Unsigned and Gifted: We Create. We Protect. We Monetise.

* This post is a celebration of what happens when resources, talent, community, values and vision are aligned!

Unsigned & Gifted, is an artist development programme, aiming to activate an industry pathway for unsigned artists and grassroots musicians to generate their first revenue streams from live shows and sync licensing and support them with setting up the administration of their rights.

This initiative couldn’t happen without the support from the Arts Council England, The National Lottery UK, PRS for Music, ICMP - The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, and of course my core team members Dr Neil March FRSA/PhD/Mmus., Mauro Lacandia, and Monica Lambies Sanchez.

Our mission is to educate and empower grassroots artists, producers, and writers to monetise their creativity and administer their rights as early as possible in their careers.

Our vision is to contribute to the development of a more diverse, balanced, sustainable and representative music ecosystem by lowering the barriers to entry to the music industry.

Our motto is: "WE CREATE. WE PROTECT. WE MONETISE.”

The old days when being a starving musician was confused with being committed to art are long gone. Art enhances all aspects of our everyday life and hence being an artist should be regarded as an esteemed profession, critical to the evolution of our civilisation and hence worthy of a fair and significant remuneration.

We kicked off the programme with our first workshop on Saturday 28th January 2023, at the facilities of ICMP - The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance. The core team interacted with guests from the high end of the industry, such as Ian Ramage (VP of Repertoire & Marketing UK, BMG - The New Music Company), Jeremiah Gogo (Head of Data & A&R Analytics, Atlantic Records), Jataneel Banerjee (Relationship Manager Asia, PRS for Music), Mali Emeka Mali Emeka (A&R Manager, Atlantic Records) and up-and-coming professionals, such as Cory Lawrence (Everything Fantasy, Abbey Road Institute alumnus), to organise a series of activities and workshops, focusing on industry tips around rights management, data analytics, synchronisation and artist development.

It was a humbling experience to see all these established professionals, being so generous with their time and wisdom, but also to witness the appreciation of grassroots creatives for having the opportunity to interact and connect with the industry at that level. You can see the video teaser from the workshop here and you can read the peer review written by Tuniverse cofounder and ICMP alumna Inbal Colley-Croitoru here.

The second step was organising our first live showcase at Fox and Firkin on Thursday 16th February 2023. Hitting a record of advance tickets for a grassroots event, was an early indication of the success of the night. Sloane Monroe, JO, and LadyLucci impressed the packed venue with their performances, and the Unsigned and Gifted community was there to support and celebrate with them! Video footage of the event will be released on our YouTube channel soon.

Visit http://unsignedandgifted.com to learn more about this initiative and keep in touch to apply to join our next cohort or join us as a guest/instructor in one of the forthcoming workshops, if this all sounds exciting to you!

The future of music is ‘unsigned’ AND ‘gifted’!

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