The week in Creative Money (18 September, 2020)
Financial guidance for creative professionals
Creative Money aims to have an open conversation about finances in the creative industries.
It was founded in July, 2020 in an attempt to address a frustrating lack of sound financial guidance for creative workers and is written by me, Matt Parker, a music journalist and lecturer.
Hello! This week I wrote a piece with a somewhat audacious title: How To Spend Money. Yeah, the title is total clickbait, but there's a serious thought underneath it...
I ran a little poll on Twitter recently asking about people's biggest financial headaches as creative workers and 60% picked 'It's hard to save money.'
To tackle this we need to raise income and/or lower expenses. It can take a while to increase an income (maybe the training/funding opportunities below will help you there), but managing our spending is something we can start right now – and it makes a major difference, especially if – like most creative-types – you're earning less than the average adult.
To do this, it can be helpful to think about your spending mindset. We often think about our expenses in terms of things that we need and the things that we want. The problem is that our weird-animal-brains usually confuse these two things: 'I need a coffee', 'I want to be out of debt'. This approach doesn't make us happier, though. At least, not in a lasting way.
Even when we are able to more rationally distinguish between the two, we often then start to look at our spending in terms of prohibition – an all or nothing scenario – and that doesn't work, either.
I've seen this explained in terms of beer before*: for instance, that first drink with friends on a Friday results in a palpable benefit and yields some genuine joy, but the 10th does not have the same impact – and, repeated on a weekly basis, it will have a much greater cost in terms of your health and wealth over the long-run.
In this week's post, I look at a different framework for thinking about spending, one that places happiness at the forefront of our decision-making, because that's the whole point: money is only really useful to the point that it makes us happier.
I also give an example of how I've used this approach to lower my expenses (without feeling a sense of enduring hardship or prohibition) and re-direct some funds to a pension, which with a bit of luck, will make me happier in the long run... Maybe it could work for you, too?
Until next time,
Matt
Creative Money
*Can't recall where – if you know, email me!
On the site this week:
How to spend money: 3 questions to ask yourself
Yes, it's clickbait but there's a point to consider here
The best budgeting apps for UK creative workers
Untangle your personal finances with our guide
What do you need to know this week?
Here's how much money you'll need to save for a basic, comfortable or luxury retirement – hint: start saving ASAP! (Which?)
Side hustle essential: how Covid brought dancers to their knees (The Guardian)
BBC Academy's Digital Cities event has loads of great FREE online workshops on drama, careers and social media, though I'm most excited about lunch with The Clangers. Runs from 22 September, 2020 (sign-up required)
FAC and Help Musicians are offering FREE online business/ money workshops for musicians as part of The Artist: Entrepreneur Day on 26 September, 2020 (sign-up required)
HyperTribe is offering a FREE four-week mentoring programme for women in music (mentees and mentors must sign-up by 25 September, 2020)
Grants and funding opportunities
Manchester Fiction Prize
£10,000 prize for the best short story of up to 2,500 words. £18 entry fee (though reductions available for those in financial difficulty). Deadline: 18 September, 2020
Push 2021 HOME Artist Film Commissions
Looking for two artist filmmakers or collectives based in the North West of England to submit a proposal to create a new short moving image work (under 10 minutes in duration including credits). Commissions of £1,500 per artist. Deadline: 18 September, 2020
PRS Hitmaker fund
Hitmaker support offers songwriters, producers and music creators working behind the scenes in popular music with grants of up to £10,000 – need at least five credited works with PRS for Music. Deadline: 28 September, 2020
Manchester International Festival Sounds grants
Grants of up to £1,000 for 10 creatives based in Greater Manchester who are involved in music, whether professional or amateur – musicians and DJs, producers and promoters, even label owners and managers. Deadline: 2 October, 2020
Society Of Authors' Audio Drama Imison Award
A prize of £3,000 for audio drama scripts by a writer new to the medium which were broadcast or made available online between 1 October 2019 and 31 October 2020. Deadline: 4 October, 2020
Camden People's Theatre: Starting Blocks 2021 seed funding
9 seed commissions to artists from marginalised backgrounds, to support the development of innovative new theatre projects. Successful candidates will receive £750, one week’s rehearsal space (or one week’s supported digital R&D), and the opportunity to perform as part of CPT's artistic programme. Deadline: 5 October, 2020
PRS Women Make Music fund
Supports the development of outstanding women, trans and non binary songwriters and composers of all genres and backgrounds at different stages of their career. Deadline: 5 October, 2020
PRS Open Fund for Music Creators
Supports the development of outstanding songwriters and composers of all genres and backgrounds at different stages of their career with grants of up to £5,000 in the creation of new music, touring, recording and promotion. Deadline: 5th October, 2020
Help For Musicians Peter Whittingham Jazz Award
Provides financial grants to emerging jazz acts to support those at a career tipping point. This year will see three acts receive the £5,000 grant and, for the first time, the awardees will receive tailored 1:1 business advice sessions with industry experts. Deadline: 12 October, 2020
Music Managers Forum (MMF)/ YouTube Accelerator Programme
A year long artist managers' training programme with up to £15,000 in funding support. the world’s first independent funding and professional development programme designed solely for artists, songwriters and producer managers. Deadline: 19 October, 2020
Unlimited launches new commission round for disabled artists
Unlimited is an arts commissioning programme that enables new work by disabled artists to reach UK and international audiences. They will have £500,000 to commission work from disabled artists and companies in three strands: Main Commission awards, Research and Development awards and Emerging Artists awards. Applications don't open until October, but they're getting the word out nice and early. Deadline: 27 October, 2020
HelpMusicians Financial Hardship Funding Phase 2
Support for music professionals facing hardship due to COVID-19 and excluded from the government's furlough and SEISS schemes. Deadline: 31 October, 2020
Alfred Bradley Bursary Award
The Alfred Bradley Bursary Award is a £5,000 writing bursary to Northern writers new to radio and the chance of a Radio 4 drama commission. Deadline: 6 November, 2020
Hope Mill Theatre Through The Mill Playwrighting Prize
Opportunity for writers to have their work fully produced by and at Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester. Winner will receive a monetary prize of £5,000 plus one-to-one mentoring with award winning writer Jonathan Harvey (Beautiful Thing, Hushabye Mountain). Deadline: 27 November, 2020.
Royal Variety Charity Financial Assistance grants
The Royal Variety Charity is uniquely positioned to provide financial assistance to anyone who serves any facet of the Entertainment Industry. Deadline: ongoing
The White Pube Writers Grant funded by Creative Debuts
£500 given out monthly to a working class writer based in the UK. This grant has been set up to support writers of all ages who are early in their careers and would benefit from this no-strings attached financial support to help them in whatever they like. Deadline: ongoing
This week's to-do list:
Consider dropping your name on this parliamentary petition to extend the furlough scheme for theatre and live music industry.