NextGen Round 12 Application Form

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Deadline 

Upcoming application deadlines for NextGen Fund can be found on our website. 
 
The application deadline for Round 12 is 5pm on Friday 26 September 2025. 

Application deadlines are fixed. If your application is submitted after the deadline then it will be considered ineligible. You will be notified of the outcome of your application mid-January 2026. 

Application Guidance

• It is essential that you read the application guidance before applying to the fund. 
• Questions with a red asterisk * are mandatory, meaning you cannot submit your application without providing an answer, submitting a link or uploading a document.   
• Please note that the combined maximum size of ALL uploaded files to your application must be under 20MB. If the files you upload exceed this size you will receive an error message and you won’t be able to submit your application until they do.

About the Youth Music NextGen Fund

The Youth Music NextGen Fund offers young creatives grants of up to £3,000 to make their ideas happen.

The Youth Music NextGen Fund is for early-stage musicians and wider music adjacent creatives, whose lack of finance holds them back from pursuing their goals.

The fund is open to 18–25-year-olds (and up to 30 if you identify as d/Deaf, Disabled or Neurodivergent). Successful applicants will use the money to launch a creative project, idea or business.

We want to support the future of the music industries. Singers, Rappers, Songwriters, Producers, DJs, A&Rs, Managers and Agents, right through to roles that have yet to be defined.

We run two rounds of funding each year. 

Access support 

Youth Music is committed to offering a clear and accessible grant making process that is open to everyone.

If you identify as d/Deaf, Disabled, Neurodivergent, we can provide extra funding to help you make your application and to run your project. 

1. Support to make an application to NextGen Fund

This is funding to help you with putting your application together. We offer up to £350 towards this cost. Please apply to the Application Access Fund before you start making your NextGen Fund application. 
 
2. Support to deliver your NextGen Fund project

You can include your own access costs on top of the £3,000 maximum grant. We call these your personal access costs. We don’t currently cap personal access costs and we don’t require any proof or paperwork. 

What is an access cost? 

If you identify as d/Deaf, Disabled, Neurodivergent or have a long-term health condition, access costs help remove barriers to being able to apply for your grant or deliver your project. 

Examples of access costs include:

• Transport support – taxi fares or someone to help you travel safely to your place of work.
• Specialist software or equipment – screen reader, magnifying glass, or adapted instruments. 
• A support worker – to help with things like writing grant applications, reports or running workshops.
• British Sign Language interpreters or other communication support.
• Personal assistants or other one-to-one help - to help with project management and admin.
• Any other costs that remove barriers and enable you to work on your project.

Resources

You can also find additional resources on our website: 
     
•       Tips for applying to NextGen Fund 

Contact 

If you have any questions, please get in touch: creatives@youthmusic.org.uk or phone us on 020 7902 1060.


Youth Music's NextGen Fund has been made possible thanks to our principal partners the Players of People’s Postcode Lottery, and support from PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited).








Eligibility Check

In this section, we are checking to see if you're eligible to apply for the grant. You will only be able to move forward with the application once you have met the criteria. You must be able to answer yes to all the statements in this section in order to make an application. 


You will not be allowed to progress in this form if you answer no to any of the questions below. 

Questions













About You

Contact Details 








If you would like to apply for a personal access budget please ensure you select the "I am aged 18-30 and I identify as d/Deaf or Disabled or Neurodivergent" option above.

To be eligible you must be aged 18 to 25 at the point of the application deadline. If you identify as d/Deaf, Disabled or Neurodivergent you can be aged 18 to 30. You will not be allowed to submit your application if you do not meet this criteria.

To be eligible you must be aged 18 to 25 at the point of the application deadline. If you identify as d/Deaf, Disabled or Neurodivergent you can be aged 18 to 30. You will not be allowed to submit your application if you do not meet this criteria.

Please tell us your term-time address below:





This where you are based within the UK. All applicants based in London should select Greater London from the list.

Please tell us your home (permanent) address below:





This where you are based within the UK. All applicants based in London should select Greater London from the list.



Your Creative Profile


Please also share your social media account that best showcases your work:



Please don't include the @


Additional document

You can upload *.doc, *.docx, *.xls, *.xlsx, *.ppt, *pptx, *.jpg, *.jpeg, *.png, *.bmp, *.tif, *.gif, and *.pdf.
Applicant photo

Please upload *.jpg, *.jpeg, *.png, *.bmp, *.tif, or *.gif.

