Big Lottery Fund
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The Big Music Project competition launches nationwide

From yesterday (Monday 26th May), classical or contemporary young performers aged between 14 and 24 will have the chance to get their music heard by industry insiders by entering The Big Music Project Competition, part of the Big Lottery-funded The Big Music Project.

The Big Music Project Competition is supported by The BRIT Awards and Next BRIT Thing and is just one part of an ambitious project by the leading music organisation BPI, Global’s Capital and Classic FM brands, and the youth work charity UK Youth. 

The competition will offer young performers the ultimate opportunity to get up close and personal with the music business and benefit from advice and mentoring from industry executives.  It will provide aspiring musicians with what they need to take a step towards a career as a professional musician.

Winners will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to record at the famous Abbey Road Studios and perform live on stage at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the Classic FM Live series.

British band Lawson are backing the competition, saying,

"Every new artist or band needs a platform to have their music heard – The Big Music Project Competition is an amazing opportunity backed by the BRITs for young musicians to kick-start their career in the industry, and we're backing it all the way."

Adding his support to the competition, Will Kennard – one half of the chart-topping duo Chase & Status – said,

“It's tough to get started in the music industry as a DJ, music producer or singer-songwriter but The Big Music Project Competition is a brilliant opportunity that gives all young people in the UK a chance to make it big. Don’t let this chance pass you by.  If you love music, get involved!”
 
Classic FM presenter John Suchet said,

"My Classic FM colleagues and I are very pleased to be involved in The Big Music Project Competition, which nurtures talent and gives young musicians real routes into a performance career. I look forward to seeing the winner perform on stage at Classic FM Live."

The competition, which is split into 14 – 18 and 19 – 24 age groups, will see youngsters sharing their music online at http://www.thebigmusicproject.co.uk/Goes to different 
website. The entries attracting enough public votes will have their music heard by top industry executives and could go on to perform at a series of regional heats.

The project will tour 13 locations including Belfast, Glasgow, Gateshead, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Leicester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bristol, St Austell, Portsmouth and London in November 2014.  The competition will culminate in a grand finale during BRITs Week in February 2015 as part of the celebrations surrounding the music industry’s most exciting annual showcase of talent, The BRIT Awards.

The competition is just one part of The Big Music Project, which is supported by a Big Lottery Fund grant of £4 million. The project will use the power of music to engage young people from every corner of the UK to build confidence and get the transferable skills they need through training and career opportunities to improve their future prospects.

Notes to editors

Strands of The Big Music Project 
1. A major media campaign driven by Capital to reach in excess of 4,500,000 young people through radio, social media and online activity. This will promote participation in the rest of the project. 
2. The Big Music Project Live (powered by Music Matters).  Four national music careers events will promote opportunities to engage with the music industry sign up to our music competition and explore our work opportunities programme. 
3. The Big Music Project Competition (powered by The Next Brit Thing), which develops talent, introduces young people to the inner workings of the music industry and signposts local music-related development opportunities. 
4. A work opportunities programme called ‘On Track’ offering in excess of 250 placements, ranging from the short term to year-long paid internships across the music industry and beyond. 
5. A grassroots training and development programme delivered through 100 youth clubs reaching in the region of 25,000 young people. We will recruit 1,000 project champions to learn about community cohesion, citizenship and employability, with music as the unifying theme. These champions will go on to peer educate a further 10,000 young people. 
6. A major campaign website integrating existing social media platforms, providing downloadable resources and upload functionality for young people to showcase their creative skills.

Big Lottery Fund
The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.  The Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since its inception in 2004 BIG has awarded close to £6bn.  The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.

Project Partners
Global: Global’s radio stations include the three biggest commercial radio networks – Capital, Heart and Classic FM – as well as Capital XTRA, LBC, Smooth, Xfm and Gold.

The BPI is the representative voice of the UK recorded music business. It is a trade organisation funded by its members.  The BPI also organises the annual BRIT Awards show and The Classic BRITs.

UK Youth is a national charity at the heart of a network of organisations that support young people to learn, grown and succeed. It develops and promotes learning opportunities beyond mainstream school and through regional youth associations and local groups reaches 690,000 young people each year.

www.thebigmusicproject.co.ukGoes to different website  - http://www.twitter.com/BigMusicUKGoes to different 
website  -http://www.facebook.com/bigmusicUKGoes to different 
website
#BigMusic

For further information on The Big Music Project please contact:

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours media contact: 07867 500 572

Lynne McDowell
Lynne.McDowell@bpi.co.uk
07763 619709

Sophie Randles
Sophie.randles@capitalfm.com
020 7054 8388

Channel website: https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

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