The first 26 artists to benefit from the Featured Artist Coalition’s fund to get musicians back on the road have been announced.
READ MORE: The ticket levy that could save grassroots venues and artists: what happens next?
A funding pot of £125,000 has been made available by the UK Artist Touring (UKAT) fund, an initiative put together by the Featured Artist Coalition, in partnership with the Music Managers Forum and the Musicians’ Union.
It intends to help alleviate the “cost of touring crisis” facing artists, with a 2024 parliamentary report finding that many artists are “working full-time but earning less than minimum wage”.
The money has been collected from LIVE Trust donations as part of voluntary “levy” ticket contributions from the likes of Sam Fender, Harry Styles, Radiohead, Lily Allen, Enter Shikari, Olivia Dean, Wolf Alice, Biffy Clyro, Ed Sheeran, Take That, The Cure, Kojey Radical, Foo Fighters and more.
It will now go to 26 artists, supporting 211 shows at grassroots and mid-sized venues across the UK before October 31, with this announcement amounting to just the first phase of support.
The beneficiaries include Man/Woman/Chainsaw, Demob Happy, Ego Ella May, Puma Blue, Donae’O, Duke Special, Gwilym Gold, Jim Ghedi and Hollie Cook.
Also making the shortlist are Belle Chen, Bonfire Radicals, Brown Horse, Chris Brain, Deary, Elephant Sessions, Eleni Drake, Emily Portman & Friends, Imogen and the Knife, Lake Malice, MEMORIALS, NOAHFINNCE, Oslo Twins, Tom Waters Band ft Geoff Achison, TRIP, V.I.C and Wax Head.
The fund will provide “top-up” contributions of up to £7,000 to help artists reduce financial risk, build new audiences and develop careers, while ensuring those in the supply chain are paid fairly and tour safely.
More than 250 artists applied for the funding, and all applications were reviewed by a panel of industry experts.
David Martin, CEO of the Featured Artists Coalition, has said: “Having opened Phase One of UKAT about six weeks ago, the response has been overwhelming. We’ve been inundated with applications, and I’m incredibly proud we’ve been able to move so quickly and distribute this money to where it’s most needed. It’s been an incredible team effort, and the support from the MMF, the MU and Arts Council has been invaluable.”
“Today’s announcement demonstrates perfectly the impact that the LIVE Trust is making, and I hope the progress we’re making with UKAT encourages more in the industry to contribute to their work. The FAC maintains that progressive and targeted investment into artists is the most effective way of addressing the cost of touring crisis and encouraging more economic activity across the live sector.
“As well as supporting these 26 brilliant artists, UKAT’s model will ultimately benefit the entire ecosystem, from backing musicians and managers, through to promoters, agents and venues. Going forward, our ambition is now to accelerate and evolve the fund. We want to help even more artists from all genres, backgrounds and regions, and ensure UKAT becomes a permanent and constantly-rolling support programme.”
After the recent news that 30 grassroots venues were lost forever between July 2024 and July 2025, and last year alone saw more than half of those remaining making no profit and over 6,000 jobs lost, pressure has been mounting to help fund touring for artists to help prevent the existential threat to the future of the UK’s talent pipeline.
Initiatives such as UKAT could have a much more profound and widespread impact if the ticket levy of arena and stadium gigs comes fully into fruition. So far, the government has been waiting for the industry to proactively and voluntarily make the levy work before they step in and legislate to make it law and mandatory. Last year, it was expected that 50 per cent of stadium and arena gigs would be paying into the levy by the end of 2025. This was not met, and a new deadline has been set for June 30, 2026.
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