Blossoms and Maribou State amongst acts given international touring funding

Blossoms and Maribou State are among the acts benefitting from a £1.6 million pot of international touring funding.

Called the Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS), the touring funding programme is developed and administered by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). This year, it is giving away a total of £1.6 million to support 58 acts that are looking to expand their global audiences but need extra financial aid.

In addition to Blossoms and Maribou State, some of the other acts supported this year are Lambrini Girls, Nova Twins, Antony Szmierek, Tara Lily, Bar Italia, Wunderhorse, Songer and recent NME cover stars Divorce.

The programme is a joint scheme between industry and government. Funding is received from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) – alongside investment from the UK recorded music industry.

According to the UK government website, this funding will directly support small and medium-sized music companies to deliver better marketing and promotion campaigns for their artists to tour abroad and attract new fans, opportunities and revenue.

“The 58 incredible acts supported by this latest round of MEGS funding are testament to the diverse creative talent that exists across the whole of the UK,” said Sophie Jones, BPI chief strategy officer.

“It is a genuine game-changer for the artists supported through the scheme, a critical resource for the UK’s burgeoning independent sector, and a proven financial success with a significant return on investment and boost to exports.”

Funding from previous rounds of the scheme was given to the likes of Beabadoobee, Dave, Bicep and Wolf Alice.

In other international touring-related news, Indie band Los Campesinos! have broken down the “financial restrictions” of touring in new locations and revealed a significant “loss” from a one-off show in Dublin.

Last year, DJ Shadow shared his thoughts on the current touring crisis, saying the industry is close to “extinction”.

Additionally, back in 2022, various figures from the UK music industry spoke to NME about how the first summer of post-pandemic touring revealed that the complications of Brexit were “strangling the next generation of UK talent in the cradle”.

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