FAQs on New Music Inc

New Music Inc is an incubator program that helps small- budget, artist-led new music groups and organizations in Los Angeles County generate new ideas, strategies and collaborations at pivotal stages in their development. The program provides each participating organization with financial support coupled with 17 months of hands-on skill-building in a cohort environment intended to foster collective learning and collaboration.  A locally based Program Coordinator will facilitate the program, working closely with participants to help them reach their goals. The Program Coordinator for New Music Inc LA is Los Angeles Performance Practice (LAPP). New Music Inc Los Angeles is a New Music USA program, with administrative support provided by LAPP. 

New Music Inc is open to organizations, collectives, or groups working in any music style. The cohort will consist of a broad array of organizations reflective of the breadth of creators and artists who are contributing to Los Angeles’s unique music community. A 501(c)3 status tax status is not required.

The program will explore themes and challenges identified by participating organizations in collaboration with our Program Coordinator and New Music USA staff. We anticipate that this may include audience development, fundraising, marketing, board development, and other areas of strategic planning.   

Originally launched in New York City as the New Music Capacity Building Program in 2020, the program was re-named New Music Inc in 2023, when it expanded to Baltimore and Chicago and offered a second iteration in New York. 

Our overall goal is to support and strengthen the new music ecosystem in Los Angeles by addressing its internal challenges and promoting the long-term sustainability of the new music sector, which includes performance groups, ensembles, collectives, record labels, festivals, presenters, venues, and more. 

We welcome applications from small- budget, artist-led music organizations with an average operating budget of between $10,000 to $500,000 over the last 3 years. We recognize that this encompasses a large budget range. Given the diversity of the Los Angeles music community, this larger budget range will allow for more cross- collaboration and peer-to-peer learning across organizations of different sizes and types. We strongly encourage applications from organizations whose budget falls below $250,000. 

Applicant organizations must be based in Los Angeles County.  All applicants must confirm their ability to fully commit to program activities, during the proposed timeframe of the program (see Summary of Program Activities below). 

Successful applicants will: 

• Have the ability to track and articulate outcomes and contribute strongly to the cohort  
• Be self-motivated and enthusiastic to work with others   
• Demonstrate artistic merit and performance history 
• Have worked with any music creators who are influencing the future of music and sound 
• Demonstrate commitment to relationship building and collaboration with artists, other organizations, and the community 
• Show that they would benefit from hands-on assistance with strategic/ goal planning and networking 
• Have the ability to fully participate in the New Music Inc program (i.e. commit time for participation across 17 months, have key person(s) that can represent the organization, etc.) 
• Be actively in the pursuit of moving their organization to the next level (i.e. funding to pay themselves, solidify organizational structures, build donor/fundraising base, increase reach, etc.).
   

New Music Inc does not aim to provide long-term financial support. Instead, this program aims to serve as a catalyst, by supporting collaboration and new ways of working to assist organizations with long term planning and sustainability.   

Eligibility requirements: 

• Must be based and doing work in Los Angeles County 
• Must be an organization and NOT an individual artist 
• Have a minimum of three years of performing, programming, and budget activity at the time of the application. 
• Have an average annual budget between $10,000 to $500,000 over the past three years. We aim to build a cohort with a diverse range of budget sizes. As such, we strongly encourage applications from organizations whose budget falls below $250,000. 
• Have a dedicated organizational bank account 
• Have a commitment to producing, performing, and/or commissioning the work of living, US/territories-based music creators on a regular basis in Los Angeles 
• Have the capacity to participate in the program fully including a dedicated staff, volunteer, and/or Board liaison 
   

No. Fiscal sponsorship is also allowed and encouraged, but not required for those who are not 501c3 organizations.

NO. The New Music Inc is open to organizations, collectives, or groups working in any music style.  

Individual artists may not apply.

Apply online at newmusicusa.smapply.io/

Information about your organization  

• Provide a brief history of the organization (organization bio). (Suggested range is between 100 to 500 words).   
• Please provide your organization mission and/or vision statements   
• and describe the beneficiaries of your work, including creators, artists, audiences, participants, partners, and the broader community. (Suggested range is between 100 and 250 words) 

