The BRIT awards: where it all begins
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Last night we enjoyed the 42nd BRIT Awards, a night of glitz and glamour for chart-topping superstars. We saw the likes of Dave, Sam Fender and Little Simz taking over our screens, with phenomenal performances and greatly-deserved awards triumph. And what do those three artists have in common? Well for one thing, they all received public funding at the start of their journey that helped them get where they are today. For Dave, it was performing at SXSW thanks to the PRS Foundation International Showcase Fund, while Sam Fender was able to record two singles and a music video supported by the PRS PPL Momentum Music Fund and Little Simz received two rounds of funding from National Lottery Project Grants.
Of course, we can’t go without mentioning Adele’s comeback performance. As well as being a global superstar, she’s also an alumnus of Get It Loud In Libraries (GILIL) - a programme delivering high-quality, live music events in libraries in towns and cities throughout the UK. Since 2005, GILIL have been showcasing emerging artists on the cusp of breaking through to the mainstream. Self Esteem, Hadouken and Wolf Alice are all GILIL graduates, having played gigs in libraries across England.
One of the key ways public funding supports artists is by investing in local, grassroots independent music venues across the country. These venues are vital to England’s music ecology. They’re where new bands form, develop their craft as musicians, songwriters and performers, and begin to build a local audience. They showcase new talent and bring through the next generation of award-winning superstars to grace our screens in years to come. They also nurture the off-stage talent – engineers, managers, promoters, and venue and event management teams without whom audiences would never have the thrill of hearing these bands live.
That’s why we’ve supported over 250 venues and promoters with over £4 million in investment since 2019 through NLPG Supporting Grassroots Live Music, funding everything from family friendly gigs to refurbished bathrooms and helping a number of much-loved grassroots venues upgrade their kit.
We support early career development for artists through a number of different programmes too. Like ILUVLIVE, one of our National Portfolio Organisations which hosts showcases in six cities across England, and has featured the likes of Little Simz, Ray Blk and Wretch 32, as well as running an artist development programme whose 13 participants have all gone onto sign recording or publishing deals, including Nao.
Vital to the impact of all this work, is that as well as providing artists with a platform, we make sure there’s people in the room to see them. That’s why we support initiatives like Independent Venue Week and their Yes We Can programme, a scheme created to work with grassroots music venues to run daytime education and community programmes.
A really successful venue will keep the chip shop next door going…These places are essential to a soul of a town.
Day one of this year’s Independent Venue Week saw James Bay at Brudenell Social Cub and Years and Years at the Wardrobe - a great start to the week for Yorkshire! There were also incredible performances by post-punk band Pom Poko at Norwich Arts Centre and a celebration of Chameleon’s 35th anniversary at the Cambridge Junction. Each of these venues received lifeline support thanks to the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund, which ensured 136 venues could weather the storm of Covid-19 with a dedicated Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund.
It’s these iconic venues which create the most memorable experiences for audiences. Have you noticed how conversations with older generations often begin with “back in my day I saw them perform at *insert small independent venue*…”? It’s a habit we seem to take on, a real “show-off” statement to be able to have seen global superstars at the start of their success. So, make sure to support your local venue and upcoming artists, you never know… they might be the ones picking up awards in years to come.
