Applications are now open for our 23% Mentorship program.
The initiative brings women, non-binary and gender diverse music creators together with music industry mentors
Mentees will be paired with a mentor to receive professional advice and guidance
Applications for APRA AMCOS’ 23% Mentorship open today with 14 places available to music creators at a pivotal career stage and who identify as a woman, non-binary or gender-diverse individual. The program, formerly known as the Women in Music Mentorship, comes with a new name based on the percentage of the organisation’s members who identify as other than male, and addresses the disparity by providing professional guidance and funding directly to successful applicants.
The 23% Mentorship is open to all music genres and practices and will match mentee and mentor to align with career stage, goals and priorities. Each successful applicant will also receive $3,000 towards projects, or work-related expenses and/or travel.
Since the mentoring program began in 2018, 68 member mentees have benefitted, including Telenova’s Angeline Armstrong, Nardean, Annie Hamilton, LOUV, Eliza Hull, dameeeela, BVT and many more.
“The 23% Mentorship marks the start of an exciting new phase for this important initiative," said Karen Don, Head of Membership, APRA AMCOS.
“The 23% Mentorship addresses the troubling statistic of participation in music and is an investment in talent, career guidance and network building in an industry that can be difficult to navigate and form connections in. Our goal is to make it a more welcoming space, encourage more voices to flourish and grow into a future way beyond 23%.”
With the help of feedback from previous recipients and additional resources for the initiative, the 23% Mentorship will include alumni gatherings and regular check-ins.
Canberra singer-songwriter and 2020 mentee Lucy Sugerman, said, “APRA AMCOS’ mentorship really provided a safe and guided space for me to learn more about the industry. It was empowering and exciting, and I felt very supported throughout. I realise this can be quite rare in the music industry now in hindsight, so I feel very grateful to have had access to that time and resources, particularly as someone living in a more 'regional' city with very limited connections to the Australian music industry at the time.”
Spanning a range of professional expertise and specialties, this year's list of mentors putting up a hand include EDM artist and SongMakers mentor Kristy Lee Peters (KLP), Offbeat Collective’s Jannah Beth, Bossy Music’s Claire Collins, Future Classic’s Harry White and more.
ABOUT THE 23% MENTORSHIP
Applications close 5pm AEST Friday 10 May.