Narrative 

• Written/video/audio narrative outlining the following points (written narrative or up to 5-minute video)  
• Provide highlights of your upcoming programming (virtual and/or in-person) displaying your commitment to new music, the new music program planned, and any artist development opportunities. (Suggested range is between 100 to 400 words or brief video/audio) 
• Describe the three biggest challenges for your organization at this time and explain why. (Suggested range is between 100 to 400 words or brief video/audio) 
• This program includes a grant to be used to build the capacity of your collective/ organization. Please summarize where the organization currently is in development and what you see as the next stage of, or area for growth. (Suggested range is between 100 to 400 words or brief video/audio) 
• What do you hope to accomplish through the program? How will this grant meet the challenges listed above? (Suggested range is between 100 to 400 words or brief video/audio) 
• Why is participation in the program important at this stage in your organization’s development? Why do you need a program like this? (elements include peer cohort learning sessions, collaboration, mentorship opportunities, travel grant, etc.) (Suggested range is between 100 to 400 or brief video/audio) 

Work samples 

• 2 to 3 work samples; demonstrating the work of living creators 
  • Ensembles/collectives: please provide examples of recent performances that feature the work of different music creators 
  • Presenters/venues/other: please provide examples of recent performances of different artists featuring the work of music creators  

Past programming  

• Programming list from your most recent season, highlighting music by living creators. You can provide additional information about past seasons at your discretion (text, file upload, or link). 
• Please feel free to upload any programs, brochures, documents, etc. that represent past programming (past three years only).

Finances 

• A budget/financial statement for your current financial year 
• A budget/financial statement or audit for your last financial year. This can be an audited statement, a QuickBooks report, 990, or an Excel sheet. 
• When does your fiscal year start and end? 
• Your organization’s budget totals over the last three years. This section requires you to provide a brief numerical response, the income total, and expenses total for each year. 

Organization structure 

• What year did your organization or collective begin? 
• Is your organization a 501c3? 
• If applicable, how many board members does your organization have? 
• How many staff members does your organization have? 
• How many staff members are paid? 
• Briefly describe how your organization makes decisions and divides the organization’s work (suggested range is 10 to 250 words). 
• If awarded, please describe who will be the primary person responsible for participating in the program activities (as described in Summary of Program Activities in the guidelines) and their role in the organization (suggested range is between 3 to 50 words). 

Please include 2 to 3 examples of your recent work that you have commissioned, performed, or presented. You may upload mp3, video or image files, or provide links to YouTube/Vimeo examples.

• Ensembles/collectives: please provide examples of recent performances that feature the work of different music creators 
• Presenters/venues/other: please provide examples of recent performances of different artists featuring the work of music creators  

We recommend up to 5 minutes per work sample. You can submit any length of a work sample, however, If you are submitting longer works, please write suggested start and end times to view/listen. 

Our application system cannot upload files larger than 500MB so please link to files larger than that through YouTube and Vimeo.

Artistry 

• As demonstrated by the quality of the submitted music examples;  
• Quality and breadth of the organization’s programming, including creators and/or musicians involved. 

Impact  

• History of performing or programming new music in Los Angeles County 
• Commitment to performing or programming music by living music creators 
• Role in the applicant’s community/borough/neighborhood

Need 

• The importance of participating in this program at this stage of the organization’s development: why now?  

Capacity 

• The applicant’s position to move to the next level through track record of gradually building audiences, growing their profile, and developing their organization 
• Demonstrated ability to fully participate in the program for the 17 month duration  

Applications will be screened first by staff for eligibility and completeness. Applications will then move forward to a peer review process completed by panelists.  Panelists will review each application against the criteria listed below providing a score that will then be averaged to create a ranked list from which a cohort of awarded organizations will be created.

Please provide the organizational bio in the application form. The individual bio you can leave blank.

The deadline will be July 31, 2025, 11:59 pm PST. Our application portal will open on June 25, 2025. 

Awards will be announced in early September. The program’s convenings will begin in September 2025 and occur roughly every other month through December 2026. Attendance at every session will be required.    

The program’s convenings will begin in September 2025 and occur roughly every other month through December 2026. Attendance at every session will be required.    

https://newmusicusa.smapply.io/prog/new_music_inc_los_angeles

If you are uploading video work samples please prioritize .mp4 videos, using the most up to date software you have, as they will embed more seamlessly. If you are providing links to YouTube or Vimeo please be sure to provide “embed” links or conversely make sure your links are public. If you are providing links to password protected work samples, please make sure that you provide the password in the description of the work or at the tail end of your narrative, otherwise the panel will not be able to access your samples.

For help with your application the following services will be available: 

• Application Webinar – July 9, 2025, 12 pm PST  Register here 
• Q&A: July 23, 2025, 12 pm PST  Register here 
• All Webinar and Q & A sessions will be recorded and uploaded to this page.  
• If you have a technical issue with the application site, email [email protected] with “Technical Issue” in the subject line.