There will be two focus areas within the program, each with their own set of guidelines and requirements:

• Uncovering Talent (a fixed $5000 grant) is for applicants who have not received Creative Victoria funding before (other than from the COVID support grants listed in the guidelines.  
  
  *Except for direct recipients of grants from the following COVID support programs: Sustaining Creative Workers Initiative, Creative Workers Fund, Victorian Music Industry Recovery Program, Live Music Venues Support Program

• Projects ($10,000-$20,000 grants) is for music industry professionals with a proven track record within the music industry.

Both categories have dedicated streams for First Peoples and Deaf and Disabled applicants, alongside the General stream.

The Uncovering Talent focus area is for Victorian musicians, artists and music workers at any career level to undertake creative projects and professional development opportunities including:

• song writing

• recording

• release

• mentorship and professional development

• marketing

The Projects focus area is for Victorian music industry professionals with a proven track record to undertake creative projects and professional development opportunities including:

• recording and release

• developing innovative contemporary music practice including the use of new techniques, instruments and technology

• attending national and international conferences and events

• national and international tour support

• national and international PR and marketing

• film and game soundtrack development

• cross-industry collaborations.

The levels of funding available for each focus area are detailed below. While all applicants are encouraged to include access costs within their project budget, those applying through the Deaf and Disabled stream may apply for an additional amount on top of the general project costs to cover specific access expenses for Deaf and Disabled participants:

• Uncovering Talent: Fixed $5,000 grant (plus up to $1,500 in accessibility costs for applicants through the Deaf and Disabled stream)

• Projects: Grants between $10,000 and $20,000 (plus up to $3,000 in accessibility costs for applicants through the Deaf and Disabled stream)

This round supports activities commencing from 1 July 2025 and onwards.

You will receive a Common Funding Agreement if your application is successful.

The payment schedule and any relevant funding deliverable/milestones will be outlined in the funding agreement.

Once the agreement has been executed (i.e accepted by the recipient and Creative Victoria), and you have satisfied any conditions and provided us with an invoice, then the grant payment will be made.

For the purpose of this funding program, Victoria’s contemporary music industry is defined as:

• Victorian musicians creating music now, with a clear intention and strategy to connect with audiences.

• Victorian individuals, organisations and businesses surrounding these musicians which make up the industry in which they operate.

You can only submit one application to either Uncovering Talent or Projects.

If you are under 18 years of age you must apply through an auspicing body.

No. Applicants can only submit one application to Music Works 2025 or Creative Projects Fund 2025.

No. Demand for Creative Victoria project funding is high, and this will be an extremely competitive program to enter. Applicants must not assume they will be successful or make commitments based on that assumption before receiving formal notification of the outcome of their funding. Nor should applicants assume that if they are successful once, they will be successful again in the future.

For both focus areas, only one application can be submitted per applicant. Auspicing organisations can submit multiple applications on behalf of others.

Only one application per individual applicant or organisation will be accepted. One individual is not able to act as the primary contact for two separate applications. You may be involved in another project/activity but cannot be the primary contact for that application and another project. This applies to both individual and group projects.

Creative Victoria will not consider funding for activity or costs incurred prior to 1 July 2025. You should not make any arrangements or make any payments on the assumption you will receive support for activity prior to this date. As per Creative Victoria’s general eligibility, an application will be ineligible if it relates to activity that has already taken place or will occur prior to the starting date.

Music Works will from time to time allow grant budgets to include payment to non-Victorian services when the overall outcome of the project benefits a Victorian artist, industry individual or organisation as per the assessment guidelines.

This program’s aim is not to provide business support. LaunchVic’s website has information and resources for start-ups. For business support, please refer to Business Victoria’s website.

The project description should be a description of the type of activity in the application and how it aligns with the outcomes and objectives of the Music Works program. Please use the following description template: Who will do what, with whom? What are the outcomes? 

For example: To support Your Band to develop and produce their debut album at XYZ Studios in collaboration with producer Tom Blank.

We recommend using the Application Drafting Tools, available for download under ‘Guidelines and Tools’.

There is only one application question for the Uncovering Talent focus area. It is important to provide a comprehensive overview of your activity, including what you are proposing to do, key outcomes of the activity as well as detailing why it is important for your career/practice.

When you are forming your response, consider how your activity aligns with the assessment criteria.

There are two application questions for the Projects focus area. When you are forming your response to each question, consider how your activity aligns with the assessment criteria. 

You will need to provide a comprehensive overview of your activity, including what you are proposing to do, the timeframe you are delivering the activity, any key milestones and key collaborators on the activity as well as detailing why it is important for your career/practice and how it builds on your previous activity/work.

The application support documents will be used by the peer assessors to assess your proposal against the assessment criteria. The peer assessors will not assess your application without the required support materials (as listed in the guidelines). For detailed information on required support materials please see the guidelines via the Music Works page. 

