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Artist Development

The Artist Development program (AD) offers a $5,000 subsidy toward a year of artist development activities including sound recording, touring, showcasing, video content production, and marketing.

This program is intended to provide support towards the professionalization and integration of early career artists into the music industry. Artists with an established track record and ongoing market momentum should review the Juried Sound Recording: Album or Juried Sound Recording: Single/EP programs.

In order to fill out an Artist Development application in the FACTOR online system, you will first need a rated Artist Profile and Applicant Profiles.

With your Artist Development application, you must submit:

An MP3 of a recent demo along with lyrics, known as the assessment track.

A current artist biography.

An artist development plan, which sets out all the intended artist development activities to be undertaken if the project is approved for funding. The artist development plan questions are incorporated into the application on the portal.

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Read the program guidelines.
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Components in this program

This program consists of the Artist Development component.

Program Components

Who is Eligible

  • General Artist
Eligible To Apply

This program is intended to provide development support to emerging artists.

Artists who have commercially released music no more than 3 years prior to the application deadline are eligible to apply.

Not Eligible To Apply

Artists are not eligible to apply if they have commercially released music more than 3 years prior to the application deadline (no releases before September 14, 2020).

Artists are not eligible to apply if the artist (or a label on the artist’s behalf) has received $10,000 or more from FACTOR in the past.

An artist who has been previously funded outside of the eligibility period via Artist Development as a solo artist or member of a different group and has now embarked on a solo career or changed their name does not qualify for the AD program, as they are considered previously funded.

Songwriters and Artists rated 2 or 3 are not eligible for this program.

Record labels may not apply for this grant.

An artist may receive funding only once in the lifetime of the Artist Development program.

Not sure if you’re eligible?

Learn about what FACTOR funds

Read more about Profiles & Ratings for Artists

Check out Artist Development Application Questions

Read our Jury Assessment Preparation Guide

Deadlines

September 14, 2023, 5:00pm Eastern Time (opens July 31 to new applications)

Please note:

Artists may only apply to one juried program (either Artist Development, Juried Sound Recording: Single/EP, or Juried Sound Recording: Album) within a fiscal year (April 1 – March 31).

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Read FACTOR’s Glossary of Standard Terms and Business Policies

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Funding & Payments

FACTOR will reimburse 75% of the eligible costs up to $5,000. To receive the full grant, applicants must complete the activities set out in an artist development plan, and be able to prove that they incurred at least $6,667 worth of eligible expenses (including Donated Services) during the Artist Development year.

FACTOR will allow a claim for Artist’s Donated Services of up to $500 for this program. Beyond that, FACTOR will only recognize costs actually paid to third parties. Artists who do not intend to spend money on third-party costs are not eligible for this program.

More Information

Assessment Process

Assessment materials, including the mandatory artist development plan, are reviewed and scored by a jury comprised of music industry professionals. The top-scoring applications are then reviewed by FACTOR staff, who assess the eligibility of the projects and make a recommendation to the Board of Directors for their approval. Assessment time is up to 12 weeks from the deadline and may be affected by number of submissions and juror availability.

Become a Juror

Ready to apply?