Setting up and running a leisure-time music group can be hard: how do you set up as a charity? What PRS fees do you owe? How can you market your events to the public? We're here to help you easily find answers to your questions, with advice, services and resources to help you sort out the tricky stuff so you can concentrate on enjoying making music.
How can we help you?
We fight for the best deals and provide the expertise, networks and support you need to set up, run and thrive as a leisure-time music group.
Practical services and resources
- One-to-one help and advice, via phone, email and in person
- Exclusive insurance packages, provided by Finch, underwritten by Covea
- PRS fee collection scheme – taking the hassle out royalty payments
- Subsidies for booking professional artists - for booking fees and travel expenses
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Orchestra Tax Relief service - help for instrumental groups to claim back money for putting on concerts.
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Charity Registration service - including a model constitution and help with compiling and submitting an application
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DBS check service – making safeguarding simple
- Online resources, case studies and guidance on over 100 topics, from setting up as a charity to getting started with social media
- Find funding and save money with online tools including a funding finder, exclusive discounts, programme notes database and a sheet music loans service
- Get seen with free listings: make sure your group is visible - get seen by potential members in our 'find a group' tool, list your events in our concert diary and advertise your group's vacancies
- Subscriptions to Highnotes, our magazine
- Project and broadcast opportunities, including with BBC Radio 3
- Find a Group listing for your group. Find a Group is a public, searchable database for people looking to sign up to a music group
- And much more...!
Lobbying and advocacy
We engage in lobbying and advocacy on behalf of our members and the leisure-time music community as a whole. In the past we've saved a vital national music collection, helped to prevent the government from cutting off Local Authority funding for music services and helped to force a U-turn on plans to drop the Arts from core school subjects.
If you're fighting the good fight for music and need help, get in touch and let us know. We also have a number of materials and evidence summaries to help with your own campaigns supporting music making.
Connecting you with other music makers
Our groups represent over 200,000 music makers across the UK, so we can bring you together with experts in the field, your peers and Making Music staff and volunteers– locally, online and at events around the UK – so that you can share experiences and advice, learn from each other and make some new friends at the same time!
Or get in touch with us if you have any questions.
