Thirteen more acts set to promote UK music abroad

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Thirteen more music acts are set to receive support to sell UK music abroad through the Music Export Growth Scheme

• acts including Kate Tempest and You Me At Six to receive funding through Music Export Growth Scheme ( MEGS)
• in its first year, the scheme has helped bands such as Public Service Broadcasting and Catfish and the Bottlemen achieve global recognition

Thirteen more music acts are set to receive support to sell UK music abroad and promote their careers overseas, Business Secretary Vince Cable announced today (19 February 2015).

Through the Music Export Growth Scheme, each artist will be able to put the funding towards tour support, overseas venue costs, international travel costs, marketing, promotion and PR costs. These factors can prevent an artist from being able to take that step from established UK musician to commercially successful international act.

The scheme is run by UK Trade and Investment ( UKTI) – the government department that helps boost the exports of UK companies – and UK music trade body BPI. In the latest round, 13 independent UK music companies behind the careers of British talent have been awarded grants of between £5,000 and £30,000.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said:

Britain’s creative industries are the envy of the world. You only have to look at the success of Sam Smith at the Grammys earlier this month to see British music is still very much striking a chord with music fans across the globe.

The Music Export Growth Scheme has provided help to some of the UK’s most promising stars, continuing our strong musical heritage while boosting the UK economy through increased ticket and music sales.

This latest round of winners has something for most musical tastes and I wish them well as they launch their talents onto the global stage.

The latest recipients of MEGS funding are:

• 2:54 (London)
• Futuristic Polar Bears (Manchester)
• Diagrams (Sheffield)
• Hookworms (Leeds)
• Kate Tempest (London)
• Mallory Knox (Cambridgeshire)
• Philippa Hanna (Sheffield)
• Kitty, Daisy & Lewis (London)
• Public Service Broadcasting (London)
• You Me At Six (Surrey)
• Kindness (London)
• Dan Croll (Liverpool)
• Young Guns (London)

Mikey Chapman from Mallory Knox explained the importance of the funding to the band:

No matter how hard you work as a band, sometimes there just isn’t enough money to do the things you need to do to advance as an artist.

The MEGS was announced in September 2013 following a meeting between the music industry and Prime Minister David Cameron.

Over the past 12 months, the scheme has received more than 300 applications for support and helped more than 70 UK music companies actively promote Britain’s most-promising musicians overseas.

The recipients of funding can count between them:

• 13 record deals
• 22 sync deals which has seen their music placed on TV programmes, movies and video games, as well as 1 YouTube advertising deal
• 10 international music awards
• numerous offers of TV shows and a range of publishing, live, brand and sponsorship deals, including 2 performances on the David Letterman Show in the United States

As the cost of touring and overseas promotion continues to increase, the financial assistance has provided necessary funding to allow bands to perform to fans around the world, including:

• Catfish and the Bottlemen who played at the New York Governors Ball and Bonoroo Festival in Tennessee
• Public Service Broadcasting who toured with the Manic Street Preachers
• The Temperance Movement who toured with The Rolling Stones
• Bo Ningen who toured with Kasabian and supported Black Sabbath
• Band Of Skulls who toured with Queens of the Stone Age
• Lulu James who toured with Gorgon City and played at Ibiza Rocks
• various artists who have performed at global festivals including Hellfest (France), Nova Rock (Austria), CMJ (New York), Fuji Rocks (Japan) and Wacken (Germany)

Geoff Taylor, BPI Chief Executive, highlighted the importance of the Scheme to artists’ careers:

Digital music is global and that has increased the opportunities for British artists overseas. The fantastic success of Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Coldplay and One Direction around the world proves there is a strong appetite for British music, but some independent labels do not have the resources to promote an artist in every export market they might want to target. The Music Export Growth Scheme, run by the BPI and UKTI, helps to fill this gap and is giving a real boost to British music overseas.

The next round of the Music Export Growth Scheme will open for applications from independent music labels, artists, management companies and other music SMEs across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on 2 March 2015.

gov.uk