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We are delighted to announce (see below) our first panel of guest speakers for the next event to be held on the evening of Monday 3rd September, to help us explode the myths and focus on the realities of Access To Finance.

In 2012 the ladder of opportunity (at every level – from development Artists to Superstars) to develop creative, innovative Artist and/or Manager-led projects & business models, forge new relationships with traditional partners and nurture direct relationships between artists and communities of their fans is arguably more exciting than ever:- so long as you can afford it!!

In theory, with a growing number of sector-specific crowd/fan-sourced funding services, VCTs, private & public sector opportunities, coupled with current government-approved tax efficient investment schemes, together with both new & traditional trading partner finance, we should ALL now have access to the resources we need, and that particular glass ceiling is no longer an obstacle.

So what’s the reality?

A memorable quote from one discussion about this subject was “Management is a hobby – unless you have money”(!) Equally memorable was the result of a formal government research report (conducted several years ago into access to finance for UK-based music businesses) that cited artist managers as the LEAST likely to receive financial start-up support from traditional sources.

Is this still the case, and if so, why?

How exactly do you access the funds to turn creative plans and ideas into viable projects? What are the classic do’s & don’ts? All these questions and more will be addressed on the evening of Monday 3rd September.

NB: We will also soon confirm additional guest speakers for the same session who will be discussing the nuts & bolts of how things can quickly fall apart (before, during and AFTER the process of successfully raising finance) – if things are not in place and managers are not Taking Care Of Business as they should.