• Australian organisations whose primary activity is providing services to key areas of the Australian contemporary music industry.  

The activity of the organisation must meet the Music Australia Council’s agreed definition of contemporary music, as follows: 

“Australian contemporary music is any genre or subgenre of music currently composed, written, produced by Australians and licensed, recorded, presented, and distributed through commercial and non-commercial activity. For the purposes of Music Australia’s initial investments, the focus will be on musical works that are new, original and relevant to contemporary Australia.” 

• A consortium may apply in certain circumstances, but the proposal must be funded and contracted through one member of the consortium.  
• Music Australia requires that organisations be registered under Australian law (for example, incorporated association or company limited by guarantee) or created by law (for example, a government statutory authority).  Organisations may be required to provide a certificate of incorporation or evidence of their current legal status.    

You cannot apply for this grant if:  

• you are an individual or group 
• your organisation is not legally constituted    
• your organisation is a Trust or Partnership 
• your organisation is in receipt of Multi-Year Investment from Creative Australia in 2024, 2025 or 2026 
• your organisation is a pilot service delivery partner with Music Australia or Creative Australia in 2024 or 2025 
• your organisation is a national training organisation, funded by the Australian Government 
• your organisation’s primary activity is not supporting a sector of the Australian contemporary music industry 
• you have an overdue grant report 
• you owe money to Creative Australia 
• your organisation is not registered in Australia. 

This investment will support your organisation’s core operational needs, providing stability for your organisation and building capacity in the contemporary music sector.  

This can include:    

• staffing costs including wages and fees 
• administration and other operational running costs 
• professional skills development for artists and/or arts workers 
• sector development or capacity building 
• promotion and marketing 
• market development activity.

Access costs are legitimate expenses and may be included in your application. We encourage applicants to ensure that their work is accessible to everyone. Therefore, budgets may also include costs associated with making activities accessible to a wide range of people (e.g. Auslan, translation to other languages, captioning, audio description, temporary building adjustments, and materials in other formats).   

If you are a d/Deaf applicant, an applicant with disability, or are working with d/Deaf artists or artists with disability, you may apply for access costs associated with the use of an interpreter, translation services, specific technical equipment, carer, or support worker assistance. Please  contact Music Australia to discuss your specific needs.   

You can’t apply for:   

• artistic project costs such as creating new work, artistic and/or creative development, production, performing, recording, touring or festivals – if you are seeking funding for these activities, please apply to Arts Project for Organisations 
• staffing or wage costs for international personnel 
• operations that do not have a contemporary music focus 
• expenses that have already been incurred 
• activities engaging with First Nations content, artists and communities that do not adhere to Creative Australia’s First Nations Cultural & Intellectual Property Protocols.

• proposals are reviewed by expert industry representatives called Industry Advisors  
• Industry Advisors are experts in their field with relevant experience and knowledge of the contemporary music industry
• proposals will be reviewed by Industry Advisors who will make recommendations for Music Australia to consider when making the final investment decisions for organisations
• Industry Advisors will be published on our website following notification. Further detail on Industry Advice can be found  here.    

We will review your proposal against three selection criteria listed below.

Under each criterion are bullet points indicating what may be considered when reviewing your proposal. You do not need to respond to every bullet point listed.

Viability

Industry Advisors will review your organisation’s track record of delivery and assess the viability of your proposal and your organisation’s demonstrated capacity to deliver its vision. We may consider:

• value for money as evidenced in your responses and budget to deliver services to the sector
• organisational structure and the experience of the people leading and governing your organisation
• the financial health of your organisation, including the effective use of resources
• the diversity and scale of income and co-funding you generate and receive (e.g. earned income, grants, memberships, sponsorship, and in-kind contributions)
• whether your work is supported by meaningful evaluation
• how you demonstrate cultural competencies and adherence to relevant cultural protocols, particularly if your organisation works with diverse artists, audiences or communities. Where relevant, evidence that the Protocols for First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts have been adhered to
• factors that have impacted your organisation’s financial health, planning and priorities
• appropriate governance arrangements. You may wish to refer to our guide on  Essential Governance Practices
• capacity to deliver the proposed services or activities
• relevance and timeliness of this opportunity for your organisation
• realistic and achievable planning
• the safety and wellbeing of people involved in the activities
• where relevant, evidence that you have considered and addressed any access issues associated with your project
• where relevant, evidence of an environmental impact plan which may include cost-benefits.

