International Market and Audience Development

Your activity must meet the following definition of contemporary music to be eligible:

“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”.  

If you don’t meet the definition above for contemporary music, you may be eligible to apply for our Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups, Arts Projects for Organisations, or International programs.

• Activity must start between 1 July 2025 and 30 September 2025 and be completed within 12 months.  

• You can submit a maximum of one application to each category of the Music Australia Export Development Fund. Ensure each application is targeted to the individual category you are applying for.  

• The budget in your application must demonstrate matched funding (see ‘Budget & Matched Funding’ for more information), and evidence of this matched funding must be supplied in your support material. 

A minimum of $2,000, up to a maximum of $10,000, and the applicant must demonstrate matched funding of an equal or greater amount to the grant request. 

The International Market and Audience Development fund (Category 3) is designed to support activity that includes: 

• implementing an international PR and promotional campaign

• implementing an international radio campaign

• creating content such as music video clips, social media reels, and lyric translations which are targeted towards international audiences

• implementing a global digital marketing strategy. 

As well as costs directly associated with the activity listed above, you may apply for all costs associated with completing your export activity. Eligible costs include but are not limited to: 

• artist and creative worker fees 

• flights, accommodation, per diems, ground transport costs 

• travel insurance 

• visas 

• freight or baggage costs 

• childcare, carer and access costs 

• tickets and/or registration costs to attend events 

• costs associated with reducing the environmental impact of your 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. Budgets may include costs associated with making activities accessible to a wide range of people (e.g. performances using 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 Artists Services to discuss your specific needs. 

• activity that does not meet the Music Australia definition of contemporary music  

• activity in Australia (regardless of country of residence) 

• the manufacture of albums and merchandise 

• passport application costs 

• international relocation expenses 

• capital expenditure (such as studio infrastructure and instrument purchases) 

• planning and preparation such as arranging or booking dates, venues, contracts, travel and visas, and rehearsals in your country of residence, are not eligible activities for the purposes of this grant and should not be included in the activity details section of your application. We encourage and expect considered planning and preparation of your activities in advance of the proposed international activity dates you are applying for. If you are unsure about the eligibility of any part of your proposed activity, please contact musicaustraliagrants@creative.gov.au. 

You must complete the budget in the application form. Please note for this category, your budget should equal or be close to a net zero balance as activity in this category is unlikely to demonstrate income at this stage. If there is a small surplus or deficit, we ask that you explain this in the application form. 

You must provide evidence of your matched funding in your support material. If you do not provide this evidence your application may be deemed ineligible. Please see the list below for examples of evidence you can supply, watch the  video, or  contact Music Australia  if you have questions. 

What we mean by ‘matched funding’: 

• you are required to match the Music Australia Export funding for your project on at least a 50:50 basis

• your share of project costs is 50% of eligible expenditure up to the maximum grant limit and all remaining costs not met by the grant

• you cannot use in-kind (non-financial) contributions for matched funding

• you cannot use other federal, state or local government grant sources for matched funding

• you must provide evidence in your application support material of your matched funding. 

Evidence can include: 

• advanced ticket sales for an upcoming tour 

• festival guarantees 

• previous tour reconciliations 

• advance from a label or publisher 

• merchandise sales 

• upcoming or past royalty payments 

• commitment to a future sync placement 

• available bank balance (provide a document or screenshot of the account balance and account name – removing other personal and transaction details) 

• crowd funding (including  Australian Cultural Fund  [ACF] generated income). 

Your application must comply with the following Protocols. We may contact you to request further information during the assessment process, or if successful, as a condition of your funding. 

• Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts 

All applications involving First Nations artists, communities or subject matter must adhere to these Protocols, and provide evidence of this in their application and support material.  More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here. 

• Commonwealth Child Safe Framework 

All successful applicants are required to comply with all Australian law relating to employing or engaging people who work or volunteer with children, including working with children checks and mandatory reporting. Successful organisations who provide services directly to children, or whose funded activities involve contact with children, will additionally be required to implement the  National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. 

Applications to the  International Performance and Touring Activity  fund will be assessed through Industry Advice.  

Learn more about  how we assess your application. 

Assessment Criteria 

As well as meeting the eligibility requirements, you must address three assessment criteria in this category.  Industry advisors will review your application using the criteria below.  

