UNIFIED Music Group unveils 2017 grant program
PRESS RELEASE:
UNIFIED Music Group are proud to announce The UNIFIED Grant will return in 2017. Open to applications worldwide on September 4, 2017, The UNIFIED Grant will give people the chance to follow their creative dreams behind the scenes in the music industry by awarding five x $5,000 grants to innovative ideas.
Established by UNIFIED Founder and CEO Jaddan Comerford and announced during his keynote speech at BIGSOUND 2016, the goal of The UNIFIED Grant is to foster the next generation of driven creatives who want to work in music but don’t play an instrument. Open to any inspired ideas behind the scenes of the music industry, The UNIFIED Grant comprises of five x $5,000 grants available to photographers, producers, videographers, web developers, graphic designers, journalists, app builders, data analysts and all the other disciplines that haven’t yet come into focus.
Those interested in applying for the grant will need to fill out a questionnaire and compose a 500-word statement explaining why they deserve the grant and what they will spend the money on. Perhaps it’s to create a documentary or to start a website that views music through a new lens, whatever the endeavour applications are open to any inspired ideas behind the scenes of the music industry. All applications will be reviewed by a dedicated panel of judges.
In its first year, The UNIFIED Grant had close to 200 applicants across the globe from a variety of disciplines and the five winners were chosen by a dedicated panel.
Everyone starts somewhere, including UNIFIED Music Group which started in a bedroom nearly 15 years ago and has grown into full service music company specialising in all aspects of an artist’s career.
Applications for The UNIFIED Grant open on September 4 at www.theunifiedgrant.com. The panel will make a decision on the five winners, who will each receive $5,000 to put towards their dreams. An announcement will be made in November.
Applications for The UNIFIED Grant will close on September 30, 2017.
Checking in on the 2016 winners of The UNIFIED Grant
The inaugural recipients of The UNIFIED Grant 2016 explain how they used the prize money and how it has impacted their projects.
Michelle Grace Hunder & Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore, Her Sound, Her Story: Her Sound, Her Story is a collaborative art project that contributes to the very important narrative about women in the Australian Music Industry through photography and film. The prize money will be put towards the documentary, to be tentatively released in November.
Hunder says, “the grant money is going to be used for the post-production aspects of the documentary. It’s allowed us to engage professionals to do this work, rather than call in huge favours from people we know, or do things ourselves, which was how most of the project was created. It’s a good feeling to be able to engage people and pay them properly for their services.”
Georgia Beach, Office Gossip Design: Office Gossip Design bridges the gap between creators and their community through graphic design. Located in Darwin, Office Gossip Design works out of the Skinnyfish creative hub and travels to remote parts of the Territory to help indigenous and Northern Territory creatives share their work with a broader audience,
Beach says, “the Grant enabled me to purchase a really high-powered laptop that I desperately needed. My previous workhorse always had to be attached to this clunky docking station. Now I’m able to work at a much higher capacity and actually take my work out with me, whether it’s to a meeting with a client in town or out in community at Barunga. It has expanded what I’m capable of achieving and improved the quality of my work profoundly. I’m able to take a design from concept to completion and play around with different techniques really easily.”
Neal Walters, Photography: Neal Walters is a professional music photographer who captures musicians at their most candid. He is currently working on a photography book that will feature portraits of people in the music industry alongside photos of the subject in their happy place.
Walters says, “so far the prize money has been used in preparation for the book. it will be shot entirely on film, so we have invested in that and new cameras to make it happen. The UNIFIED Grant absolutely helped with getting this book to become a reality. Without it, we couldn’t have dreamed on having the right equipment and time to make it happen.”
Aaron Dobos, Producer/Engineer/Mixer: Aaron Dobos has been working in studios around Melbourne for over seven years and has set up his own space which will allow him to work with up-and-coming Australian bands with limited budgets to produce a world-class sound that previously may have been out of reach.
Dobos says, “in the last 12 months I’ve been engineering, ,mixing and producing for a bunch of bands from Melbourne and elsewhere, such as Ceres, Self Talk, Empire Park, The Canyoneros, Alex Laheyand others. This year, I’ve also moved studios to a purpose-built space in Ascot Vale, which has been really awesome. I bought an Analog Summing Mixer and Converter and the two bits of gear have completely upped the level of work that I’m doing, the depth of sound a quality of mixes has improved a lot. It was really great getting the Grant, it allowed me to really take my work to the next level.”
Ashleigh Hills, Tram Sessions: Tram Sessions is a Melbourne initiative that takes the joy of live music and seats it next to unsuspecting commuters. Since launching in 2010, Tram sessions has hosted over 100 artists including Paul Kelly, Josh Pyke, Paul Dempsey and Amy Shark.
Hills says, “we used the Grant prize money to get our website redesigned and also to fund our Melbourne Music Week event. The UNIFIED Grant was great promotion for Tram Sessions and got our name in front of a lot of people who may not have heard about us before. It also solidified our relationship with UNIFIED Music Group and enabled us to film a session with Amy Shark right after she took out #2 on triple j’s Hottest 100. I have also stayed connected with a few of the other winners and we have been able to work together on other projects! The UNIFIED Grant connected me with an amazing network of people and is a great networking tool as well as excellent opportunity.”