Supports a three month songwriter residency in Nashville

A grant of $15,000
Applications for this initiative close 12 March 2012
Decisions will be advised in May 2012
Funded projects can start from September 2012, for a three month period

About the initiative

The Australia Council for the Arts invites Australian songwriters to apply for the pilot Nashville Songwriter Residency.

Nashville hosts the highest concentration of music businesses of any U.S city. Although historically the home for country music, it is now a key music writing, recording and touring hub for many styles of music, including R&B, blues, folk, hip hop, indie rock, roots, alt country, punk, metal and pop, and is home to major recording and touring artists in a variety of genres. The initiative will allow a songwriter the chance to immerse themselves in the Nashville music scene and to further develop their own artistic skills and industry networks and relationships.

The Music Board is offering an opportunity for a songwriter residency in Nashville, to be facilitated by Australian producer, songwriter and Nashville resident Mark Moffatt. The residency aims to introduce the recipient to the creative and business community in Nashville, and, where possible, to create opportunities for the recipient to engage in songwriting, recording, showcasing, publicity and industry networking.

The three month residency may take place over September – November 2012, or after February 2013.

Songwriters of any style of music are encouraged to apply.

Costs

We will pay the $15,000 directly to the successful recipient to cover their flights, accommodation, living costs while in Nashville, on-costs, travel, and a reasonable level of administrative costs. If you wish to claim administrative costs, you should provide a detailed breakdown of these costs in your project budget.

Contact

Potential applicants are encouraged to discuss their application with the relevant Australia Council team member. For further information, or to discuss your proposal, please contact:

Andy Rantzen
Program Officer, Music
Phone 02 9215 9115, Email a.rantzen@australiacouncil.gov.au

Supports a three month songwriter residency in Nashville

A grant of $15,000
Applications for this initiative close 12 March 2012
Decisions will be advised in May 2012
Funded projects can start from September 2012, for a three month period

Eligibility

The Nashville Songwriter Residency is an initiative of the Music Board and does not count as one of your two possible applications to the Music Board in 2012.

This category is open to individuals only. To be eligible, you must meet the general eligibility requirements.

Selection criteria

Applications will be ranked against the following criterion:

• The quality of the proposal, including its artistic merit, the strength of the planning, and the suitability of the artist for the residency.

Applicants are encouraged to read the latest Music Sector Plan before preparing and submitting their application. The sector plan describes the Australia Council’s involvement with the sector, identifies current issues and outlines short and medium term goals and priorities.

Selection process

A panel made up of Music Board members and peer advisers will assess applications according to the selection criteria above. The final decision will be made in consultation with Mark Moffatt. The outcomes will be published as an Assessment Meeting Report.

For more information on the assessment process, please see the page on Assessment of applications in the Information for applicants section.

Supports a three month songwriter residency in Nashville

A grant of $15,000
Applications for this initiative close 12 March 2012
Decisions will be advised in May 2012
Funded projects can start from September 2012, for a three month period

How to apply

You are encouraged to apply online for this category. To begin an online application, use the 'Apply online' button in the right-hand column. Please select 'Music Board' when prompted to choose a board for your application.

For other ways to apply, please see the information on making an application in the Funding Guide for 2012.

As part of the online application you will be asked to address the following questions:

• Who are you?
• What is your plan for the residency?
• Why is now the right time for you to take up this opportunity?
• What outcomes do you hope to achieve?
• If you have a record label, publisher or management company, please provide details of the support they are providing.

The questions are listed here for your reference only, and you will need to complete them in the online application form to be eligible.

You will have the equivalent of approximately two A4 pages of space in which to provide your responses. This is based on using Arial font in 12-point, single-line spacing.

Supporting materials

Applicants to this category are required to submit examples of their work and additional written material at the closing date.

The Music Board will review no more than a total of 10 minutes of support material for each application submitted. If more than 10 minutes of material is submitted, staff will select which 10 minutes goes forward to the Board.

1. Examples of work  - Required with your application at the closing date

All applicants must submit the following in a format listed below:

• Up to three URLs. These should be links to your music, your music videos, or other relevant material, uploaded as a single PDF file. Please also explain briefly the relevance of each URL to your application

You are encouraged to include support material which demonstrates the quality and range of your work. All applicants are encouraged, where possible, to include Australian content in the support material submitted.

