Since 2016, UNIFIED Music Group's Grant has awarded five individuals or groups influencing positive, meaningful, and sustainable change in the creative industry to foster Australia's next generation of talent. Each recipient shares in $25,000, receiving $5,000 in funding to help propel their movement or career forward.
This year's grants go to YoWo, a music mentoring program for young women and GNC teens, the technology startup Sustainable Touring Solutions; More Mindfulness, a wellbeing resource to assist artists with their mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing; the music database dARTbase and the First Nations-led mobile music, healing, recording and storytelling space, Tin Camp Studios.
Receiving the grant is helping the dARTbase journey go on, says founder Gemma Colbran. "Receiving The UNIFIED Grant has provided us with much-needed capital to launch a marketing campaign for our business. Even more so, it has reaffirmed that we are on the right path and to keep up with our journey. Having a relationship with UNIFIED Music Group more broadly means we have access to artists to trial our service and helps to legitimise our startup, which is in the very beginnings of its journey."
"The UNIFIED Grant will make it possible for me to engage wellbeing professionals when developing More Mindfulness," says founder Hugh Cruickshank. "I know a lot of UNIFIED directors and staff actively engage in some of the wellbeing pillars that the program will educate artists in, such as meditation, so it's really nice to have the support of a team that shares similar values that I'm trying shed light on."
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The UNIFIED Music Group celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2021. The grant initiative is helmed by Support Act's Luke O'Connor, who is now the Senior Partnerships Manager of the UNIFIED Impact Committee. "UNIFIED's people are united by a commitment to help breathe life into creative ideas that will make our world a better place," O'Connor revealed.
"So, with over 100 applicants, and some incredible applications, we're all excited to go on the journey with our 2022 recipients."
UNIFIED co-founder and CEO Jaddan Comerford first announced the grant during his BIGSOUND keynote address in 2016. He shared his hopes that the initiative would "foster the next generation of driven creatives who want to work in music but don't play an instrument." In the first year, over 200 applicants applied for the grant.
