What is The Artist Development Programme?

In 2014, having successfully launched Izzy Bizu utilising the in-house team at iluvlive, we officially launched our Artist Development Programme with funding from Arts Council England. We have now worked with over 15 artists including Nao (when she was part of the Boxettes), Laura White, Lylo Gold, Jords and Emmavie, all of whom subsequently signed recording and/or publishing deals.The Programme was born out of a desire to help acts further their careers via our expertise, platform and networks.

For 2023 we are excited to announce the programme will be in partnership with Stellar Songs / Tim & Danny Music (more info here). This will add a powerhouse of support for artists and ensure sessions and a writing camp inclusion as part of the Programme. The Programme is open every six months for two applicants to join the 12-month scheme.

iluvlive AD (Artist Development) - £5000
Criteria – based anywhere in England (occasional travel may be required but travel costs will be covered by the fund)

We have a budget of £5000 to spend on what we call hard costs such as mixing, mastering, PR, plugging, tour support, videos etc. A lot of what we do comes from the expertise we have as a team and from being able to utilise our contacts to your benefit. Our team includes Rachael Bee (CEO), Lauren Louise Powell (MD) and Victor Redwood-Sawyerr (Strategic Business Consultant), who collectively have over 50 years of music industry experience, including working with internationally known R&B, Rap and Grime artists and running the first incarnation of Def Jam UK.

We can assist with the following:

• Mixing/mastering of music

• Creating a mood board

• Creating a budget

• Creating a marketing rollout plan

• Marketing ideas and innovation

• Creating a digital rollout plan

• Social creative and planning

• Finding a distributor

• Finding a PR, Plugger

• Playlist pitching

• Creative ideas for videos, photography

• Creating a video brief

• Contacts and industry word of mouth

With Stellar Songs onboard we are also excited to be able to offer a minimum of two sessions and one writing camp for artists on the programme.

Some artists/artists teams will already have experience in all/some of these areas whilst others will need more support. We aim to empower those who lack experience to enable them to continue growing even after the programme ends. For those further along, we can offer an extra pair of hands to ensure projects stay on track and are released with maximum impact.

Programme Structure

• Target setting and plan for the programme

• Quarterly evaluations

• 12 x monthly 1-hour meetings in person or via Zoom

Two artists will be accepted into each round of The Artist Development Programme.

What we ask for in return for being on our programme?

We ask all acts on the Programme to agree to perform at one of our shows free of charge.

As your career develops, we ask if you can perform free of charge at a bigger show (for example Jessie J, Naughty Boy and Emeli Sande all played our 10th Birthday).

If you go on to become a successful recognised artist, we also ask that you provide a quote and picture so we can add you to our website as a Programme Ambassador.

As a Programme Ambassador, we may ask you to take part in iluvlive initiatives such as;

• Giving a talk about your journey to new Artist Development acts.

  Showing up to an event to help promote what we do.

• Curating a Spotify playlist for us.

• Curating an event or being on a panel to help us select our annual SELECTS initiative.

Overall, we ask artists to act as an advocate for our not-for-profit work by letting people know about the work we do whether that is a mention in an interview about our part in your journey, a shout-out on the radio or letting new talent know about us.

Occasionally, we may be able to secure artists a brand deal and if we source and negotiate this we would ask for 10% of any fee secured.