Concerts SA is calling for proposals for the Digital Mobility Fund 2021.

Music professionals can now apply for support to stream their live concerts by completing an online form.

The deadline for submissions is 5:00pm on Thursday 22 April 2021.

In the past years, Concerts SA has supported thousands of musicians to tour the Southern African region with funding for various expenses, including transport, accommodation and artist fees.

To encourage ongoing ‘movement’ in the locked-down music sector, Concerts SA has opened a call for applications for the 2021 DIGITAL MOBILITY FUND (DMF). This year’s fund follows in the footsteps of the ground-breaking Concerts SA Digital Mobility Fund that supported live music during the heart of the COVID19 pandemic in 2020. It is supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the Swiss-based Levedo Foundation, the National Arts Council and SAMRO.

‘As of the first lock-down in 2020, COVID-19 crippled the live music sector. The Concerts SA team immediately looked into possible ways to stimulate recovery,’ said IKS Director, Andre le Roux. ‘We researched digital alternatives to live events which resulted in the publishing of Digital Futures – Live Streaming in South Africa. This research not only provided insight into the best practice of live streaming music events in South Africa, but to the best available alternative for a failing sector. From this research, the first Digital Mobility Fund was born.’

The DMF focusses on subsidising musicians in South Africa who intend to engage with live performances on streaming platforms, and in 2020 achieved the following:

• 637 work opportunities were created (406 artists and 231 technical and production crew).
• 130 music project applications were received.
• 63 streamed concerts were selected for support, with 3 concerts cancelled due to COVID 19 related complications
• 69 venues and 13 streaming platforms (Youtube, Facebook, Quicket, etc.) were utilised.
• 29 artist partnerships were leveraged.

This year, Concerts SA will be considering proposals from music professionals for music concerts to be live-streamed or delayed-broadcast, either with or without audiences. Successful applicants will receive a micro-grant of R30 000.

The deadline for submissions is 5:00pm on Thursday 22 April 2021 for streaming projects that will take place between 15 May 2021 and 15 June 2021.  Applicants are required to fill in the Online Application Form by clicking here. The form is in English and needs to be submitted with mandatory documents.

An independent adjudication panel will be responsible for selecting and approving the recipients of these subsidies.  Well thought-out, detailed proposals with realistic budgets stand the best chance of being selected.

Please note: Applications submitted elsewhere and/or through other means (email, fax, post, etc.) will not be considered. Applying does not guarantee support. The decisions of the adjudication committee will be considered final.

For media enquiries, contact: media@jtcomms.co.za | Phone: (011) 788 7632 | www.jtcomms.co.za

For project enquiries, contact: dmf@iksafrica.com | www.iksafrica.com