UK artists who are struggling to afford to tour have until 11.59pm on Sunday September 13 to apply for a share of a £300,000 fund aimed at making live music more inclusive. The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), in partnership with the Music Managers Forum (MMF) and the Musicians' Union (MU), has increased the total pot from £125,000 for the second phase of its UKAT programme.
The fund provides «top up» financial support to cover shortfalls in touring budgets. Artists can apply for up to a maximum of £8,000, or up to 40 per cent of total eligible tour expenditure, whichever is lower. The money can be used for a combination of headline, support and festival shows, and unconfirmed show bookings can be included as long as they are confirmed before funds are awarded.
The scheme is financed by donations collected through the LIVE Trust, which gathers voluntary «levy» contributions of £1 from tickets sold at major arena and stadium gigs. Artists including Harry Styles, Radiohead, Lorde, Kasabian and Wolf Alice have contributed. The LIVE Trust has distributed more than £500,000 so far through this and other schemes involving the Music Venue Trust, with millions more said to be on the way.
FAC CEO David Martin said the first phase, launched in March with £125,000, proved the demand was enormous. «We funded artists from a massive range of genres: 26 artists, 211 shows and an audience reach of 60,000,» he said. «The economic activity that it unlocked was massive. That top-up model works.»
Martin described the expansion as «an even bigger step to making live music more inclusive and accessible to all», with funding available for artists of all genres, from all regions and from all backgrounds. He said the scheme is particularly important for those who cannot afford to make a loss on tour. «Those from working class backgrounds who can't afford to lose £2,000 can now line their shows up, find out if they've got the funding and then pull the trigger,» he said.
Harry Styles has again agreed to contribute £1 from every ticket sold to his upcoming London shows in 2027 to the fund, among other charities. Martin said the donations from the biggest shows now have a tangible outcome. «Through UKAT, there are now 26 extra artists out on the road touring without financial losses as a result of the donations from the very biggest shows,» he said. «It's a very virtuous full circle.»
While the voluntary levy is proving a success, there is mounting pressure for the government to make it mandatory for all gigs at arena level and above to contribute £1 from each ticket sold to support grassroots artists and venues. Martin said he would prefer big companies to come around the table voluntarily rather than through government intervention. «I think calls for government intervention are premature and risk destabilising the progress that we're making,» he said. «We're showing that it's working.»
He added that in a few months the fund would have supported 80 artists in its first year, and more big shows are contributing. «The UK's live music sector could become world-beating and reinvigorated again. We have a duty to make it work,» he said.
Artists have until 11.59pm on Sunday September 13 to submit their applications. To qualify, tours must meet eligibility criteria set out by the FAC.