$50,000 can do an awful lot for a music career, just ask Melbourne’s King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard who are using just that amount in prize money to fund their first tour of the US. And it’s also the same hefty value of a new scholarship open to independent musicians Australia wide that offers “all you need to crack the big time.”
One talented artist or band is being offered the chance to win the Music Career Development Scholarship, valued at $50,000, created by a group of Australian businesses to help give a local indie act a major career boost.
The package offers everything from production of an album, a 500 CD run of the release, a professional music video and photo shoot, a website, social media management, an electronic press kit, and a fully tailored business plan to launch your music career with the expertise of marketing, media, and music industry consultants. Basically everything you need to begin your path to ‘next big thing’ status.
Applications for the scholarship, which is open to all indie Aussie artists and bands 16 years and over, are open now and close 31st July before a winner is announced on 30th September.
The $50k career opportunity is being offered by music company JMusic Australia, social media agency SoGuru Media, and Pacific International Music, an Aussie label of publishers and producers who have strong ties to the American music scene (thus their name). “This is a real opportunity for Aussie artists to break into the international scene…”
“Australia has an enormous abundance of talent. We want the scholarship to give us a current snapshot of that talent and provide the winner with a big leg-up in the industry,” says Pacific International Music CEO Robert Mackay, a musician/producer/sound engineer based in Gippsland, Victoria with over 30 years experience.
“There are so many talented independent artists out there that could really benefit from this scholarship, it is going to be tough to judge,” adds JMusic Australia GM Karen Andrews. “We will be looking for unique music and talent and proof that the successful applicant has the drive to put in the hard-yards and go the distance.”
Helping determine the lucky winner of the $50k leg-up will be famed producer Gordon ‘The Commissioner’ Williams, best known for his multi-Grammy award winning work for Lauryn Hill’s seminal 1998 debut, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, as well as producing a string of platinum and gold selling releases with the likes of Amy Winehouse, Santana, and Alicia Keys.
“This is a real opportunity for Aussie artists to break into the international scene,” The Commissioner says of the competition. “Pacific International Music, the producers and publishers, have great connections in the US, so for the right person, with talent and drive, they could be performing to an international audience much sooner than they think.”
Any band that find themselves joining the likes of Vance Joy, Boy & Bear, Courtney Barnett, The Preatures, and other local heroes making major waves over in international waters should certainly investigate. For full application details for the Music Career Scholarship 2014, head here.
(Photo: Sandy Hancock. Source: Vance Joy @ The Gov Tone Deaf Photo Gallery)
