Girls I Rate, PRS for Music and PRS Foundation launch #GETHEARD Future Hitmaker Competition
Opportunity to receive Future Hitmaker Awards of £1,000, £2,000 and £3,000
Girls I Rate, a movement focussed on equality for young women in music, has announced the launch of its 2021 #GETHEARD Future Hitmaker Competition. In partnership with PRS for Music, which represents the rights of over 150,000 music creators and publishers, and PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading charitable funder of new music and talent development, the #GETHEARD Future Hitmaker Competition will give aspiring women songwriters the opportunity to have their music broadcast and funded for the very first time.
Announced on Monday 5 April, on a brand-new weekly radio show on The Beat London 103.6FM, Girls I Rate officially launched its #GETHEARD call for submissions. Women aged 16-30 are encouraged to submit their music via the Girls I Rate website for the opportunity to have their music heard by a panel of A&R experts, and #GETHEARD on the radio. Three songwriters will be chosen to receive a Future Hitmaker Award of up to £3,000, a six-week introductory course on Music Production and Sound Engineering at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) worth £199, a one month membership to The Qube, and audio equipment from Girls I Rate radio show sponsor, Audio-Technica.
Shortlisted #GETHEARD submissions will feature on the Girls I Rate radio show on The Beat London 103.6FM every Monday until 22 June, 7pm – 9pm, with shows available to listen back to via Mixcloud.
#GETHEARD champions positive change by empowering talented women entering the profession with the tools to take their careers to the next level. All those who submit their music are also invited to attend a free masterclass on navigating the music business hosted by Claire Rose, Outreach Manager, PRS for Music, and Becci Scotcher, Senior Grants and Programmes Manager, PRS Foundation, who will share advice on how music creators can make money from their music and the various funding and grants available to them.
Over the course of three months, a diverse panel of experts will critique the tracks submitted, with the freshest women voices and their music, in particular music of Black origin, to be showcased on Girls I Rate’s #GETHEARD weekly takeover on The Beat London 103.6FM. Featuring an all-female line-up of presenters, including resident Notting Hill Carnival DJ, Carmen London, international multi-genre DJ, S.Chinx, DJ Joy To The World and Jasmine De-Allie, the radio show will provide a platform for some of the songwriters, producers, artists, rappers and MCs submitting tracks to receive their first UK airplay.
The #GETHEARD Future Hitmaker Competition will culminate in a live virtual event on Sunday 27 June, where 10 shortlisted tracks will be played and listened to by some of the most influential A&Rs in the music industry: Since ’93 Co-president, Riki Bleau, YouTube Artist Relations Manager, Sheniece Charway, Ivor Novello Award-winning songwriter and President of the PRS Members’ Council, Michelle Escoffery, BMG UK A&R Director, Felix Howard, Spotify Artist and Label Partnership Lead, Safiya Lambie-Knight and Downtown Music A&R Manager, Davina Merchant will all be on hand to provide their expert opinions, offer invaluable advice to those on the shortlist, and select the three recipients of the Future Hitmaker Award, who will receive £1,000, £2,000 and £3,000 respectively, towards career development.
Created in collaboration with Girls I Rate founder Carla-Marie Williams, to champion aspiring songwriters and producers, the Future Hitmaker Award is powered by PRS Foundation’s ground-breaking Hitmaker Fund and supported by Spotify.
Girls I Rate was founded by Grammy-nominated songwriter Carla Marie Williams in 2016 to create a platform and voice for women to collaborate, celebrate and empower each other. PRS for Music and PRS Foundation have previously partnered with Girls I Rate on #GETHEARD to address the gender imbalance within PRS for Music’s membership, where men make up 81.7% of the total figure, and to give undiscovered women songwriters a gateway into the industry.
To apply to the #GETHEARD Future Hitmaker Competition for the chance to have tracks listened to by the expert A&R panel, applicants must submit songs via this link by 31 May 2021.
It’s all about the future generation, music is about staying fresh and coming up with new ideas, being able to work alongside PRS for Music, PRS Foundation and Spotify to give these opportunities to young women is everything! Ladies please #GETHEARD!
I am honoured to be a part of this incredible initiative, created to provide opportunity and equity for women songwriters, composers and producers to #GETHEARD. We must encourage and empower the next generation of music creators and I look forward to supporting and championing these young women entering the industry alongside Girls I Rate and PRS Foundation.
We’re delighted to be partnering with Carla and Girls I Rate with this targeted award through our existing Hitmaker Fund, which supports behind the scenes songwriters and producers to get to the next step in their careers. The Girls I Rate Future Hitmaker Award is a fantastic opportunity to target support for talented women music creators with vital and timely grants to develop their careers and music making. Good luck to everyone who applies!
We are honoured to be able to give Girls I Rate a platform through The Beat London 103.6FM to help women #GETHEARD - Our station has on average 15k listeners a week. We look forward to hearing all the new music being created and promoted on our radio station throughout the UK and beyond.
About Girls I Rate
Girls I Rate (GIR) is a non-profit organisation that launched in 2016, pushing for gender equality, female representation and recognition, educational workshops, creating internships, jobs and work experience opportunities, while celebrating and honouring girls and women aged 16-30 in the music and creative industries. Founded by Grammy award-winning songwriter, Carla-Marie Williams (Credits: Beyonce, Sean Paul, Britney), GIR was created to provide a platform to inspire and support the next generation of women creatives.
Between 2016 – 2020 Girls I Rate have worked alongside companies and organisations to fast become a recognised talent development partner. Hosting A&R masterclasses, Arts Academy weekenders, social events, bursary funds and most recently mentor sessions, as well as a force addressing the systemic inequality for women in music.
About PRS for Music
Here for music since 1914, PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 175,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers. Redefining the global standard for music royalties, PRS for Music ensures songwriters and composers are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public.
For 110 years it has grown and protected the rights of the music creator community, paying out royalties with more accuracy, transparency and speed. In 2023, PRS for Music paid out £943.6m in royalties and collected a record £1.08 billion in revenues. prsformusic.com
About PRS Foundation
Since 2000 PRS Foundation has given more than £44 million to over 8,500 new music initiatives. 9 out of 12 Mercury Prize 2022 nominees had received PRS Foundation support (including the winner Little Simz) and the charity has supported BRITS, RPS, AIM and Ivors Award-winners.
PRS Foundation supports outstanding talent from all backgrounds, covering the whole of the UK and all genres, with grantee success stories including Little Simz, Wolf Alice, Dave, Sam Fender, Years & Years, AJ Tracey, Anna Meredith, Yola, Glass Animals, Ezra Collective, Jade Bird, Ghetts, Shiva Feshareki, Sarathy Korwar, Floating Points, Nadine Shah, The Fanatix, Imogen Heap, IDLES, Kae Tempest, Kojey Radical and Emily Burns.
Widely respected as an inclusive, collaborative and proactive funding body, PRS Foundation supports an exceptional range of new music activity through direct grants to music creators and through support for pioneering organisations, including venues, festivals, promoters and other talent development organisations. PRS Foundation founded the Women Make Music fund, co-founded global gender equality initiative, Keychange and most recently launched the POWER UP initiative to tackle anti-Black racism in music. www.prsfoundation.com
