Let it be known that the AMUQ tried to inform the fine Montreal Artists on the topic of getting grants and sponsorships. On October 24, I went to the 12th Edition of Talk 4 Talk, a panel discussion series covering key knowledge in the Quebec music industry.
Chris Chrome and I decided to pull up and learn. Across the board we hear “facts” that our artist peers speak on with authority. However our peers tend to not be experts when it comes to the logistics of managing music careers. The people we were listening to actually had real deal experience with topics like grants and sponsorships.
All that to say, if you want to improve, you need to invest in better knowledge sources. Also, thank goodness I took notes, my life has not made it easy for me to sit down and write much lately, so now we don’t have to rely on my memory for what was spoken about. Especially when you end up revisiting the topic late December. Let’s get into it.
Industry talks are network events
The day before the talk I ended up with my grandfather's car. This made the journey to the Plateau Montreal fun, until we parked. The parking machines were all off and there was no clear indication on how to pay for parking in the area. The parking app won’t install on my phone because my version of Android is too new. Unrelated, but I had to get it out somewhere.
Thankfully parking was free and I figured out I’m stuck with the parking website.
The cost of Talk 4 Talk 12 was about 30$. That gave you entry into the room, where I regretted not taking a chair when I had the chance. The venue was the cool spot offered by Le Warmup FM for rent.
In the span of like 15 minutes it went from the feeling we had arrived too early to a full room of people to talk to. To me the real value comes from these conversations. Everyone who paid for this event, is someone in the industry trying to improve. Whether it’s a manager, artist, radio or label related person or some other periphery, these folk all paid to learn.
This was the second Talk 4 Talk event I’ve been to and the second one I ran into real music managers. I bring this up because so many of my peers crave these kinds of industry connections but can’t be bothered to show up at this kind of event. The reality is that information shared is always available, but having 50 people who take their careers seriously in a room is just good for growth.
The more unique rooms people see you in, the greater your chance for profit and opportunity. It’s worth noting that this talk was in French. There was a bilingual Q&A period but it will take more of us anglos expressing interest in this kind of thing to get English Talk4Talk events. I have been peer pressuring them, don’t worry.But if they build it, you should come. Then you know they see you.
Talk 4 Talk had real deal industry in the room
What makes these talks cool is that several of the people who spoke have jobs in the “gatekeeping” organisations of grant distribution. The CALQ (Quebec Arts Council people) were in the house. They offer grants at a provincial level. MusicAction was there too. Turns out they are French FACTOR. Literally on the FACTOR site it says if you want French love, you need to talk to these folk.
There was also a marketing agency guy in the house representing the sponsorship side of things. Whereas the other presenters were bureaucrats explaining the procedural realities of the grant system, this gentleman represented the hustlers path to corporate cash.
Recently I started selling promo packages for a food page in Montreal and this led me to politicking with agency people. When agency people are successful, they move at a different level, seeing dollars where a lot of us don’t. There is a lot of money to be found in our fair city if we went and looked for it.
Whether you want to take a socialist or capitalist route to success, this event had you covered. What I came to learn is that they are two sides to the same coin. Sponsorships and grants are quite similar when you break it all down.
I can write all this confidently because I went to the event where the experts were. Far too often people perceive expertise as something that can be gained via Google searches and YouTube videos. That can give you a baseline to work with, but expertise comes from another e-word, experience.
Obviously I rely on Google and YouTube to learn. After a decade of SEO, I’ve noticed the quality of free knowledge on the internet has dropped. Algorithms aren’t guaranteed to serve you gold.
English people in Quebec can get grants
Let’s get this one out of the way, grants in Quebec are for everyone. I know some of you may still doubt over old timey prejudice, but for real, Quebec wants English people to apply. The CALQ even invested in these English videos on their YouTube channel to make sure we had instructions too.
My understanding of the situation is us anglophones, in our belief we can’t get grants, choose not to apply. If we don’t apply for grants, we cannot receive grants. This affects the statistical reality of grant distribution, furthering a false belief that allophones aren’t entitled to grants. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy of doubt more than a racist government attack.
Apparently they are looking for English representation so bad I was asked to consider being on the board of people who give out grants. Why? Because I’m an English artist here and they really want that voice reflected in the voting panels.
Full disclosure, I don't remember if it was MusicAction or the CALQ who approached me, but the fact is, if the Quebec grants were so off limits, why would anyone want me to rep some anglophones. If we REALLY want to see more English stuff, this is a very clear way for us to get involved. Whine less, be part of the change more.
