We had a tremendous response to the program this past round. When our Board met at the end of last year, they decided to take the current round off for the new program in order to better evaluate what worked and didn’t work and to make some upgrades to the website. The next deadline for the Artist Funding Program for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour will now be May 20^th, 2021. All eligibility requirements will remain the same. Further details will be announced with the email blast announcing the opening of Round 79. Here are the details on the program as they were announced.

The Board of Directors of the Radio Starmaker Fund announces the creation of a new program dedicated to supporting music creation by members of the Canadian music industry who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour. This funding stream is available to eligible musicians who have not yet met Starmaker sales criteria. This will be a "stepping stone" program that recognizes the systemic barriers that prevent otherwise eligible applicants from qualifying for the established Starmaker programs. The program will fund a broad range of activities to help sustain racialized artists as they continue to develop and increase the audience and industry reach needed to apply to other Starmaker programs.

This is a ‘living program’, made to be able to adapt to and reflect the Board’s collective learning, community feedback and industry change.

The program is compromised of the following elements:

• Qualifying applicants are identified as Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour - if you are a band rather than an individual, the majority of the band must be identified as Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour.
• You must show full-length or bundle sales of at least 1,500 units to qualify. A full-length release contains at least 6 unique studio recordings – not including acoustic re-recordings, remixes, versions, etc. – and at least 30 minutes of music. A bundle contains at least 3 unique, previously unreleased studio recordings – not including acoustic re-recordings, remixes, versions, etc. – and at least 9 minutes of music. They can be either physical, digital or equivalent streams (750 single track streams from a full-length release or bundle will constitute one sales unit toward the achievement of the minimum sales threshold, as will 5 downloaded tracks from a release constitute one sales unit). We will accept proof via Soundscan/Music Connect, manufacturing invoices and net sales reports from distributors. International sales, streams and downloads will be counted towards eligibility. Multiple releases from the previous 5 years leading up to the deadline for the round can be combined to show eligibility. Alternatively, if you have been nominated for a Grammy, Juno or the Polaris prize shortlist for a release from the last 5 years, you will be considered qualified for this program. You can just enter the release which was nominated, list the sales as 1,500 units and attach proof of the nomination.

• The application process will be as follows: you will enter your artist information into the Starmaker website. Those details are provided on the right side of our homepage under the links for “Getting Started”. After completion, you will then have the option to be redirected to this program where you will submit a one-page business plan/proposal. You will be able to include attachments to the proposal, elaborating on proof of eligibility, breakdowns of expenditures or other key information. Brief details on domestic or international activity and momentum should be included in the proposal to illustrate why your request should be funded.
• Money can be requested for any music related expenses – recording, promotion, publicity, advertising, digital marketing, touring, videos, etc. The maximum overall request will be capped at $25,000 and artists will only be considered for one of these grants per calendar year.
• Artists who eventually qualify for the main Starmaker programs will still be able to apply for this annual $25,000 grant.
• All other Starmaker rules will apply.