The Ontario Music Fund (OMF), a $45 million government grant program approved by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Sport and administered by the brand new Ontario Music Office (OMO) over the next three years, is now up and running.
The four grant programs, deadlines and funding criteria have been posted under the music section of the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) web site. The Ontario Music Office operates out of the OMDC building.
According to the site, the OMF “is aimed at strengthening and stimulating growth in Ontario’s music companies and supporting this growing sector. The Fund is designed to drive activity and investment and to support Ontario’s music companies and organizations in expanding their economic and cultural footprints within Canada and around the world.”
A Statistics Canada figure puts Ontario’s music production sector at more than 80 percent of total national revenues, which in 2011 generated more than $429 million in revenues.
The OMF’s will provide financial support through four program streams to music companies (record labels, music publishers, music managers, artist entrepreneurs, music promoters, music presenters, and booking agents), and music industry trade, service, event and training organizations.
There are also research grants available for incorporated not-for-profit industry organizations “undertaking research initiatives that support or complement the mandate of the OMDC.”
The OMF was established to help support and create jobs, and position the province as a leading destination to record and perform. It has been structured to “complement other public funding programs and aims to address investment gaps at key phases of company and industry development cycles.”
Below are the four grant programs:
- Music Company Development — Helps Ontario-based music companies increase recording, production and marketing, which boosts sales of music and supports job creation.
- Music Industry Development — Provides support for initiatives such as digital innovation, music training and new approaches to increase home-grown music exports.
- Music Futures — Helps leverage Ontario’s diverse and emerging music industry by supporting small music companies and artist entrepreneurs, for example those who create music and also handle the business and promotion of their music.
- Live Music — Helps increase the number of live music events in the province and generates more opportunities for new and emerging local artists — boosting tourism and growing local economies.