Funding



This does not include COVID Relief Funding

What you're doing now


About You and Your Project 

In this section, we want to learn more about you, your journey in music so far, and how you hope this funding will benefit you in your career goals. We recognise that people might want to communicate their ideas in different ways, so you can submit your answers using your preferred method out of the options below.

Overview



Please provide a rough estimate of when you plan to start your project. It should be between 1 March and 30 April 2026. 

This should be no longer than 12 months after the start date.

We recognise that it isn’t one-size-fits-all when it comes to genre, and it’s an imperfect system that can be restrictive. But to give us a greater understanding of your impact within the music industries, we want to learn what genre/s you will be creating in and working with. 


Please note the below is not an exhaustive list and there is also an open text box option included if you want to provide your own description.




Presentation and/or visual documents must not exceed 8 slides or 2 A4 pages and be within 1000 words. Video applications must not exceed 6 minutes in total.
If you are uploading a Word document, Powerpoint or PDF to answer these questions, please click 'Choose file' below:
Please note the combined max size of all uploaded files on this form must be under 20MB
You can upload *.doc, *.docx, *.xls, *.xlsx, *.ppt, *pptx, and *.pdf.

Please use 'unlisted' rather than private YouTube links, and do not use sites where download links will expire such as WeTransfer.

1. Tell us about the last year or two of your progression as an artist/professional (Max. 250 words)

Please include:

  • What you do and where you are in your career now. 
  • Why is now the right time for you to receive funding.
  • What you've already been doing to work towards your goal(s). We're most interested in what you've already made happen on your own.
  • Any challenges you're facing in your journey in music.

2. What you're going to do, and how you're going to do it. (Max. 500 words)

Please include:
  • A detailed plan of your project including timescales. Be specific and break it down - we want to know how you are going to deliver your project. You can upload a one page timeline or project plan to support this below

  • We want to fund people who can deliver strong projects that are:
    • Interesting, innovative, or original (for you or your audience).
    • Realistic and deliverable within a year
    • Well planned, timelined and clearly budgeted


You can upload *.doc, *.docx, *.xls, *.xlsx, *.ppt, *pptx, *.jpg, *.jpeg, *.png, *.bmp, *.tif, *.gif, and *.pdf.

3. Tell us what you’d like to achieve over the next year through your project, and how the funding will make a difference (Max. 250 words) 


Please include a list of up to 4 main goals you would like to achieve with this project.



The hard part's over now! Now we just need your budget, referee and some monitoring information.
Budget
Category 
Time to Create                    
Item and Description 
This is to support your work as a creative.
We think it's important to be able to pay yourself during your project.
We have therefore already included at least £500 as a wage towards your own time to create, you can add more if needed in the rows below.
Cost
£500               



£
Hidden subtotals




Hidden Amounts: Budget Categories
/*Admin instructions:*/
  1. Prefill the maximum allowances for each of the budget categories into the left hand column below.
  2. The validation will add up the total amount requested for each of the categories and enter this into the middle (total) field.
  3. If the amount requested is greater than the amount allowed for *any* of the categories, the validation will be triggered, the error message at the bottom of the page will be displayed and the form cannot be submitted. 

Your total budget must be between £1,000 - £3,000.                                                                                                                                             

We've organised the budget into seven categories to make applications easier. You don't need to use every category, and if something doesn't fit, use the "Other" section.


There are spending limits on certain items because we want most of your grant to go toward creating and delivering your project, not just buying equipment.


Budget Categories:

1. Time to Create (£500 minimum) - This is your wage that you pay yourself for working on the project. You don’t need to itemise your time to create in your application. 


2. Project Expenses (no limit) - Direct costs for making your work:

• Studio time, recording, production

• Mixing and mastering (research affordable options)

• Session musicians

• Manufacturing


3. Equipment (£700 maximum) - Hardware and software essential for your project that you'll use for future work too, for example a microphone. 


4. Training (£200 maximum) - Skills development like courses, conferences, or workshops that help with this project and/or your career.


5. Marketing (£500 maximum) - We encourage people to avoid spending a lot of money on marketing or advertising through major agencies or social media companies. We have funded many successful projects that have used resourceful, creative marketing efforts. The more of the project you can deliver yourself, even if it's something you are doing for the first time, the stronger your application will be.


6. Travel (£200 maximum) – travel within the UK only. We don’t fund international travel. 


7. Other - Anything else related to your project, including contingency for unexpected costs.



Budget tips 


• Try to think of the details of the budget, as this will also help with the overall planning of the project. 

• Research your costs. The Musicians’ Union helps set appropriate rates of pay across all areas of musicians’ work. Get multiple quotes for services to seek best value. 