2. Written material - Required with your application at the closing date

The following additional material should be submitted with the audio or audio visual material and your application form by the closing date:

• A one page artist biography, either as an additional URL, or uploaded as a single PDF file with your application
• If you have a record label, publisher or management company, you should provide a letter from them confirming their support for your residency proposal
• Please provide letters of confirmation from all key artists, industry contacts and presenters involved in the project

Letters of support are not required in this category.

Any material supplied in addition to the required support material will not be considered in the assessment of your application.

Updates before the board meeting

For your application to be eligible for consideration for funding, you must submit the above support material with your application at the closing date.

You can submit updates, such as additional confirmations of funding, confirmation from presenters and partners, as well as confirmation from the key artists involved in your project. Updates need to be submitted by 13 April 2012.

Support material formats

Support materials can be submitted in the following digital formats:

• Documents – .pdf
• URL - to be uploaded with your application as a single PDF file

For more information about support material formats please see the FAQ’s here.

Please contact Music Board staff with any questions related to support material requirements.

Please submit any hard copy support material to:

Music Board
PO Box 788
Strawberry Hills NSW 2012

Please ensure the support material is clearly labelled, with the applicant’s name, application ID and the category. All hard copy support material must be postmarked no later than the closing date.

Application checklist

We encourage you to use this handy checklist to help you prepare and submit your application. You should:

1. read the Funding Guide for 2012, in particular the general eligibility requirements, the information on making an application and the information on how your application will be assessed;
2. read all of the information provided for this grant (across all the tabs above);
3. get in contact with the grant contact person to discuss your application;
4. prepare your application, being mindful that you address all of the eligibility and selection criteria for this grant; and
5. submit your application form online using the 'Apply online' button in the right-hand column.

Supports a three month songwriter residency in Nashville

A grant of $15,000
Applications for this initiative close 12 March 2012
Decisions will be advised in May 2012
Funded projects can start from September 2012, for a three month period

We encourage you to carefully consider the budget components of your application. The budget information provided is essential in demonstrating the project’s viability, and also its competitiveness under the “good planning and effective use of resources” criterion.

We have compiled some tips to assist you in submitting a strong budget. You are always welcome to contact music staff for assistance and advice.

Key budget notes

• Ensure your income and expenditure are equal when your budget is complete. A balanced budget shows that the project is viable and is able to take place
• It is unlikely that the Australia Council will be able to fund 100% of your project costs. We encourage you to seek additional support from other sources and/or include your own contribution (cash or in-kind) towards the project

How to complete a budget

Budget headings

Budget steps

Step 1 – list all expenses that will be incurred in the execution of your project and total these figures (see expenditure table for more information).

Step 2 – List all sources of income and resources that you can dedicate to delivering the project and allocate a value to these items (see income table for more information).

Step 3 – Total the income identified in Step 2 and subtract this figure from the total expenditure calculated in Step 1. The resulting figure should be the amount of the grant that you are applying for.

Total expenses - total income without the grant = grant request

Step 4 – Complete the budget summary section, focusing on the column titled “Amount of expense this grant will cover.” To do this, you will need to identify how much of the grant will be allocated to the items listed in the expenses column.

Step 5 – Ensure that:

• Total income (including Australia Council grant request) equals total expenses
• Total of “Amount of expense this grant will cover” column equals the Australia Council grant request
• You are only requesting funding towards expenses that the grant can cover – see category guidelines for specific details.

Additional budget notes

• Loss of income (from being away from work for the project period) is not an acceptable expenditure item to include in your project budget.
• Australia Council grants can cover per diems (a daily amount to cover basic personal expenses while on tour) and accommodation costs. However, applicants are encouraged to keep these to a realistic amount. As a guide, you  can refer to the Australian Tax office’s per diem guidelines which you can view here.
• While quotes are not required for Australia Council grant applications, the budget section has room to provide notes in the ‘details’ column. Keep accommodation funding requests realistic and  relevant to the project.
• The Australia Council will not fund a salary/fee for applicants to attend events. However, you can request funding to cover the costs associated with attendance (e.g. travel, accommodation, registration etc).
• Expenditure must include the GST to be paid on purchases. If you are registered for GST, do not add GST to the grant amount you are requesting. If you are successful in receiving funding, the Australia Council will provide you with the 10% GST to remit to the Australian Taxation Office.