The required support documents, which you must provide are:

• Creative support material (both focus areas)

• Project management timeline (Projects focus area only)

Additional support material may include:

• Additional biographies/CVs

• Support documentation to provide if your project involves Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property (ICIP) and/or collaborations with First Peoples creatives or community/Elders

• Letters of support or Letters of partner confirmations

• Budget notes (Projects focus area only)

• Community engagement strategy for activity with community (Projects focus area only)

Ensure you prepare the required support documents and any optional support materials ahead of the program closing date, so you have everything prepared for the submission of your application.

If you are an artist manager applying on behalf of an artist and it is intended that you will receive the funds and manage the grant for the artist (with the artist’s consent), you must auspice the application. If you are not legally constituted and thus not eligible to auspice the application, you must ensure the ABN details provided in the application are the artist’s, not your own.

If you don’t have an ABN or you are not sure that you will have the ability to manage the paperwork or requirements associated with a Creative Victoria grant, an organisation or business can submit the application on your behalf. If your application is successful, this party will receive the funding and will be responsible for managing the funds and reporting to Creative Victoria on your behalf. An auspice organisation can apply to this program on behalf of multiple people/projects.

For this program, any legally constituted organisation may act as an auspice.

In the application, you will be asked to provide details of the auspicing organisation, such as the organisation’s legal name, ABN and contact details.

It may affect the payments that you are receiving. Please check with Centrelink or your contact person at NDIS. You may want to consider being auspiced by an organisation.

Grants paid by Creative Victoria may be considered part of your income in a financial year and may therefore be subject to tax. You will need to determine your own taxation responsibilities.

We strongly encourage applicants to consider inclusive ways of working and ensuring access to all audiences. Funding can be used to cover any access costs that help remove barriers for participants involved in your activity. You can also use the funding to make your activity accessible to a wider audience.

If you are applying under the Deaf and Disabled Stream , you can apply for an additional amount of up to $1,500 (Uncovering Talent focus area) or $3,000 (Projects focus area) on top of your general project costs to cover specific access expenses that will help you reduce barriers for Deaf and Disabled artists/industry workers involved in your project. These additional access costs can only be allocated towards access initiatives and can’t be repurposed to cover general project costs.

Access costs vary depending on the project and services required. Please get in touch with an Access Consultant. An Inclusive Practice Guide and a list of organisations in Victoria offering support to Deaf and Disabled people can be found on Arts Access Victoria’s website.

An in-kind contribution is a contribution of a good or service other than money. This can be from the applicant, other activity partners/participants or private support. In-kind contributions could include donated goods, services or volunteer work to support a project. Some examples include:

Applications from First Peoples or First Peoples-led groups will be assessed in alignment with Aboriginal self-determination by an assessment panel of First Peoples creative industries peers.

Applications in the Deaf and Disabled stream and the General stream that contain First Peoples activity or Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property may be reviewed by a Cultural Protocol Review panel of First Peoples creative industries peers, which will include at least one Victorian Traditional Owner.

No. The First Peoples stream is specifically for applications led by First Peoples. For non-First Peoples-led applications wishing to collaborate with First Peoples to present First Peoples stories, culture or ICIP, please apply through the General or Deaf and Disabled creatives streams.

This means your application will be assessed by relevant external peers and may also be reviewed by a First Peoples panel to ensure appropriate cultural protocols and cultural safety are reflected in the application. Activity that doesn’t follow or demonstrate correct protocols won’t be supported. Please refer to the ‘Support material’ section of the program guidelines for more details on what to provide to demonstrate cultural protocol.

Applications by Victorian Deaf and Disabled creatives can choose to be assessed by a panel of creative industries peers with lived experience of deafness and disability. Applications that are not led by Deaf and Disabled creatives but involve key participants who identify as Deaf and Disabled may also elect to be assessed under this stream. Please contact program staff to discuss.

Any relevant funding deliverable/milestone will be outlined in the funding agreement.

You will be required to provide regular updates about your funded activity, including information about the activity budget and activity plan.

At the end of your funded period, you must submit an acquittal which provides information about the outcomes of your funding.

During and after your funded period, you are required to participate in a program evaluation. You may be asked to provide information about your funded activity and any longer-term outcomes that may inform the evaluation of the Music Works program.

After the round closes, submitted applications go through an eligibility and due diligence check. External assessors are then allocated applications and given a period to review them.

Recommendations are compiled and provided to the Minister for Creative Industries for final approval. All applicants will be advised on the outcome of their application approximately 16 weeks from the closing date.

We acknowledge that in getting funding right, we need to make sure there is diversity in the process from inception to delivery.

Creative Victoria is working with industry representatives to ensure there is diverse representation on assessment panels for this program.

First Peoples applicants or First Peoples businesses or organisations applying under any stream will be assessed through a First Peoples-led assessment process. Deaf and Disabled applicants or businesses or organisations may also elect to be assessed by a panel of assessors with lived experience of deafness and disability.

We will also be reaching out to a broad range of organisations to promote the program and to encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds including applicants who are First Peoples, Deaf and Disabled, women, LGBTQIA+ and from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.