The patronage system that commissioned musicians and other artists affected their compositions differently. On the positive side, composers enjoyed financial stability and security that the systems gave them. However, their creativity was restricted by the financers since the artists worked as the noblemen’s servants. The funders ensured that the artists only composed the works that pleased them, implying that the productions of the olden times had limited external inspiration, as well as the musicians’ originality and uniqueness. Over the course of time, music has developed as serving the financers’ interests because the composers must meet the demands of their supporters. Therefore, funding of art and music is an ongoing concern as different organizations and foundations still support the creation of artistic works.
The International Music and Art Foundation (IMAF) is a global financer that gives grants towards improving and facilitating the dissemination of art in general. It also funds the groups of artists or art organizations that work in preserving indigenous culture and artistic expressions. It means that the classical musicians benefit more than the contemporary composers However, IMAF restricts its assistance to the recognized organizations only and does not fund individual musicians or artists. Independent singers like Dev Hynes, MF Doom, and Thundercat, who work as solo artists, cannot benefit from IMAF’s funds. The suggestion, therefore, is that the contemporary musicians can only apply for IMAF’s funding as a group. Besides, the artists should not ask for funding with the objective of establishing their groups, and the organizations that require the support should not primarily aim at youth programs. The funds from IMAF are strictly dedicated to promoting artwork but not giving any kind of humanitarian assistance. The application procedure includes filling the grant application form that is available on IMAF’s website. The institution expects the successful applicants to return reports about how they spend the funds.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), like IMAF, provides its financial assistance only to the organizations that meet certain legal expectations. NEA specifies that artists can only benefit from its grants under the musical organizations. Besides, the institution requires the applying arts organizations to meet the conditions like being nonprofit and tax-exempt at the time of applying, and asks them to seek the support on their own. NEA supports only those organizations that run their programs for a minimum of three years before the deadline of application. Therefore, the applicant must attach the respective final reports. It should be mentioned that NEA’s website provides an explanation according to which the compositions of the artists who benefit should be highly creative and connect the modern circumstances to the past. In this regard, NEA has a project called “Creativity Connects” aimed at supporting both the contemporary and classical artists that exist in the form of organizations.
PRS for Music Foundation has its International Showcase Fund (ISF) giving financial aid directly to the individual artists. However, only the artists in England and Scotland can benefit from this help. What is more, the applicants are the artists who are expected to perform at international events and conferences. The PRS foundation gives a maximum of ?5,000, and it specifies that the money must be dedicated to expenses like visas, travel, accommodation, and daily expenditures. The PRS grants about 75% of the trips budget, leaving the remaining 25% of the expenditures to musicians. The categories of PRS grants are wide, and they include both the classical and contemporary performances. The application forms are available online, but the composer who wishes to benefit from the donor must meet the eligibility requirements of origin (England or Scotland) and have an invitation to perform at an international conference or music show.
In conclusion, music sponsorship affects the types of artworks as long as they establish the conditions that the beneficiaries must meet. The ancient patronages required the composers to produce music and other creative works according to their judgments of suitability. Nowadays, however, most of the institutions that give financial support restrict their funds to organizations, not the individual artists. The funders also encourage the composers to reconnect with the past, aiming to revitalize classical music in such a way. Evidently, it is difficult for independent musicians who want to develop their music career to access financial resources since many organizations prefer to fund bands.
Alex Johnson is a talented writer at https://primedissertations.com. He likes to depict his thoughts on the paper.