SoundON is a province-wide campaign and funding mechanism to help British Columbia’s music community by providing desperately needed support to those deeply connected to the sector – artists, presenters, production staff and venues.
The highly successful project was initially launched by Music BC during the summer of 2020 in response to the financial devastation COVID-19 invoked on the sector and received an incredibly positive response from the creative community.
To date, more than $186,000 of funding has been awarded to 44 recipients. This equates to 579 industry jobs being funded and 266 artists being supported through the grants across British Columbia. Of those recipients 154 were female, 165 were Black, Indigenous or Persons of Colour, and 58 were from the LGBTQIA2S+ community.
“Over the past ten months we have seen the devastating impact that the pandemic has had on British Columbia’s vibrant music scene,” explains Lindsay MacPherson, Executive Director of Music BC. “Through SoundON funding, we were able to put money directly into artists pockets and help them get back to performing. We saw firsthand the effect COVID had on our industry and how instrumental the SoundON funding was in supporting the creative sector in our province. The criteria for applications is broad because the urgent need for financial support is vast. It allows us to continue to showcase the diversity in British Columbia’s music scene, while offering real tangible support.”
“People in the music industry have been deeply impacted by the pandemic,” said Bob D’Eith, Parliamentary Secretary for Arts and Film. “Our government understands the challenges they are facing and provided $510,000 through Amplify BC for SoundON. These grants are vital because they get funding to artists fast and support what they do best – making and performing music to inspire us all.”
SoundON is providing direct support to those within the creative community most affected by the pandemic. Unlike other funds and grants, which have lengthy application processes, SoundON aims to get money into presenter’s hands quickly, within the next 30 – 45 days. The fund will continue its mission to showcase the diversity of BC – helping bring together music communities from across the province digitally.
“Being a musician over this past year has been incredibly stressful and left a lot of our community with doubts about the future. With live shows being cancelled, our primary source of income and creative release disappeared overnight. Receiving SoundON funding provided a release for a months-long dry spell of performing and created a safe space for us to continue to engage with our fans. The added investment into the fund is essential to sustaining this vibrant community, so that more artists and hungry music fans can benefit from this financial aid.” —Alexis Young, Blonde Diamond
Successful applicants will be awarded $5,000 and the fund will support more than 70 performances. Successful applicants will also be able to add a ticketing element to their shows, an aspect that is new for this round of funding.
Applications for presenters open TODAY and can be found at https://soundon.ca/
