exceptional early-career individuals and groups in music and theatre. There's no lengthy portal and the process is relatively simple, but there is one important structural requirement: you cannot apply direct. All applications must come from an institution, college, arts festival or similar organisation on behalf of the individual or group they are recommending. If that's you, it's worth knowing about.
WHAT ARE THEY FUNDING?
Grants of up to £5,000 for individuals over 21 or groups of exceptional ability in the performing arts, primarily music including opera, Lieder, composition and dance, and theatre. Funding can cover masterclasses, coaching, competitions, performances, compositions and similar development activity. The recommending institution must vouch for the skill of the people they're backing and describe their professional relationship with them. No self-applications, no under-21s, no course fees, no capital items, no retrospective expenditure.
DEADLINE
15 May 2026 (spring round)
APPLY
ALIRA ARTS TIP
If you're an arts organisation or festival, think about which early-career artists you work with who are ready for a genuine step up, a specific masterclass, a competition, a performance opportunity they couldn't otherwise afford. Your application is essentially a professional recommendation, so be specific: why this person, why this opportunity, what difference it makes. Generic applications won't land here.
Youth Music Trailblazer Fund
WHO ARE THEY?
Youth Music is the UK's leading charitable funder for children and young people's music-making, with a remit explicitly focused on disrupting the status quo around who gets to make, learn and earn in music. The Trailblazer Fund is one of their main grant programmes, structured around their published impact themes. They are particularly interested in work that supports young people who face the biggest barriers to music education and the industry: care-experienced young people, young people with SEND, young people from low-income backgrounds and racially minoritised communities.
WHAT ARE THEY FUNDING?
Grants of £2,000-£30,000 for projects with children and young people aged 25 and under across the UK. Projects must align with at least one of Youth Music's published themes, which span making, learning and earning in music. They fund a mix of new and established organisations and are clear that they want to back work that challenges current practice rather than replicate it.
DEADLINE
The next round opens 31 July 2026. Check the Youth Music site closer to the date for the exact closing deadline and any updates to themes.
APPLY
ALIRA ARTS TIP
Youth Music are direct: they want applications that name their themes, evidence the barriers they're trying to remove, and show how the project actively changes practice. Pick the theme that genuinely matches your work, don't try to cover all of them. Generic music education applications, even very good ones, will not compete well against organisations who have built their proposal around Youth Music's strategic priorities from the ground up.
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