Youth Music partners with PRS Foundation’s network of Talent Development Partners

25 February 2020 - Press release

PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading charitable funder of new music and talent development, announces today that their nationwide Talent Development Partner programme will receive support from the national charity Youth Music who invests in music-making projects for young people. 

Launched in 2016 and expanding each year, PRS Foundation’s pioneering network of Talent Development Partners brings together organisations working on the frontline of talent development to support thousands of exciting, diverse music creators across all genres and regions of the UK. 

This new partnership with Youth Music will enable 12 Talent Development Partners to expand their offers specifically focusing on young music creators aged 18 to 25 and breaking down barriers to access and progression. Thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery Youth Music will invest over £55,000 and provide additional support from its team to create opportunities across England, Scotland and Wales.

Organisations within the network– which includes venues, festivals, rehearsal spaces, studios and other talent development experts – are selected because of the quality and range of opportunities on offer for songwriters, composers, artists and producers in their specialist field or region, the year-round impact of their work, and because of what they bring to the network.   

Talent Development Partners receive a grant from the Foundation for their year-round activity. They also act as PRS Foundation Ambassadors, signposting music creators to appropriate PRS Foundation funds and other network opportunities, with hundreds of creators already benefitting from the strategic partnership opportunities which have resulted from working together. 

Joe Frankland, CEO of PRS Foundation said “We are proud to work with so many expert organisations through our Talent Development Partner network. Over 5,000 music creators per year access the partners’ programmes and crucially for us, this network offers meaningful, timely and impactful support to enable creators to fulfil their potential. I’ve admired Youth Music’s work for a number of years and we are all excited to work together to help young people to create outstanding new music and forge long-term careers.” 

Matt Griffiths, CEO of Youth Music said “We know that embarking on a career in music is challenging and even more so for young people facing barriers into the industry. All too often talented young music creators are losing out due to the financial constraints they face, particularly at the critical early stages of their development. By investing in and joining the Talent Development Partner programme we can start to address this imbalance. We’re determined for the music industry to become more diverse and we’re delighted to be partnering with the PRS Foundation on this shared mission. We look forward to other music industry bodies doing the same.” 

The latest Talent Development Partner organisations will be announced in March 2020