Music BC Recently Opened The Applications For ARC 2023
Music BC has recently opened applications for the latest round of its flagship artist development program, ARC.
Designed to provide emerging artists with the tools they need to succeed in the music industry, ARC is an accelerator program that is funded by Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia, Stingray, and FACTOR (the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings). Applications are open from April 24, 2023 – to May 24, 2023.
A jury consisting of industry professionals with expertise in various genres will determine 15
participants for the 2023 cohort, to be announced in early July.
ARC delivers a series of artist development experiences where participants receive one-on-one
mentorship with industry professionals, including managers, creative content directors, and music
producers. They will attend workshops in finance, branding, live production, mental health, and
songwriting. Finally, ARC participants have the opportunity to connect with other emerging artists, as
well as established professionals in the music industry.
Music BC, the voice of British Columbia’s music industry, created the program to advance the
business, creative, and technical skills of recording artists in the province, helping them to build a
sustainable career in the music industry—both at home and away.
“We’re thrilled to be able to offer another year of ARC,” says Lindsay MacPherson, Executive Director of Music BC. “This program was a huge success in its first year, and we’re excited to continue supporting emerging artists in British Columbia by providing a range of resources and opportunities for artists to grow and thrive.”
Learn more about Music BC, ARC and more via our Inside The Industry interview with Lindsay MacPherson below.
First off, care to introduce yourself and Music BC to our readers?
My name is Lindsay MacPherson, Executive Director of Music BC. Music BC is a member-based provincial industry association serving the for-profit and non-profit music industry. We are the voice of the B.C. music industry locally, domestically, and internationally, with a mandate to advance the careers of B.C.’s music creatives and industry through Training, Mentorship, Export & Professional Development opportunities. We also advocate for the music sector in B.C., whether that be through dedicated funding, policy and bylaw changes, supporting research projects, or securing large-scale music events to encourage jobs and economic development.
Music BC has opened the latest round of its flagship artist development program, ARC. Tell us a bit more about ARC.
ARC is an artist accelerator program intensive that highlights and nurtures the diverse voices throughout British Columbia. The program is designed to advance the business, creative and technical skills of recording artists to help them build a sustainable career in the music industry.
There are three components to ARC, The Clinic, The Retreat, and The Show. Care to break these down for the readers?
The Clinic is a multi-day training intensive where participants attend business-focused workshops on topics like building a business plan, legal contracts, touring, market development, and branding, followed by assignments for continued learning and progress check-ins with our ARC faculty mentors.
The Retreat is another multi-day intensive comprised of one-on-one and group mentorship sessions with world-class industry leaders, focussing on the creative components that go into growing and sustaining an audience and brand, including writing, recording, content creation, vocal and live performance training. The participants also receive daily mental health workshops with a Registered Clinical Counsellor on our faculty.
The Show is the third and final program component and is an opportunity for participants to perform in front of a live audience of fans as well as local and international industry members.
Is there any criteria that artists need to follow to apply for ARC?
We encourage all B.C. artists to apply if they meet the basic eligibility but first recommend reading through the detailed guidelines to ensure the program is a good fit for them this year. ARC was designed to aid in the development of emerging artists who have some track record in B.C. but have yet to break out and achieve significant success domestically or internationally. I would encourage folks to spare no detail in their application, to be vulnerable and honest about where they’re at when elaborating on the roadblocks that are prohibiting them from taking their career to the next level. Having an active, upcoming project to focus their learnings on will be an important factor for our jury and ARC Program Committee when deciding on the Top 15 artist participants for 2023.
You’ve worked with many artists via Music BC. What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?
It can be equally exciting and overwhelming launching a music project, not knowing where to start and how best to utilize your time, connections, and financial investment towards the success of the project. At Music BC, we have several free resources to help an artist get started.
First, I’d encourage artists to explore the Jumpstart Foundations video modules on our website that we will continue to populate. If you’re looking for tips on touring, legal, branding, Tik Tok, grant funding, market development opportunities, and general professionalism to help you stand out, check out this video library. If you’re an artist working through a particular challenge at the moment and want to speak with a professional, we offer one-hour Jumpstart Consultations with a roster of music industry mentors.
Finally, I would recommend subscribing to the weekly Music BC newsletter and following us on social media so you won’t miss any professional development opportunities (performance, educational, funding, networking, or otherwise) through Music BC, our affiliates, or community partners.
Is there anything else happening in 2023 with Music BC that you’d like to tell us about?
The B.C. music industry received fantastic news last month that our provincial government renewed the dedicated music fund, Amplify BC, for another three years at $22.5m. The continuity in this funding support is huge for Music BC; it allows us to spend more time consulting with artists and industry to develop or refine our core programs for better reach and impact. We are super excited to build out another component to our Jumpstart training and professional development series that will launch in a couple of months. Stay tuned!