“If artists can’t afford to tour then everything… falls apart.”

The UK Artist Touring (UKAT) fund, developed in partnership with the Music Managers Forum and the Musicians’ Union, and backed by the LIVE Trust, aims to protect the UK’s cultural infrastructure, deliver renewed vitality in the grassroots, strengthen the pipeline of future talent, and ensure that genre, regional and cultural diversity can flourish while also supporting the development of new and existing audiences, so music can thrive sustainably across the UK.

UKAT is open to artists from all backgrounds, all parts of the UK, all genres and all career stages. UKAT seeks to ensure artists can present their artistic work and vision in the manner in which audiences are intended to experience it.

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Phase One eligibility criteria:

1. Personal & Residency Requirements

• You are aged 18 or over.

• You have the legal right to live and work in the UK, and your primary residence is

• currently in the UK.

• You have a UK bank account.

2. Artistic Eligibility

• You are a featured artist* (the releasing artist: solo or group) with a demonstrable track record of creating and releasing original music.

• You must have had a release on a chart eligible streaming platform under the artist name you are applying to tour, in the last 3 years.

• You are not a cover, tribute or function act.

• Artists whose primary form of performance is DJing, are eligible to apply.

Definition of Featured Artist: ‘the artist, individual or group whose name appears on the release as the main artist.

3. Touring Eligibility (Phase One)

• Phase One applications may only include tour dates where the applicant is the headline artist. Support slots, co-headline, festival, showcase or guest appearances are not eligible for funding in this Phase and must be excluded from the budget and shortfall calculations.

• At least 75% of the dates included in an application must be promoter-booked shows with confirmed guarantees/fees.

• No more than 25% of dates included in the application may be self-promoted or dry-hire shows.

• Tours must include a minimum of three UK shows.

• Shows in venues between 75 and 2000 capacity are eligible.

• In Phase One, shows must be pre-planned, with offers or venue bookings in place.

• Tours must be completed by 31st October 2026.

4. Financial Eligibility (Phase One)

• You are not already in receipt of substantial touring-related financial support from any label, publisher, or commercial partner, or expecting to receive such support for your tour.

• You do not have other substantial financial backing.

• You confirm that the touring activity shortfall you are applying for is not already supported by public funds, including grants from organisations such as Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and Help Musicians, or other publicly funded programmes.

• Applications must include a full touring budget (submitted via the UKAT tour budget sheet) that sets out the gross costs of delivering the tour (before any income is applied) and clearly demonstrates a legitimate shortfall of no more than £7,000, or a maximum of 40% of total tour expenditure (whichever is lower) based on reasonable and essential expenditure.

• You commit to ensuring that all artists, musicians, managers, crew and other personnel involved in the tour are paid fairly and there is no unpaid labour.