The UK government has launched a wide-ranging national strategy designed to strengthen the country’s music industry from classrooms and grassroots venues to international touring.
Turn It Up: Our Plan for Music includes a £15 million injection into the government’s Music Growth Package, bringing the fund’s total value to £45 million (approximately $60 million) between 2026 and 2029.
The expanded package is expected to support more than 2,000 projects and at least 40,000 artists and music professionals over the next three years. Unlike earlier funding programs focused primarily on grassroots infrastructure, the new package will also provide direct support to emerging and mid-career artists, bands, managers, labels and publishers.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy states:
“Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not.”
Where the funding will go
The £45 million Music Growth Package is divided into three main areas. The first will support roughly 500 infrastructure projects involving grassroots venues, clubs, festivals, promoters, recording studios and rehearsal spaces.
A second strand will fund domestic touring, showcasing and promotion, including support for approximately 500 projects and 300 awards through the Early Career Promoter Fund.
The third will help around 700 independent artists, creators and music professionals reach international markets. That includes £4.8 million for the Music Export Growth Scheme, alongside an expansion of the International Showcase Fund.
Grants of up to £100,000 will also be made available to established organizations and trade groups seeking to scale existing programs. Applications are expected to open through Arts Council England during summer 2026.
Music education moves beyond the classroom
The strategy also aims to widen access to music education for young people who may not be able to afford private lessons, equipment or extracurricular programs.
At least £12.5 million in dormant-assets funding will support a new Music in Libraries initiative co-designed with the Ed Sheeran Foundation. Library authorities across England will be able to apply for funding to add instruments, recording booths, studio equipment, workshops and live performance opportunities.
Another £10 million will support creative mentoring for children and young people who have experienced the care system. The program will provide one-on-one relationships with creative professionals while helping cover costs including tuition, equipment, transportation and tickets.
Music is also set to receive a stronger position in England’s reformed National Curriculum beginning in September 2028. Meanwhile, the government is investing £9 million over three years in the Discover Creative Careers program, intended to connect students with professional opportunities throughout the creative industries.
+Read more: "Do You Know Why There's No Glastonbury This Year? (It's So Cool.)"
New support for venues, festivals, and touring
For the live sector, the plan includes several attempts to lower the practical barriers facing independent organizers. The number of Temporary Event Notices available to a venue each year will increase from 15 to 20, while the maximum number of event days will rise from 21 to 26. The government also plans to encourage longer licensing agreements for festivals, including minimum three-year terms for new events and five-year terms for established ones.
The strategy promises stronger implementation of the Agent of Change principle, which is intended to protect existing music venues from noise complaints arising after nearby residential development. Government departments will issue updated guidance to local planning authorities and examine whether additional changes to noise regulations are required.
On international touring, the government acknowledged that Brexit has created additional costs and administrative burdens for UK artists and crews. It pledged to continue working with European partners, improve official touring guidance and support the rollout of digital ATA carnets, although the strategy stops short of offering a comprehensive solution to post-Brexit touring restrictions.
Ticketing, AI and creator protections
The plan reiterates the government’s support for banning ticket resale above face value, a measure it estimates could save fans approximately £112 million annually.
It also calls for broader adoption of the live industry’s voluntary £1 contribution on tickets for shows at venues with capacities above 5,000. The LIVE Trust has already distributed £1.5 million from the initiative to grassroots venues, small festivals and artist touring programs. The government said it may consider legislation if voluntary participation does not become widespread.
On artificial intelligence, the government will establish a task force to develop recommendations for labeling AI-generated content, consult on protections against unauthorized digital replicas and review tools that allow creators to control how their work is used online.
The strategy also creates a Creative Freelance Champion to represent a workforce in which approximately 65% of people in music and the performing arts operate on a freelance or self-employed basis.
UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl welcomed the plan as an important step that could “boost jobs and opportunities right across the UK.” The organization estimates that the British music industry contributed £8 billion to the economy in 2024, generated £4.8 billion in exports and supported 220,000 jobs.
For an industry facing rising touring costs, fragile venue economics and an increasingly unequal path into creative careers, Turn It Up represents something substantial: a government treating music not simply as a cultural success story, but as an ecosystem worth actively supporting.
