UK artists can now apply for £125,000 fund to aid “cost of touring crisis”
It follows a report which found that 84% of UK independent artists couldn’t afford to tour last year
Artists in the UK can now apply to receive part of a £125,000 fund to help alleviate overhead costs when touring, courtesy of the Featured Artist Coalition (FAC).
The first round of the new UKAT Fund will close on Friday, March 20, at 11:59PM GMT, and will allow artists to apply for up to £7,000 or a maximum of 40% of total tour expenditure (depending on which is lower).
Artists applying must have confirmed tour dates that run for a minimum of three weeks before October 31, 2026, and must also be touring in venues with a capacity between 75 and 2,000.
Support Your Local Club: Shop the Mixmag range here
The fund is set up in partnership with Music Managers Forum and the Musicians’ Union, and will distribute money collected by LIVE Trust as part of a ticket levy scheme that has seen Radiohead, The Cure and more donate £1 from stadium and arena shows to the grassroots music fund.
Phase one of the fund will distribute a share of £125,000 of the £500,000 collected by LIVE Trust so far through the scheme, with more phases and funding yet to come.
Speaking to NME, Featured Artist Coalition CEO David Martin explained: “This has been carefully designed and we’re at the start of an evolution. It won’t be perfect as it’s quite a tricky problem to solve, but we are excited that we are building something that could be seriously game-changing for the British sector.”
Read this next: More than half of UK grassroots music venues failed to make a profit in 2025
Some other requirements for applications in phase one include having a “demonstrable” record of creating and releasing “original music” over the last three years, which also applies to artists who are DJs, and proof that the tour would be “loss‑making without support”.
The fund follows a 2025 report from Ditto Music which found that 84% of UK independent artists couldn’t afford to tour last year, also finding that 70.6% of artists predominantly fund their careers through personal savings.
Find out how to apply for phase one of the UKAT fund here.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on X
Mixmag will use the information you provide to send you the Mixmag newsletter using Mailchimp as our marketing platform. You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us. By clicking sign me up you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.
