Ed Vaizey, the Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, has said that MC Stormzy (pictured above) and The Square crew have helped grime ‘take the British government by storm’.
He used his address at the International Showcase Fund (ISF) Impact Report launch last week to praise the work of British artists overseas, pointing to the growing stature of grime in the US and Canada as a prime example.
The ISF, run by PRS for Music Foundation in conjunction with a number of industry partners, was celebrating its 10 year anniversary and a nine-fold return on investment for artists supported through the initiative.
Vaizey, whose Department for Culture Media and Sport backs the scheme, said at the Portcullis House event: ‘The Square are mentioned in this report - and they’re all over this room as there are loads of them.
‘They have joined the likes of Stormzy in contributing to the brilliant rise of grime music, which is now taking the US, Canada, the UK and the British government by storm. I just want to show you we are completely on it.’
He added that he was ‘proud’ of the report, which shows that the ISF has helped generate £4m in revenues for the music industry and UK economy in the last three years.
‘Every pound of the fund that’s been invested has generated £8.90 – almost a tenner. It’s a return on investment of nearly a thousand percent. But much more important than the economic statistics are the real stories of the people who have been helped to get a break,’ he continued.
‘It’s great that people can have access to small grants that can get them over a ridge – they’re starting out, they’re thinking about going out into the world and this fund exists to help them.’
Since its inception in 2006, the ISF, run by PRS for Music Foundation in partnership with UK Trade and Investment, British Underground, Arts Council England and Musicians’ Union, has helped support scores of artists including Slaves, Little Simz, Kate Tempest and Everything Everything. PledgeMusic are now on board for 2016 and beyond.
Visit the Foundation’s website to read the full report.
Read our recent grime series of features and interviews here: http://www.m-magazine.co.uk/tag/grime2016/
He used his address at the International Showcase Fund (ISF) Impact Report launch last week to praise the work of British artists overseas, pointing to the growing stature of grime in the US and Canada as a prime example.
The ISF, run by PRS for Music Foundation in conjunction with a number of industry partners, was celebrating its 10 year anniversary and a nine-fold return on investment for artists supported through the initiative.
Vaizey, whose Department for Culture Media and Sport backs the scheme, said at the Portcullis House event: ‘The Square are mentioned in this report - and they’re all over this room as there are loads of them.
‘They have joined the likes of Stormzy in contributing to the brilliant rise of grime music, which is now taking the US, Canada, the UK and the British government by storm. I just want to show you we are completely on it.’
He added that he was ‘proud’ of the report, which shows that the ISF has helped generate £4m in revenues for the music industry and UK economy in the last three years.
‘Every pound of the fund that’s been invested has generated £8.90 – almost a tenner. It’s a return on investment of nearly a thousand percent. But much more important than the economic statistics are the real stories of the people who have been helped to get a break,’ he continued.
‘It’s great that people can have access to small grants that can get them over a ridge – they’re starting out, they’re thinking about going out into the world and this fund exists to help them.’
Since its inception in 2006, the ISF, run by PRS for Music Foundation in partnership with UK Trade and Investment, British Underground, Arts Council England and Musicians’ Union, has helped support scores of artists including Slaves, Little Simz, Kate Tempest and Everything Everything. PledgeMusic are now on board for 2016 and beyond.
Visit the Foundation’s website to read the full report.
Read our recent grime series of features and interviews here: http://www.m-magazine.co.uk/tag/grime2016/