Fun fact, apparently 25% of people who apply get accepted for grants. I think a lot of people confuse the various governmental departments. The people who give out art grants care about developing art & culture. They want to see a serious plan more than a particular language.
Grants & sponsorships are about being prepared
The thing that grants and sponsorships have in common is that it takes an airtight, clear plan to get approved. You need to have a defined goal, a realistic outcome and you need to account for literally everything you can think of ahead of time.
Your job with the proposal is to convince people that your project is worth funding. This is going to require you to create a breakdown, detailing every aspect of your project. You’ll need to know all your costs, all the people involved, your timeline, and your end result just to complete the documents you’ll need.
The language of grants and sponsorships is heavily jargon-laced. I’m not a fan of jargon because it serves a clear gatekeeping function. If you can talk the talk, you can impress the people who have authority. The effective use of jargon shows the decision makers that you did your research and are willing to speak in a language they understand.
We can all learn the jargon. A lot of what university offers, in my opinion, is learning key jargon to communicate faster. There is nothing from stopping us from finding people who have gone down the grant pipeline and buying them supper to learn from them.
People will share a lot of knowledge if they really believe you care. Find more corporate bureaucrats and get a feel for how they express ideas. Ask ChatGPT. There are a lot of solutions to linguistic gaps.
If at first you don’t succeed, apply and apply again
It turns out that you can call up the grant people and ask them why you got rejected. They will then schedule a call with you and proceed to go over the grant application with you. They will go line by line and give you notes.
They made it sound like you should expect a good 30 minute breakdown.
In truth I felt silly when I heard this. I’m 36 years old. I’m eligible for at least 5 grants a year between Quebec and Canada. I could have learned this whole process 10 years ago. Failed my way into success like I do with life and learned the whole grant system by now..
Instead I get to start that journey in 2024 and maybe by my 40’s I’ll be smooth sailing with grants. Since 3 out of 4 people don’t get grants there is a lot of competition. However this means those that really take the time to utilise the resources available to get this government money, are going to get it.
I, like many of you, can hide behind the general level of ignorance that plagues our music scene. To a point I couldn’t have known. But for the last 7 years easily, I could have found that info if I had it.
Even the language issue. A lot of that has been arrogance. I could have made friends with a bilingual person and paid them to help me at any time over my artistic journey.
The real truth about grants is you have to go through the motions of defining a project. You have to learn the ins and outs of your business and showcase you really can drive this to success. Even if you never get the grant money, each time you will be left with something pretty powerful.
A business plan.
Corporations give money to artists too
Companies have budgets to do things like sponsor your project. This can be linked to charity, community building or whatever else your clever self thinks of. Corporate entities love looking cool, by giving money to things they think will make them look cool.
However companies, like the government, want to make sure this money isn’t going to be wasted. You will need to establish what their ROI (return on investment) will be. This will be something that is far easier to do once you have that business plan you made for grants in place.
The basic plan for corpo money acquisition is to approach companies and present them with your offer. You’ll craft what’s known as a sponsorship letter, which is similar to a cover letter, where you introduce the project and value behind working with you.
You can offer various advertising opportunities like their logo on a flyer, a booth at the event or public recognition via content marketing. The goal is to make it sexy for the company to give you money, by showing them value. Rather than being a cold calling salesperson you want to focus on establishing a relationship with the people at that company.Pro Tip: People leave and go to new companies, where they still remember you.
The sky's the limit when it comes to working with companies. As long as you can create a compelling project that people want to invest in, you will find investors. However you will need to come with a confidence of steel, where you can prove you very much believe in what you represent.
You’ll also need thick skin to manage the rejections.
Sponsorships need to make sense
I’m a 36-year-old rapper that focuses on alternative subjects. Hitting up Ardene to sponsor my previous Wheel Club efforts, where my demographic breakdown was over 25, would be a tough sell. To my chagrin, hitting up pickle companies to do pickle themed Hip Hop events, with my current branding, could work.
Each of our brands represent certain ideals. The same is true for the companies that we approach. Since none of us like rejection, you can take a strategic approach when you contact companies.
Think about who your audience actually is. End of the day, those are the people you will leverage when you are trying to make yourself more attractive to the brands you are soliciting money from. Once you understand your target demographic, you can then look for companies those people buy from.
Also think outside the box, one of my target demographics is NDG residents. If my events attract NDG residents, I can approach anyone on Sherbrooke Street and see who wants to build with me. That business and myself share a goal of bringing people (and their commerce) to our neighbourhood.
