Who can apply

• Australian record labels, sole traders or individuals on behalf of partnerships. Please see the FAQs below for information on how to apply if you have a partnership ABN.
• The label must have a minimum of two (2) active artists on their roster.  

Active artists are defined as having had a single, EP or album release by the label in the last two (2) years. A release does not include compilations, soundtracks or remixes. 

• The artistic output of the label must meet the Music Australia Council agreed definition of contemporary Australian music, which is:   

“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 may submit one application per round of the Music Australia Marketing & Manufacturing Grants.  

Who can’t apply

You cannot apply for this grant if:  

• you are an artist manager, self-releasing artist, promoter or events company. If you are unsure if you are a record label, please contact us to discuss your eligibility
• you are applying for the Music Australia Record Label Development Scheme for the October 14 closing round
• you are a group
• you have an overdue grant report
• you owe money to Music Australia or Creative Australia

What you can apply for

Eligible activity includes but is not limited to:  

• manufacturing and distribution of physical product e.g. vinyl / CD pressing and associated freight *
• digital distribution costs
• Australian artwork and design including album, EP and single art, photography, merchandise design and design of other promotional materials
• manufacture of artist and label merchandise
• video production costs incurred in Australia (e.g. music and lyric videos, videos for online marketing purposes, and video recording of live performances for promotion or sale)
• digital content creation incurred in Australia (e.g. reels for online social media marketing purposes, website development)
• Australian marketing and promotion activities for new recordings by Australian artists signed to the record label (e.g. digital marketing, radio ads, social media ads, publicity campaigns, radio promotion, and outdoor advertising)
• access costs. 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 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, for the manufacturing of physical product, and associated freight, upon evidence of their tax invoices up to a limit of $2,000 per label. Payment will be made upon documentation received after 1 July 2026.  

• This initiative is designed to encourage labels to use environmentally sustainable practices in the manufacture of physical product, where they would not otherwise do so due to cost differences per unit.
• Manufacture of physical product must be clearly included in your application budget to be eligible for reimbursement.
• You cannot use a variation to your grant to retrospectively apply for this reimbursement. 

Examples of guidance on environmentally sustainable practice from Green Music’s Sound Country include (noting not all of these will equate to reimbursement as they can save rather than add to manufacturing costs):

• use softpaks rather than jewel cases for CDs
• use an alternative to standard PVC for Vinyl manufacturing - for example, Low Carbon Compound (BioVinyl) or Injection Moulding
• manufacture in Australia to reduce freight distance
• choose 140g vinyl and a standard sleeve over heavier alternatives
• avoid single use wrapping, especially plastics

What you can't apply for

• recording, mixing and mastering activities
• touring, showcase and other live performance activities
• live performance production expenses, unless directly related to content creation for this project
• costs relating to international artists, producers and other creatives
• staff and staff benefit costs
• fees relating to the compilation, review, or audit of applicant financial statements
• fees relating to grant writing or preparing the application
• insurance and/or legal costs
• 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
• the same projects or activities you are applying for via other Music Australia or Creative Australia grant programs

Your application must comply with the following Protocols. We may contact you to ask for 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 

If your application involves First Nations artists, communities or subject matter, you must: 

• follow these Protocols, and;
• provide evidence of this in your application and support material. 

More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here. 

Commonwealth Child Safe Framework 

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

Budget

• You must complete the budget in the application form, showing the grant request and the label’s matched funding contribution. 
• The minimum funding request is $2,000 and the maximum funding is capped at $10,000.
• No expense paid for from the Music Australia funding can be allocated to an artists’ recoupable ledger. 

Expenses

• If your application includes multiple projects, please open additional project expense groupings by selecting the number (up to 5) from the drop-down box in the application form.
• You may select a single project or multiple projects, depending on your activity. How you choose to group this is up to you.
• The total amounts in the 'Expense amount' column should be double the total listed in the 'Music Australia covers how much of this expense' column. The expenses in each of these columns don't have to be evenly split.

Matched funding

You are required to match the Music Australia grant amount you are requesting on a 50:50 basis. The label contribution must be cash, not in-kind, and be clearly detailed in the budget in the application form.  

• Using the [+] button in the application form, add a line showing the label matched funding. This must be 50% of the total expenditure.
• Use the description box to list the support material provided as evidence of the matched funding.  

If the label is awarded the grant it is expected that the total projects/s expenditure will be at least double the total grant amount, and this must be shown on acquittal. 

• 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. 

Examples of evidence you might provide includes:  

• profit and loss statement
• upcoming or past royalty payments
• commitment to a future sync placement
• statement showing past or projected merchandise sales
• 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 generated income)

Applications to this initiative will be assessed by Industry Advisors and Creative Australia staff. Final decisions will be made by Music Australia based on this advice.  

For more information on how we assess applications please visit our Assessment page.  

Under each criterion are bullet points indicating what the Panel may consider when assessing your application. You do not need to respond to every bullet point listed. 

The assessment process will consider: 

Viability 

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

• realistic and achievable planning, budgeting, timelines and logistics
• the relevance and timeliness of the proposed activity
• well-researched and rationalised activity
• the skills and abilities of those involved, and their relevance to the activity
• the activity is confirmed, with letters of confirmation provided
• evidence of matched funding is provided at 50% of the total budget
• 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

Quality 

The panel will assess the quality of the artists' work and artistic activities at the centre of your proposal. They may consider:  

• vision, ideas and artistic rationale
• benefit and impact on career, artistic and cultural practice
• level of innovation, ambition, experimentation or risk-taking
• rigour and clear articulation of creative, engagement or development processes
• significance of the work within the music industry and/or community
• contribution to diverse cultural expression
• timeliness and relevance of work
• quality of previous work
• responses to previous work from artistic or cultural peers, or the public

You must submit support material with your application. The panel will review this material to see evidence of your matched funding, and to help them gain a better sense of your project and those involved.   

You MUST include the following support material for your application to be eligible:   

1. Evidence of matched funding (see Budget & Matched Funding above for examples)
2. Audio of at least two (2) artist recordings (existing or demo recordings).  
3. 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.   

Additional support material may include:   

4. Other artistic support material.
5. Biographies and CVs - you can include a brief bio for key label staff, artists, or other collaborators involved in your project. Biographies or label profiles should be presented as a single document no longer than two A4 pages in total.  
6. Letters of confirmation from collaborators directly involved in the activity (up to 5 letters of confirmation, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page).
7. Letters of support (up to 2 letters of support, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page), these should not be from individuals, artists or organisations who will financially benefit from the activity.   

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. 

These URLs can include a total of: 

• 10 minutes of video and/or audio recording
• 10 pages of written material
• 5 images 

Please note: Our panel 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. 

Ensure weblinks are functional and easily accessed by the panel, with no expiry dates.  

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). 

We do not accept application-related support material submitted via post. Application-related material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your support material online, or need advice on what type of material to submit, please contact Music Australia.   

You cannot apply under a partnership, however a partnership can administer a grant on behalf of an individual. Please contact Artist Services or Music Australia if you have questions on how best to apply. 

Yes – please contact our Artist Services team to discuss your accessibility requirements. More information on accessibility is available on our website: Accessibility. 

Yes, we do. More information is available on our website: Languages other than English.