• Consider your network and reaching out to individuals that could support you in sourcing these costs.

• Be creative and resourceful! We would rather spend the money on you instead of on PR agencies or advertising. The more of the project you can deliver yourself, even if it's something you are doing for the first time, the stronger your application will be and the more you will learn.


Budget Requirements

•       You can list a maximum of 10 budget items.

•       Categorise your costs to break your budget down in an understandable way.
•       When entering your budget, please round up to the nearest pound. For example; use £100 not £99.9. 










Please note:


Some category costs have limits, these are displayed below. Please adjust your costs before you can submit the application


Equipment - Cost should be below £700

Marketing - Cost should be below £500

Training - Costs should be below £200

Travel - Costs should be below £200

Hidden Amounts - Total Budget
/*Admin Instructions*/

Prefill the smallest and largest possible grant amounts into the boxes below. If the total amount requested falls outside this range, then the error message below will display and the form cannot be submitted. 

Your application must be for between £1000 and £3000.
Personal Access Budget for d/Deaf, Disabled or Neurodivergent Applicants
If you identify as d/Deaf, Disabled or Neurodivergent and need additional personal access costs to run your project these can be included on top of the £3,000 maximum project budget. This might include costs for British Sign Language interpreters, personal assistants, support workers or other access costs.

Item & Description Cost




Referee details

Please provide contact details for your referee. This should be a separate professional connection who knows you and your work as a creative. For example, someone you’ve worked with on a previous project or a Music Leader from a course or programme you’ve participated in. 


Please make sure that this is someone who does not stand to benefit financially from this project. For example, please don't choose a producer who you plan to hire to produce your EP.


We will only contact them if your application is successful, but make sure to choose someone reliable who will be available to provide a reference on your behalf. This usually happens around 12 weeks after the application deadline. 






This must be your referee's email address not your own.

Declaration

By selecting the box below, you confirm that:


  1. You (the main contact named in this application form) have read the eligibility criteria and can confirm that you are eligible to apply to this Youth Music fund.
  2. You understand that if you make any seriously misleading statements (whether deliberate or accidental) at any stage during the application process, or knowingly withhold any information, this could make your application invalid and you could be liable to repay any funds to Youth Music.
  3. You commit to delivering the project described in the application form.
  4. You understand and accept Youth Music's obligations under the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts as set out in our policy and procedures: network.youthmusic.org.uk/Funding/policy-and-procedures.
  5. You will take all necessary and reasonable steps to provide a safe and secure place for anyone who takes part in your project.
  6. You confirm that the activities detailed in your budget are not already paid for by another funder.
  7. You are aware that Youth Music will use your personal information provided in this application to consider the application and, if successful, administer and monitor the grant, and in accordance with its ‘Grantholder and Applicant Privacy Notice’ which can be found here: https://network.youthmusic.org.uk/funded-partner-applicant-privacy-notice


We're interested in finding out if you have been involved in any of our work before applying to this fund. Your answers will not affect the outcome of your application.

Youth Music Funded Projects



Pre-application Support




Please note the outcome of your application won't be affected by any support that you have or haven't received. 
Stay in touch with Youth Music
Youth Music would like to share with you more creative opportunities that are available for young people across the country. Opportunities can be accessed via our Opportunities board or from receiving our fortnightly NextGen newsletter.

You can unsubscribe at any time.

Equal Opportunities

The following equal opportunities monitoring questions are voluntary. We ask them across our application processes as a charity, including for jobs in our team, for Next Gen opportunities and for trustee recruitment. We do so because it's important that we understand who we're reaching, who is within the group that applies for funding and who is eventually funded. This helps us to make sure we consciously work to be equitable and representative in our approach and our funding decisions.

Gender



Sexual Orientation


Age

Background
As part of our monitoring we ask about people’s social class background. We have based this question on some existing research about social class in the creative industries.  

Ethnicity


Religion and Beliefs


Disability
The Equality Act 2010 defines a person as disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment, which has substantial and long term (i.e. has lasted or is expected to last at least 12 months) negative effect on their ability to carry out normal daily activities. 


Caring Responsibilities

Submit Application Form 

Thank you for your time completing this application. 

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Once you press 'Submit' below, you will have a last chance to review and edit your form. Please check that you are happy with your answers before pressing the 'Confirm' button on the next page.

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We'll be in touch in around three months (depending on the volume of applications we receive) to let you know the outcome of your application. For Round 12 this is likely to be in mid-January 2026.   


PLEASE NOTE: If you are experiencing technical problems submitting this form please email creatives@youthmusic.org.uk 

  

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