Look into the mission statements and brand values that businesses present to the world. When you find somewhere you feel aligns with your goals, you should hit them up. I’ve loosely pitched Hip Hop stuff to restaurant owners and with the right plan I know I can get money out of them.
Basically figure out who and what you represent so you can pitch that vision to companies that align with you.
Ask people why they say no
My overall sales process for my day job is to reach out to as many people as possible and pitch. The people who say no, often tell me why they are saying no. Those no’s help me craft rebuttals and reshape how I approach future prospects. Now the pitch is more efficient and I am establishing ongoing partners with work. One off sales ain’t got anything on recurring sales.
You are going to need to approach a lot of businesses with whatever service/project you have in mind. A lot of those people are going to reject your offer. Whenever possible, ask them what you can do better in future proposals. Find out why they said no.
The best way to get money out of a company is to understand their pain points. If you find out how other versions of you have wasted that company’s time/money, you’ll start to learn which of your value propositions are good and which are costing you opportunities. Then you can refine your proposal and get more wins.
It’s a pretty brutal process when you start out. However if you want to get corporate sponsorships, you have to pound the pavement. Far too often artists just act lazy when it comes to getting money that is out there. Look at the companies that sponsor your friend’s events, make friends with the people who work at those companies. The truth is, you have to do all that yourself to give your future manager something to manage.
You can also find a homie and train them on this task and pay them to handle it.
Find a proofreader
I am very confident in my ability to write. The last company I worked at paid me, largely in part, because my writing game was on point like that. While I love the compliments I get writing, in this domain I have never craved validation. I just know I’m good with it.
That being said, ChatGPT is now my editor. I can re-read this blog 4 times and make refinements. However once ChatGPT gets its grubby cyber mitts all over it, I will still see 10 mistakes listed that I missed. I don’t just use ChatGPT for grammar, I ask it about clarity and to recap what I wrote.
It’s key to have another set of eyes look over your proposals. There are parts that may be confusing, that you cannot see because you know every detail of your project. Often experts have a blind spot when it comes to recognizing what is common knowledge and what is jargon & industry.
Given the importance of your grant proposal or sponsorship letter, it’s probably worth having someone read it over. I’d recommend someone who knows relevant things and someone who knows very few things about your industry.
The expert can call BS when relevant. The ignorant person will be able to clearly identify which parts are unclear. You probably know quite a few people who’d get real excited at the opportunity to look over your proposal if they felt it would help you. Go charm your crush into it or something, but find someone else to read it.
I’d go beyond ChatGPT for something like this. But spare your helpers some headache and use ChatGPT first.
No one owes you a thing
This is a reminder to all my artist peers that no one owes you anything. The number of years you put it in, the money you spent, all of it is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. What matters for commercial art is if you can convince people to finance your art, however that may be.
The things we need to focus on is creating viable business opportunities around our brands. If the global concert industry is dying (check the numbers, it’s not doing well) maybe we need to reinvent how we throw events. Maybe we need to focus on far more interesting promo plans and content.
A lot of people are boring when it comes to reaching new audiences. This is the result of a lack of market research into what’s actually out there. If you want the government, or companies to look at you like you are worth investing in, you need to spend a lot of time and resources into differentiating yourself from your peers. Even if that ends up being pickles and pokeballs.
If we want to elevate our culture, we need to chase prosperous opportunities. We need to work together on some white collar, project management energy, and find a way to break through with a marketable idea. I keep telling people food reviews and music would do some real damage, content marketing isn’t a solo game. I need friends in this who are down to try weird stuff.
Arguably, I don’t give a fuck about tradition if tradition isn’t going to help me elevate. I’m not the one trying to retain any notion of what the culture is and should be. I am here to find my path to more money so I can make the art I want to make.
Talk 4 Talk represents a path forward
I want to shout out Youri in particular. This guy has been part of some successful stuff by any conceivable way to break it down. In the past when I was whining about how no one was building cool things for the scene, I missed the efforts he was up to.
Youri has taken the time to build up resources for the future. He has listened to me go on about stuff at length and honestly, has been an inspiration for the blog to continue. He was one of the people who took the time to tell me he read it and would even act upon what I said in the article.
I want to make sure we end this circling back to Talk 4 Talk 12, which he hosted. To me he curated a wonderful discussion and played his part in making this event happen. The entire AMUQ team deserves its flowers too.
I met a lot of people at this event. There was conversation that planted the seeds for future projects. I was both entertained and informed. Aldo Guizmo performed and did an excellent job.
I had a great time and look forward to seeing you at the next one.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone