In many ways, it's harder than ever before to be a creative. Not only because there are more competitors than ever before to contend with, but because the kind of grants and subsidies offered to other industries are preciously difficult to come by for artists, designers, musicians and the like. Maybe it's because they're seen as superfluous, unnecessary, transient? But in my honest opinion, in an age of Brexit, perpetual terror and the imminent arrival of President Trump, we need creative souls and the arts more than ever before. As such, it genuinely warmed my cockles to hear of a new intuitive from BitTorrent, which aims to help creative sorts get a decent head start.
The Discovery Fund is a grant program offering marketing and promotional funding for artists, designers, musicians, filmmakers and more besides. The company will award up to $100,000 each to up to more than two dozen lucky individuals and/or teams in a rolling application process. The process appears to be remarkably simple. All you need to offer up is a project description, an introduction to yourself or your team, a release plan for your project and samples of some of your previous work. Send in your application and then wait for a response within 8 weeks. There's no word on the specific judging criteria yet, but as far as I'm concerned, it's free to apply, so it can't hurt to at least try, even if you're the timid sort who would never usually throw their hats in the ring for such things.
“The rules are simple. You make something awesome. You own it. We back it, and help you find a global audience for your big idea” Straith Schreder, VP of Creative Initiatives at BitTorrent
The post on BitTorrent's blog yesterday stated: “Over the next year, BitTorrent aims to partner with 25 creators by providing cash grants and global promotional support to build impactful releases and discover new fans. We are looking for artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers and other creators working on uncompromised projects representing a diverse, original perspective seeking world wide distribution. This open, international initiative has a rolling call (so you can apply when your project is ready) and provides $2,500 - $100,000 in marketing and distribution funding to use at your discretion.”
The announcement follows the launch earlier this year of BitTorrent Now, which added a free, ad-supported streaming component to BitTorrent’s direct-to-fan distribution platform, previously called BitTorrent Bundle. BitTorrent offers artists a 70/30 split on ad revenue for its free tier. The company previously updated the platform by allowing artists to set a price for their downloads in a “Pay-gate” campaign led by Thom Yorke’s “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes” digital release. This struck me as pretty apt considering Radiohead (the band Yorke fronts as his day job) brought the equally forward-thinking concept of “Pay-what-you-want” into the mainstream back in 2007 with their “In Rainbows” release. You can read more about the fund via the official BitTorrent blog post, and if you think you might be eligible, you can apply for the fund HERE. Good luck! I know I'm applying.
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK.