Impact

Industry Advisors will assess how your activity contributes towards building a sustainable and diverse contemporary music sector. They may consider how your proposed activity:

• contributes to building capacity in the contemporary music industry in Australia, with a focus on organisations representing:
  • a key sector area or membership
  • a specific genre
  • gender equity
  • Australian artists/musicians.
• demonstrates collaboration and/or leadership on industry-wide issues
• contributes to increasing diversity (including First Nations, disability, gender, LGBTIQ+, age and cultural diversity) within the contemporary music sector
• the diversity of stakeholders that may be beneficiaries of the services to be provided
• benefit for and impact on careers, artistic or cultural practice.

Alignment

Assessors will consider how your organisation’s vision and plan aligns with one or more of the principles and actions of the five pillars identified in the National Cultural Policy – Revive, Creative Australia’s Corporate Plan and the goals of Music Australia.

This may include:

• First Nations arts and culture are self-determined
• the creative workforce has the skills needed to maintain thriving careers and businesses
• viable lifelong careers in creative fields attract and retain a broad creative workforce
• creative careers and business models are financially sustainable
• supporting the development of original music
• growing the market for contemporary Australian music.

This grant is open to organisations, partnerships and sole traders that are Australian domestic record labels and Australian subsidiaries of multinational record labels and have been operating for a minimum of 3 years. Please see the FAQs below for information on how to apply as a partnership.

To be considered eligible for the Music Australia Record Label Development Scheme, applying labels must:  

• have an ABN

• derive most of their revenue from the exploitation of master recordings of which they own or have licensed the copyright

• deliver A&R and creative development services to their signed artists

• have minimum annual recorded music trade revenues of $40,000 from core business activities earned as a record label, from their Australian roster

• have a minimum of 3 artists that all meet the eligibility threshold of 5000 followers/fans, on any one of the following platforms: Amazon Music, Bandcamp, Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Soundcloud, Spotify, Tidal, TikTok, YouTube Music, or the artist’s mailing list

• have a minimum of 3 active Australian musical artists on their roster. Active artists are defined as having had a release by the label in the last 18 months

• have released at least 5 x singles and 1 x EP and/or 1 x LP of Australian artist recordings within the last 12 months.

Record labels may submit only one application, that includes multiple activities for more than one artist within the submission.  

The artistic output of the label must meet the Music Australia Council agreed definition of contemporary music, as follows: 

“Australian contemporary music is any genre or subgenre of music currently composed, written, produced by Australians and licensed, recorded, presented, and distributed through commercial and non-commercial activity. For the purposes of Music Australia’s initial investments, the focus will be on musical works that are new, original and relevant to contemporary Australia.” 

You cannot apply for this grant if: 

• you have an overdue grant report 

• you owe money to Music Australia/Creative Australia 

• you are a group.

If you or your artist/s have applied to Creative Australia for Arts Projects for Individuals or Organisations in September 2024, or any other Creative Australia program, you cannot be successful in more than one fund for the same activities.

Activities and costs we will fund may include, but are not limited, to:  

• Recording, editing, mixing and mastering at an Australian facility by an Australian artist signed to an Australian-based label. 

• Pre-production, studio hire, producer, engineer, session musicians, guest artists, hard drives and equipment hire. 

• Manufacturing of physical product, e.g. vinyl mastering, vinyl/CD pressing and associated freight. Music Australia encourages environmentally sustainable practices, and labels that can demonstrate to have been guided by Green Music Australia’s Sound Country: A Green Guide on Physical Music Products, will be reimbursed the difference in expenditure per unit, upon evidence of their tax invoices after 1 July 2025. 

• Video production incurred in Australia (i.e. music videos, videos for online marketing purposes, and video recording of live performances for promotion or sale). Costs may include; Producer; Director; Director of Photography; Camera Assistant; Grip; Gaffer; Art Department; First Assistant Director (AD); Runner; Casting; Talent/Extras; Stylist; Make-Up/Hair; Camera; Lighting; Props; Permits; Insurance; Travel (domestic only); Wardrobe; Catering/Unit; Animation/VFX; Stock Footage; Editor; Grade; hard drive.  

• Visual representation (artwork) including design; photography; images, incurred in Australia. 

• Digital content creation incurred in Australia (i.e. reels for online social media marketing purposes). 

• Australian marketing and promotion activities for new recordings by Australian artists signed to the record label. May include digital marketing; radio ads; social media ads; publicist, radio promotion, and posters. 

• Budget allocations towards software are eligible if required for an activity (such as digital infrastructure and innovation).  

• Business development activities that contribute to the expansion of a company’s operational capacity (e.g. human resources enhancement, undertaking strategic business travel within Australia, implementing technology solutions/enhancements to optimise revenue generation and/or enhance customer/audience experience etc.).   

