Applications are now open for the first phase of the new UK Artist Touring Fund (UKAT), a scheme designed to help UK-based artists manage the rising costs of touring and keep more live shows on the road. The fund has been launched by the Featured Artists Coalition in partnership with the Music Managers Forum and the Musicians’ Union, with backing from the LIVE Trust.

The initiative arrives in response to the ongoing financial pressure facing artists at grassroots and mid-level touring stage, where income from fees and guarantees often fails to cover the real costs of travel, accommodation, rehearsal, crew, session musicians and production. The fund is intended to provide strategic top-up support where there is a genuine shortfall, helping artists reduce risk, develop audiences and careers and ensure people across the live supply chain are paid fairly.

For this first phase, £125,000 will be distributed through the fund. That money has been collected by the LIVE Trust through a voluntary ticket contribution attached to arena and stadium shows by major artists including Harry Styles, Radiohead, Lily Allen, Olivia Dean, Wolf Alice, Biffy Clyro, Ed Sheeran, Take That, The Cure, Kojey Radical and Foo Fighters. The wider aim is to create a more sustainable model where revenue generated at the top end of live music can help support artists working further down the ecosystem.

Phase One is open to UK-based artists performing domestic headline tours in small to mid-sized venues, with shows due to take place before 31st October 2026. Applicants must be 18 or over, resident in the UK, and must have released new original music within the past three years. Tours must include at least three UK headline dates in venues with a capacity of 75 to 2,000, while at least 75% of dates must be promoter-booked with guarantees. Artists can apply for up to £7,000, or 40% of total eligible tour expenditure, whichever is lower.

Applicants will also need to show evidence of a financial gap between the projected cost of delivering the tour and the expected income from guarantees and fees. The fund’s criteria also emphasise fair and reasonable pay for everyone involved, including artists, musicians, managers and crew, with time spent on travel and rehearsal also factored into that principle. An additional Access Fund is available within UKAT to help cover access-related costs as well as caring or childcare responsibilities.

The FAC has said it wants the first round of the fund to move quickly and transparently, while also learning from who applies and who receives support. The organisation has also stressed that UKAT is open to artists from all backgrounds, all genres, all parts of the UK and all career stages, with inclusion, access and representation built into the assessment process.

The deadline for Phase One applications is 11:59pm on Friday 20 March 2026. Full guidance and application information is available via the FAC’s UKAT fund hub.