Viability 

Assessors will consider whether your activity is feasible. Some ways to consider viability are listed below: 

• the activity is confirmed, with letters of confirmation provided

• evidence of matched funding is provided at a minimum of 50% of the total budget   

• realistic budgeting and touring logistics

• the relevance and timeliness of the proposed activity

• the skills and abilities of those involved, and their relevance to the activity

• well-researched and rationalised activity, particularly if this is your first engagement with an international market

• measures being applied to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people involved in the project

• measures being applied to ensure the proposed activity is accessible

• where relevant to the project, evidence that the protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts have been adhered to, or the relevant cultural protocols for the international jurisdiction in which you are working. 

Impact 

Assessors will consider the impact of your activity. This includes the extent to which this activity develops an international market or relationship, strengthens international networks, grows global audiences, and increases artist profiles. 

Alignment  

Assessors will consider how your activity meets one or more of the principles and actions of the five pillars identified in the National Cultural Policy – Revive, and the goals of  Music Australia. 

This may include: 

• First Nations arts and culture are First Nations-led 

• artists and arts workers have career structures that are long-term and sustainable, supported by vocational pathways 

• creative industries and practice are future focused, technology enabled, networked and globally recognised, including through reciprocal exchange, export and cultural diplomacy 

• arts and culture are generative (creating new works and supporting emerging artists) and preservative (protecting heritage and conserving cultural memory) 

• development of original music 

• growing the market for contemporary Australian music 

• training and skills development for artists, and industry professionals 

• activities that promote the Government’s international arts and cultural engagement and cultural diplomacy priorities 

• discoverability and working with digital service providers and radio networks to support Australian contemporary music. 

You must submit support material with your application. The industry advisors will review your support material, including evidence of your matched funding and whether the activity is confirmed. It can also be used to gain a better understanding of your activity, and arts practice. 

Your application may be ineligible if it does not include support material providing evidence of your matched funding. 

We strongly advise you to include evidence of confirmed activity (such as letters and invitations).   

The following support material may also be included with your application:   

• how cultural protocols have been or will be observed and permissions obtained (if relevant to your activity)

• evidence of your practice relevant to the activity for which you are seeking funding, such as a website link, audio and/or video links (maximum duration 10 minutes in total), images and/or written material

• biographies and CVs for key artists, personnel or other collaborators involved in the activity (no longer than 2 A4 pages in total)

• letters of confirmation from collaborators and/or venues directly involved in the activity (up to 5 letters of confirmation, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page)

• letters of support (up to 2 letters of support, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page), these should not be from individuals or organisations financially involved in the activity

• risk management: for international travel, you may submit a one-page risk management plan (in any format). If you require a template, you can  download a template here.   

We prefer to receive information via web links (URLs).  

You may submit up to three URLs per application. For example, you could include a link to your website, a link to a video or audio file, and a link to scanned documents demonstrating your matched funding and letters of confirmation.   

If you are not able to provide URLs, you may upload support material as attachments (up to two PDF or Word documents). You may collate documents to include multiple pages. 

We do not accept support material submitted by post.  If you need help submitting material online, or you are not sure what support material to submit,  please  contact us.  

After 12 months and four rounds of the Export Development Fund, we have summarised what makes a stronger application below.  

• do not assume assessors have existing knowledge of the artists’ work or activity, regardless of how well known the artist or group is

• complete all sections of the application form in detail – including the Activity Details and Budget sections

• use the Activity Details section of the application form to list the proposed dates, activity, location/s and whether the activity is confirmed, and ensure that this matches the activity outlined in the application text

• if applying to more than 1 category, be clear about the plan for the specific category you are applying for – do not copy the same text across each application. Each category is assessed on its individual merits, by different assessment panels

• include clear evidence of ALL your matched funding and label this in your support materials as ‘Matched funding evidence’

• ensure links included in the support material section remain active for 2 months after the closing date, with sharing enabled without the requirement for passwords

• include clear, concise and relevant support material that is easy to access, including letters of confirmation from collaborators directly involved in the activity

• clearly explain why the time is right for the proposed activity, and the potential impact

• clearly demonstrate why the applicant/s are targeting the proposed country/ies or territory/ies for the activity

• show a well thought-out, realistic and productive timeline of activity, leveraging available opportunities

• explain who the artist/s you will be working with are and why you are working with them, including specific names and organisations

• include all, or a high proportion, of confirmed activity

• use metrics and data, such as streaming numbers and audience/engagement insights (where relevant), to strengthen the application

• include a clearly articulated budget with costs that are commensurate to the proposed activity. 

We encourage those who have applied and been unsuccessful for previous rounds of this fund to use this feedback to strengthen their application and re-apply for future rounds where possible (noting date eligibility requirements).