• New Australian position: the cost of a new position that is being created because of the proposed activity (salaried or contract) may be included as a distinct line item in the activity budget. In the description of the activity, applicants must include an explanation of why the new position is necessary for the undertaking of the proposed activity, and if the position is intended to continue beyond the initial RLDS-supported period, a rationale must be provided for how the position will be sustained by the company. (e.g. Creative Producer/Director, Data Analyst, Digital Marketing specialist). 

• Current/ongoing position: A portion of salaries or wages for existing Australian staff or ongoing Australian contract employees (whether part-time or full-time) that are assigned to work on the proposed activities may be included as part of the “administrative and overhead expenses” section of the budget. All labour costs included must be undertaken by Australian-based staff or contract employees, and must be directly related to the proposed activities. 

• Access costs are legitimate expenses and may be included in your application. We encourage applicants to ensure that their work is accessible to everyone. Budgets may include costs associated with making activities accessible to a wide range of people (e.g. translation to other languages, captioning, audio description, temporary building adjustments, and materials in other formats). If you are a d/Deaf applicant, an applicant with disability, or are working with d/Deaf artists or artists with disability, you may apply for access costs associated with the use of an interpreter, translation services, specific technical equipment, carer, or support worker assistance. Please contact Artists Services to discuss your specific needs. 

Music Australia funding can only be used for activities that occur after  the activity start date of 1 January 2025. Therefore, any costs incurred  before  this date (i.e. pre-production, recording costs, mixing, mastering etc.) are not eligible for funding. Activity invoiced after 1 January 2025 for costs incurred before this date is not eligible.  

Items which Music Australia will not accept in a funded project budget: 

• Touring, showcase and other live performance activity.  

• Catering, except during music video shoots.  

• Live performance production expenses, unless directly related to content creation for this project.  

• Costs relating to international artists.  

• Staff & labour costs not directly related to the activity.  

• Staff benefit costs.  

• Fees relating to the compilation, review, or audit of applicant financial statements. 

• Fees relating to the procurement of services of grant writers for preparing government funding applications. 

• Cost of General Liability insurance.   

• Taxes that are recoverable by the recipient (such as GST).  

• Activities engaging with First Nations content, artists and communities that do not adhere to our First Nations Cultural & Intellectual Property Protocols. 

For the Pre-application Eligibility Check you must provide financial documentation including any or all of the following

• signed financial statements (including P&L & balance sheet) for the 2 most recently completed fiscal years
• up to two years’ worth of PPCA statements
• up to two years’ worth of streaming income statements
• up to two years’ worth of BAS statements.

*This information does not go to the Industry Advisors and will be used by Music Australia for internal purposes only to determine the amount of funding you are eligible to apply for if you meet the pre-application eligibility criteria above.

No other support material is required for this pre-application stage.

If you are deemed eligible to submit a full application, you should include the following support material. The Industry Advisors may review this material to help them gain a better sense of your project and those involved.

1. You must include audio of at least 3-4 artist recordings (existing or demo recordings).

Additional support material may include:

2. Other artistic support material 

This should include relevant, recent examples of artistic work.

3. Biographies and CVs 

You can include a brief bio or curriculum vitae (CV) for key artists, personnel or other collaborators involved in your project.

Brief bios or CV information should be presented as a single document no longer than two A4 pages in total.

4. Letters of support 

Individuals, groups, or organisations can write letters in support of your project. A support letter should explain how the project or activity will benefit your label, artists or music professionals, other participants, or the broader community. It can also detail the support or involvement of key project partners, or evidence of consultation.

If relevant to your activity, letters of support must provide evidence of appropriate permissions and support from First Nations organisations, communities, and Elders. Please refer to the  First Nations Protocols  for more information.

You can include up to five letters of support, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page.

5. Other support material

You may also include other evidence to support your application including the label co-investment and label and/or artist track record on music releases.

Types of support material we accept

Our preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks).

You can provide up to three URLs (weblinks) that link to content that is relevant to your proposal. This may include video, audio, images, or written material.

Please note:  Our industry advisors will not access any URLs that require them to log in or sign up to a platform. Please do not provide links to Spotify or other applications that require users to log in or pay for access.

If you are linking to media files that are private or password protected like Vimeo, please provide the password in the password field on the application form.

Other accepted file formats

If you cannot supply support material via URLs, you may upload support material to your application in the following formats:

• video (MP4, QuickTime, and Windows Media)
• audio (MP3 and Windows Media)
• images (JPEG and PowerPoint)
• written material (Word and PDF).