PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading charitable funder of new music and talent development, has announced that the Year 2 cohort of its Talent Development Network (TDN) expands to 78 organisations around the UK.
Launched with the first cohort of organisations in 2024, the TDN, supported by PPL, offers grants of up to £25,000 per year to organisations for up to three years. Funding supports music creator development programmes, and grantees are part of a UK-wide network enabling them to share knowledge and make connections.
The full list of organisations in this year’s cohort can be viewed here.
Seven organisations and their talent development programmes join the network this year. They are:
- AVA Festival – celebrating, amplifying and developing electronic music, visual art and immersive technology through their programme of a live and broadcasted performance at AVA Festival Belfast. The event includes talks, workshops and keynotes for all ages to attend for free in Belfast.
- Brighten The Corners – building artist careers in Ipswich and developing a national profile using their experience and network of industry contacts, and focusing on the development of 10 key regional artists with opportunities for a further 50-plus acts.
- Fuel Productions – commissioning music creators to develop completely original music for live performance and theatre, giving opportunity to new creative partnerships and working with new technology and creating the best possible conditions for unique and interesting work to be composed and then produced by one of the UK’s leading independent theatre producers.
- Hotbox Ent – intensive development journey that fuses creative mastery with mental wellbeing support for emerging Northern Irish artists, engaging in weekly hands-on workshops, bespoke one-to-one mentorship, group resilience and wellbeing clinics, finishing with artists showcasing their work at a live industry event, digital demo drop and facilitating connections with labels, promoters and media.
- LatinoLife – advancing the careers of Latin music creators in the UK to wider audiences, through their programme providing high profile performance opportunities/touring in the UK, Europe and Latin America, as well as access to booking agents, managers, branding, PR, marketing and mentoring from music industry professionals with the aim of releasing and marketing their music to larger audiences.
- Oram Awards – honouring and supporting the work and voices of women, trans, non-binary, and gender-expansive artists who challenge the boundaries of innovation in sound, music, and related technologies through their programme commissioning new works, providing mentoring, and offering live performance opportunities
- Ulster Touring Opera – combining an open call for new opera works with professional mentorship and performances in iconic venues, their programme promotes new music, nurtures young talent and fosters inclusivity.
The Talent Development Network aims to create a strengthened and better-connected web of support for the music sector. With more support, over a greater period, organisations can plan for the longer term and increase the support for talented music creators from the grassroots up, across the UK.
With so many organisations contributing exceptional work to the talent development pipeline and benefitting from the network, this year sees the introduction of an ‘Associates’ strand, for organisations not receiving direct funding this year that will retain a key role within the network. English Folk Dance and Song Society, Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, LIMF Academy, Opera North, Manchester Jazz Festival and South Asian Arts UK will be part of this year’s cohort as Associate Talent Development Network Members, benefitting from and contributing to the connections and communications as well as the information and resources sharing within the network.
Joe Frankland, CEO at PRS Foundation, said: “Talent development organisations around the UK provide a vital role in the development and sustainment of music scenes and ecosystems in every nation and region of the country. Music creators from the grassroots up rely on these local organisations run by incredibly knowledgeable and dedicated individuals. We’re incredibly proud to not just support these brilliant organisations and their impactful programmes but provide a network of knowledge and opportunity sharing, creating a community that continually innovates to supports music creator talent, practice and develop their careers, investing in the future of music.”
Becci Scotcher, Senior Grants & Programmes Manager at PRS Foundation, said: “Huge congratulations to all the organisations making up this year’s expanded co-hort. These organisations are an integral part of the talent development pipeline for music creators to develop their talent towards sustainable careers and become the next generation of the culturally important talent, that the UK historically has played a leading role in globally. With so much talent being unearthed and supported recently by such organisations, including English Teacher, Amelia Colburn, LEMFRECK, Jordan Adetunji and corto.alto, the Talent Development Network will provide not only that programmatic investment but will facilitate the interconnectivity of opportunities and best practice to benefit the organisations and the music creators and communities they serve locally.”
Kate Reilly, Chief Membership and People Officer at PPL, said: “PPL is proud to support the newly expanded Talent Development Network, helping organisations across the nations and regions cultivate and grow fresh talent from the grassroots up. Congratulations to all the organisations taking part this year.”
The next intake of organisations will be in 2026, when new organisations will be invited to apply for one year of support and to be part of this new cohort of the network. More information will be available on PRS Foundation’s website towards the end of 2025.
