Boiler Room & Ballantine’s launch investment and mentorship program - The True Music Fund

Boiler Room and Ballantine’s today launch a brand new investment and mentorship program to support grassroots music scenes around the world. The True Music Fund will offer financial investment and mentoring for artists, creatives and promoters.

The first round kicks off in Spain, where applications are now open to members of music communities across the country. South Africa is next, with more countries due to be announced in 2020.

The goal of the fund – which forms part of Ballantine’s stated commitment to “push True Music scenes forward and to support artists, fans, crews and communities around the world” – is to support events that have the potential to positively affect the music community but which need help to get off the ground.

Boiler Room founder and CEO, Blaise Belville says that the fund recipients will will have full autonomy over their projects. “The True Music Fund isn’t here to takeover individual projects” he tells us, “whoever we end up backing will still be at the helm – we want you to do it your way with some support from us. This is an exciting initiative for us which we hope will further the music and culture that this series champions.”

A pilot project, run by Krakow-based promoter Paulina Żaczek, saw the launch of a new event series called ZABAWA in response to locals being priced-out of Krakow’s club scene.  

Paulina believes that the support has helped her scene to turn a corner. “The event has encouraged our community to experiment with new ideas, allowing the club scene to come together and experience a new and unique clubbing style” she shares.

The latest evolution in the True Music project, a partnership that has to date put on 30+ events and showcased 220 artists, will be welcome news to music communities with big ideas in need of support.

“Now is the time for True Music to really step up and give back to the communities we have been visiting over the years,” says Ballantine’s Head of Music, Tom Elton. Our aim is to help empower individuals within the community by taking away the financial stresses and allowing them to focus on making their music projects a reality, which we hope in turn will inspire others to pick up the baton, promoting a cycle of reinvestment for the long-term.”

Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music will follow the journey of all the Fund recipients through a unique content series in partnership with DJ Mag.

Find out more about the Boiler Room & Ballantine's True Music Fund at blrrm.tv/true-music-fund.

Submit applications for the Spain program at blrrm.tv/tmf-esp.