The UK is still behind with its support for commercial music
Helienne Lindvall says the Momentum fund is a “welcome start” but should be expanded, considering the UK’s worthy arts position.
What do Arcade Fire, Feist, Carly Rae Jepsen and the Knife have in common? They've all launched their careers with the help of public funding (yes, Jepsen's debut EP, which included the worldwide hit Call Me Maybe, was publicly funded).
"British music is such a big export and I can't understand why, until now, British artists have not been supported," says Jack Hamson Jr, drummer in Thumpers. The band is one of the 10 first recipients of a grant from the recently launched Momentum Music Fund. Unlike in many other countries, arts funding has never before been available for so-called "commercial" music acts in Britain. The assumption appears to have been that the UK music industry would fund itself.
Sure, record labels do fund some artists' careers. But the problem, the head of the Arts Council, Alan Davey, explained when it launched the Momentum scheme, is that major labels "want talent to be delivered to them ready made and they're not prepared to take a risk over a long period of time investing in talent".
What do Arcade Fire, Feist, Carly Rae Jepsen and the Knife have in common? They've all launched their careers with the help of public funding (yes, Jepsen's debut EP, which included the worldwide hit Call Me Maybe, was publicly funded).
"British music is such a big export and I can't understand why, until now, British artists have not been supported," says Jack Hamson Jr, drummer in Thumpers. The band is one of the 10 first recipients of a grant from the recently launched Momentum Music Fund. Unlike in many other countries, arts funding has never before been available for so-called "commercial" music acts in Britain. The assumption appears to have been that the UK music industry would fund itself.
Sure, record labels do fund some artists' careers. But the problem, the head of the Arts Council, Alan Davey, explained when it launched the Momentum scheme, is that major labels "want talent to be delivered to them ready made and they're not prepared to take a risk over a long period of time investing in talent".