Apply for the Music Growth Package 

Music Growth Package

Who:
As part of the Creative Industries Sector Plan, the UK Government committed up to £30m of support over three years through a new initiative - the Music Growth Package (MGP). This was supplemented by Arts Council England (ACE) with an additional £15m, taking the total to £45m.  

Within the MGP, the Government also confirmed £1.6m per annum for three years for the BPI-administered Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS), starting in 2026. The PRS-administered International Showcase Fund was also extended. 

ACE will be administering the remaining monies and has launched a new investment programme with different tiers of support. There are two relevant strands of funding for BPI members: 

This initiative is designed to support growth in new music, defined as original music (i.e. live performance, sound recording or musical work) recently or newly created or performed by living, UK-based artists or music creators. 

What: 
The ‘Music Growth Fund’ (MGF) is open to record labels, recording studios, publishers, rehearsal spaces, managers, promoters, festivals and grassroots music venues as well as the established sector bodies and other sector support organisations that support them.  

Activities that can be supported by the MGF are: 

You can make applications in two categories: 

Applications should focus on how investment will be used to support the growth of music businesses and/or the wider music industry, enhancing opportunities for artists and music creators, industry professionals, music fans and new audiences. Growth initiatives may include increased reach, strengthened business models, improved sustainability, skills development, or expanded capacity, and will be different depending on the context and ambitions of each applicant. 

The ‘Music Creators Growth Fund’ (MCGF) is open to artists, bands, producers and artist collectives and will have a portal that goes live for applications on 1st October 2026. 

Activities that can be supported by the MCGF are:

• Creating/developing/recording new music

• Releasing and promoting new music

• Domestic touring and showcasing

• Networking and market development

• Early-stage international market development activity

• Reasonable contributions towards your own time

• Business and skills development

• Developing income from existing music

• Environmental sustainability activity

• Essential equipment, software or other assets (not exceeding 25% of your total budget)

The MCGF is for applications between £10,000 and £20,000, for activities up to 18 months in total. You must find at least 25% of the total budget as cash match funding. This means if your project budget is £20,000, you will be required to find at least £5,000 of your own contribution.

Please check that you meet the eligibility criteria of the MGF or the MCGF before making an application. 

How: 
You will need to have an approved profile on the ACE grants management system before you can submit your application. It takes up to 10 working days for ACE to validate a new applicant profile. You will receive an email confirmation as soon as the validation process is complete.  

As you cannot begin an application or submit a proposal until your profile is approved, you should create and submit your profile now to avoid missing decision round deadlines. ACE cannot commit to validating new profiles in time for a particular deadline. You can log into your profile or create a new one here. If you have previously registered with ACE (under the same applicant name either as an individual or as a company), you do not need to set up a new profile.  

For full dates of application deadlines, please see below. 

Please note, if you’ve made either three unsuccessful applications or one successful application to the MGF, you won’t be eligible to apply again for 12 months from the date you submitted your most recent application.

If you've made two unsuccessful applications to the MCGF, you won't be able to apply again for 12 months from the date you submitted your most recent application. If you've made one successful application to the MCGF, you won't be able to apply again for 2 years from the date you submitted your most recent application.

ACE will be looking to distribute funds as equitably as possible so multiple applications in the same round, to the same or different funding strands, are highly unlikely to be approved.  

When:
Check that you meet the eligibility criteria of the MGF or the MCGF before you apply. 

Your project must not start before the decision date for the funding round you are applying to. Retrospective costs (costs incurred before a decision is made) cannot be covered and will be considered ineligible.  

Please see below the current timeframes for applications to the Music Growth Fund:
a) For applications between £1,000 - £40,000:

Round 1: 
Applications open: 6th August 2026
Deadline date: 3rd September 2026
Date you will receive a decision: 28th October 2026

Round 3:
Applications open: 16th October 2026
Deadline date: 26th November 2026
Date you will receive a decision: 3rd February 2027  

Round 4:    
Applications open: 27th November 2026
Deadline date: 7th January 2027
Date you will receive a decision: 9th March 2027


b) For applications between £40,001 - £100,000: 

Round 1:
Applications open: 7th September 2026
Deadline date: 1st October 2026 
Date you will receive a decision: 30th November 2026   

Round 2:
Applications open: 23rd November 2026
Deadline date: 15th January 2027 
Date you will receive a decision:  8th March 2027  

Please see below the current timeframes for applications to the Music Creators Growth Fund:

Round 1:
Applications open: 1st October 2026
Deadline date: 29th October 2026
Date you will receive a decision: 22nd December 2026

Round 2:
Applications open: 6th January 2027
Deadline date: 3rd February 2027
Date you will receive a decision: 29th March 2027

Dates for further investment rounds will be announced in due course.

If you have any questions on the above, please email memberservice[email protected]