Supports one-off projects that present, publish or market quality music of any style within Australia

A grant for up to $30,000
Applications for this grant close 12 November 2012
Decisions will be advised in February 2013
Funded projects can start from 8 March 2013

Rounds

About the grant

Presentation and Promotion grants support one-off projects that present, publish, distribute or market quality music of any style within Australia.

Presentation and Promotion grants support activities such as gigs, concerts, festivals, showcases and promotional or performance tours within Australia, and publications that document or discuss aspects of music in Australia.

The creation, presentation and promotion of new Australian works is a priority for the Music Board.

Touring projects with regional activity should also consider the Contemporary Music Touring Program offered by the Office of the Arts.

International activities

International touring and international showcasing are not supported in this category. Applicants must apply to the International Pathways initiative for support for international touring, and to Market Development’s Live On Stage initiative for support for international showcasing.

Costs

The focus of the category is to fund artist and performance fees. You may also apply to the Music Board for associated expenses such as on-costs and travel, and a reasonable level of promotional and administrative costs. If asking for promotional costs you will need to outline a clearly defined promotional strategy. If you wish to claim administrative costs, you should provide a detailed breakdown of these costs in your project budget.

Costs associated with the recording, production or promotion of any sound recording are not eligible for funding.

International artist fees and travel costs will not be covered by this grant.

The funding cap reflects the maximum amount available through this category. The amount requested in any application must be supported by a clear, well argued budget. The average amount funded in this category in 2010-11 was $13,767. For an indication of grant amounts previously funded in this category, please view Assessment Meeting Reports for previous rounds.

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:

Peter Keogh
Program Officer, Music
Phone 02 9215 9108, Email p.keogh@australiacouncil.gov.au

Supports one-off projects that present, publish or market quality music of any style within Australia

A grant for up to $30,000
Applications for this grant close 12 November 2012
Decisions will be advised in February 2013
Funded projects can start from 8 March 2013

Eligibility

This category is open to individuals, performing groups/ensembles/bands and organisations. Individuals and groups/bands may be established or emerging. To be eligible, you must meet the general eligibility requirements.

The following requirements are specific to this grant:

• costs associated with the recording, production or promotion of sound recordings are not eligible for funding
• international artist fees and travel costs will not be covered by this grant

How often can you apply?

Applicants can only apply to the Presentation and Promotion category once in 2012.

The following buffer periods also apply to all applicants except for legally constituted organisations:

• If you apply for a Presentation and Promotion grant at either closing date in the 2012 calendar year and are successful, you will not be eligible to reapply for this category in the 2013 calendar year. You will be eligible to reapply in 2014
• If you applied for a Presentation and Promotion grant at either closing date in the 2011 calendar year and were successful, you will not be eligible to reapply for this category in the 2012 calendar year. You will be eligible to reapply in 2013  

Selection criteria

Applications will be ranked against the following criteria:

• Artistic merit, the quality of artists and their suitability to the project
• The potential to contribute to cultural, regional or musical diversity in Australia
• Good planning and effective use of resources, and clear plans for audience development

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

The Music Board, with advice from peer advisers will assess applications according to the selection criteria above. 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 one-off projects that present, publish or market quality music of any style within Australia

A grant for up to $30,000
Applications for this grant close 12 November 2012
Decisions will be advised in February 2013
Funded projects can start from 8 March 2013

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:

• What are you planning to do?
• Why do you want to do it?
• How are you planning to do it?
•  Who are the key artists involved?
• Where do you intend to do it?
• What are your strategies for audience development?
• How will your project contribute to the cultural, regional or musical diversity in Australia?
• Please provide details of the music to be performed, presented or distributed, as relevant to your application
• If your project involves unpaid young people working with professional artists, to what extent will young people collaborate with professionals and have input into the project?
• Please provide abridged biographies of key artists involved in your project, and highlight their career achievements.

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 four 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 up to three examples of their work and that of the key artists represented in a format listed below:

• Up to a total of 10 minutes of audio material, to be uploaded with your application, or submitted in hard copy as a single audio CD; or
• Up to a total of 10 minutes of audio visual material. Video files 10mb or smaller should be uploaded with your application. For larger video files please submit three identical DVDs or data discs in hard copy; or
• Up to three URLs linking to audio or visual material, to be uploaded with 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.

Your support material should be your own work and the work of other key artists involved in the project. Support material should be recent and relevant to the project for which you are applying.

You must also include details of the support material included with your application. This should include title, duration, year, composer/songwriter and performer details, and a brief explanation of the material’s relevance to the application. You can include this information in the comments space provided or attach a separate document (Support material details), which you can download below.

2. Additional material to be provided with your application

The following additional material should be submitted with the audio or audio visual material and your application form by the closing date, as relevant to the project.

• Please provide letters of confirmation from all key artists and presenters involved in the project.

Applications for some specific activities require additional material to be submitted.

These are:

• Festival presentation or presentation of multi-events involving multiple key artists - a URL providing details of the previous year's activity
• Opera or music theatre applications - a one-page treatment or synopsis of the work, to be uploaded with your application
• Instrument-making and installation/sound art applications - photograps of recent work, to be uploaded with your application or provided as a URL with examples of the work online

For proposals that involve companies funded by the Major Performing Arts Board, a letter of agreement between the applicant and the MPAB-funded company must be provided to both the MPAB and the Music Board. For further details please contact MPAB staff directly.

In line with the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts policy and its underpinning principles, the Australia Council requires that applications for projects containing representations of artistic/cultural practice or intended outcomes relating to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artists or communities must provide letters from relevant communities or artists. Letters must show clear evidence of support and agreement for the activities undertaken. In preparing your application, you may wish to consult the Indigenous protocol guides in song, performance, writing, new media and visual arts.

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 venues, as well as confirmation from the key artists involved in your project. Updates need to be submitted by 24 July 2012 (for the June closing date) and 13 January 2013 (for the November closing date). All other support material needs to be submitted at the closing date.

Support material formats

Support materials can be submitted in the following digital formats:

• Audio files – .mp3 (192.1 kb/s)
• Documents – .pdf
• Video - standard H264 QuickTime .MOV or .mp4 format only
• URL - to be uploaded with your application

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

The Music Board does not accept notated scores or video cassettes and will not assess them if provided.

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 one-off projects that present, publish or market quality music of any style within Australia

A grant for up to $30,000
Applications for this grant close 12 November 2012
Decisions will be advised in February 2013
Funded projects can start from 8 March 2013

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.