Artist applications open today for edition five of the FAC’s Step Up Fund powered by Amazon Music.
The FAC and Amazon Music, are delighted to announce the return of a fifth edition of Step Up - the fund that supports independent music artists and helps power their creative and professional careers.
Applications open today at 9am and close at 23:59pm Friday 29th May.
The fund is open for UK-resident artists aged 18+ who can demonstrate evidence of career traction and a strong case for investment into a project that will help them take the next step in their careers. Applicants must not be signed to a major or large independent record label or be in receipt of a significant advance.
Full entry and criteria details can be found here.
Since 2022, Step Up has provided grants totalling over £300,000 to more than 40 bands and solo artists from an incredibly wide range of genres and backgrounds, across the whole of the UK - helping pay for new recordings, underwrite the costs of live touring, as well as costs of marketing, PR, video making, performance production and other content creation.
Previous awardees include the likes of 4am Kru, Amie Blu, Arz, Azekel, Aziya, BEKA, Chalk, ELKKA, Ellie Dixon, Friedberg, Jadu Heart, Jalen Ngonda, Joel Culpepper, Lime Garden, Mellina Tey, Olive Jones, SOFY and VUKOVI - all of whom have used Step Up funding as a building block to complete creative projects and further their career.
In 2025, the fund was expanded to provide five further artists with studio time at The Breakthrough Lab, the recording studio space created by a partnership between Amazon Music and Metropolis Studios.
**Quotes from three of the artists awarded Step Up funding in 2025**
Jackson Couzens of Balancing Act:
“After releasing our debut album the age old question cropped up, how are we going to play this live? That’s when the FAC Step Up fund came to us like Santa coming down the chimney.
“We’d added a lot more production on the record and this fund meant we were able to level up our live show to match it. We finally got ourselves on IEM’s which not only made playing live easier but it’s also protecting our oh so precious hearing. We could finally afford to bring a FOH engineer to shape the live sound into something better than it’s ever been, and of course someone to create content for us across the whole tour. Extra bits were put towards a lighting engineer for the big London show and a load of new merch so we could all keep ourselves fed.
“The FAC Step Up fund changed us from a plug in and play type band into a far more polished and formidable live act. Touring is so expensive and we normally just manage to keep our heads above water, but thanks to the FAC and Amazon Music this was absolutely not the case on the most important tour of our careers so far.”
BINA:
“I had a lot of really cool opportunities come in last autumn and the Step Up fund helped me cover the costs of touring and releasing towards the end of last year. This type of investment is really important when you’re emerging, as it allows you to make the most of opportunities that come your way without the obstacles that the costs can present.”
Ellie Dixon:
“I’m so grateful to the Step Up Fund for helping me bring my drummer on tour with me on my headline tour around Europe. The shows went so well, they felt so much bigger and my fans really felt the difference too. Organisations like this are so important for artists right now, I couldn’t recommend the fund enough.”
David Martin, CEO, FAC:
“We’re delighted to open a fifth edition of Step Up. Over the past 12 months, previous awardees have been nominated at the MOBOs, appeared on the front cover of NME and performed on some of the world’s most celebrated stages. It’s been inspiring to see so many incredible artists blossom, and to feel we’ve been able to play a small - but important - part in those successes.
“For that reason, Step Up remains a pioneering fund for the Featured Artists Coalition. I am absolutely delighted Amazon Music have continued to support us on this mission, and hope we can continue to deliver targeted creative investment that helps the next wave of UK talent.”
Laura Lukanz, Head of Music UK, Australia & New Zealand, Amazon Music:
"Five years ago, we set out to prove that targeted investment at a critical moment can transform an artist’s trajectory. With over £300,000 awarded to more than 40 artists since 2022, Step Up has done exactly that by funding recordings, artwork, tours, and creative ambitions that might otherwise have remained out of reach. This programme is the embodiment of what we believe at Amazon Music: that the right investment, at the right time, can redefine what’s possible for an artist. We’re immensely proud of our partnership with the FAC, and we can’t wait to back the next wave of independent talent ready to break through."
Step Up’s launch coincides with a range of FAC-related activity at today’s Great Escape festival and conference.
Following a keynote from Creative Industries Minister, Ian Murray MP, the organisation will join fellow members of the Council of Music Makers for a conference panel on AI, Streaming, Media & Touring.
Later this evening, the FAC will host a Happy Hour mixer supported by PRS for Music at No 32 (32 Duke St, Brighton). Although not part of TGE’s official programme, all delegates are welcome to register for the event which takes place from 6.15pm to 8.30pm.