NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – New Music USA has opened New Music, Inc. programs in Baltimore, Chicago and New York City (NYC). The incubator program is designed to help small-budget, artist-led music organizations generate new ideas, strategies, and collaborations at pivotal stages in the group or collective’s development. The program reflects New Music USA’s aim to grow its services across multiple US cities over the next five years and will provide participating organizations with financial support and hands-on skill-building in an environment intended to foster collective learning and collaboration within and between the three cities.
The “end” goal is to create a supportive space through which artist-led organizations can learn together, sharing the challenges and opportunities they face. The program will explore themes and challenges identified by participating organizations in collaboration with local Program Coordinators and New Music USA staff. Each cohort will consist of 50% Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC)-led organizations to reflect the diversity of creators and artists who are contributing to each location’s music community. A 501(c)3 tax status is not required.
The New Music Inc. program is based on the New Music Capacity Building Program that New Music USA launched in 2020 and has been recognized by new funders, allowing New Music USA to develop an enhanced “New Music Inc” model, which includes core elements of the capacity building program model with new opportunities for inter-city exchange generated by the program’s delivery concurrently in three cities. The New Music Inc programs are made possible by The New York Community Trust (New York City) and the Walder Foundation (Chicago). The Baltimore program is supported in part by grants from the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation and The Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation.
“New Music Inc reflects our belief that multi-faceted support – combining financial help with connectivity, learning, and sharing of experience – provides organizations with the strongest catalyst for long-term change,” says Vanessa Reed, President and CEO of New Music USA. “We are grateful to our funders in New York, Chicago and Baltimore for enabling us to invest time and resources that will have ripple effects across the music communities and cities taking part.”
Applicants can learn more about the program and application on the New Music Inc program page here, which also features testimonial videos from members of each city’s music community on why this program is needed. New Music USA will host a free webinar and Q&A session about the program on May 25 at 2 pm ET.
Each city will be supported by a local Program Coordinator who is an active member of the city’s local music communities, read more about them below.
Baltimore: Marquis Gasque (Mighty Mark)
Chicago: Kori Coleman
New York: Amanda Gookin
