BOOST: Victorian Artist Managers’ Export Assistance Program
Updated 13 July, 2023
The Victorian Music Development Office (VMDO) and Association of Artist Managers (AAM) Australia are thrilled to launch Round 3 of BOOST: Victorian Artist Managers' Export Assistance Program, aimed at reconnecting Victorian Managers with international and domestic markets.
For Australian artists showcasing at major international industry events such as SXSW (Austin, US), The Great Escape (Brighton, UK) and Bigsound (Brisbane, QLD), the on-ground presence of their manager or management team is essential to provide comprehensive support. Artists have enough on their plate navigating showcase performances, rehearsals, and other activities - it is the managers who will be there working to maximise opportunities for their artists, attending networking and industry activities and events, connecting with industry from around the world to build global relationships, teams and opportunities for their artists.
With SXSW and The Great Escape having returned in March and May respectively, and Bigsound imminent, now is the chance to get these export-ready artists’ careers back on track. Recognising that it takes substantial investment from both artists and managers to attend showcases overseas and interstate, VMDO and AAM believe it is vital that managers attend with their showcasing artists, allowing the team to fully take advantage of these pivotal global career moments.
VMDO and AAM are launching “BOOST” to financially support Victorian managers who are attending SXSW, The Great Escape and now Bigsound, with a showcasing artist. For Round 3 all eligible managers will receive a share of $10,000, which will be evenly distributed and offered as a bursary to all eligible applicants, assisting them with the cost of interstate travel to attend BIGSOUND.
KEY DATES (Round 3 - Bigsound)
Applications Open: Thursday 13 July, 2023
Applications Close: Sunday 13 August, 2023, 11:59 pm AEDT
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The BOOST program will be split into 3 rounds, supporting Victorian artist managers who are attending SXSW in Austin, US in March 2023 (Round 1), The Great Escape in Brighton, UK, in May 2023 (Round 2) or Bigsound in Brisbane in September 2023 (Round 3) with an official showcasing artist.
If you meet the eligibility criteria below, your application will be approved and you will receive a portion of the overall funding available for this program for your round ($15,000 for Rounds 1 & 2, $10,000 for Round 3). This funding pool will be evenly divided between all eligible applicants in a single round, and the amount each recipient receives will be determined once all applications have been received and eligible applicants approved. Please note that eligible applicants can apply for Round 1 (SXSW) or Round 2 (The Great Escape), but not both. Successful applicants from Rounds 1 or 2 may apply for Round 3.
To be eligible to receive funding through Round 3 of the Boost program, an applicant must:
Be a Victoria-based manager (not self-managed artist) who is accompanying an official showcasing artist at Bigsound in September 2023. The artist can be based anywhere.
Have an ABN (you may use the ABN of the business that you are working for)
Manager applicants can only apply once, regardless of how many showcasing artists they're representing at BIGSOUND. If 2 or more managers are co-managing a showcasing artist, only one of those managers would be eligible for funding. If 2 managers from the same company/business are applying, they can each apply individually, but they must be representing different showcasing artists at Bigsound.
You do not need to be an AAM member to apply for this program.
Agree to complete a post-program feedback survey after attending Bigsound
All recipients may be mentioned in communications from VMDO or AAM.