Funding focus on: Music Patron

This article was originally published in our Autumn 2024 issue. Click here to subscribe to our quarterly print magazine and be the first to read our January 2025 issue features.

Anyone for Swiftonomics? It really is an inflation- stoking phenomenon, according to economists. The hurricane force of pop star Taylor Swift’s recent visits to Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London saw a significant impact on local economies in the run-up to the billionaire superstar’s performances. The financial website Investopedia estimates gig-goers spent around £1,000 per person in tickets, outfits, merchandise, hotels, food, drink and travel.

If anything, the phenomenon underlines the ways in which music has been monetised and ruthlessly marketed, over the last century in particular. Today’s performing artists make money just as anyone else does: they sell on the open market. Concertgoers buy tickets, fans purchase recordings, printed music and subscriptions to streaming services, while composers are commissioned to create backtracks for commercials, films, stage shows and all sorts.

And there’s the key word: create. Many composers still produce music to order but who pays? That’s critical as Payscale.com suggests the average composer salary in the UK is £29,479, with around half (53 per cent) of composers earning less than £10,000 annually from their efforts. Compared to the average UK salary – currently about £35,000 – the figures are shocking.

Gone are the profligate days of the Esterhazys or the Medicis. Royals, rulers, artistocrats and the Church have seen roles diminish as funding from governments, charities, broadcasters and commercial organisations has supplanted them as supporters of arts organisations. But what if an individual has a burning desire to become a patron and commission a composer? Could that person be put off by the notion that commissioning music can cost thousands? The Musicians’ Union quotes the mean average per minute for music for advertising at £8,263. It’s a lot cheaper – per minute – to commission a piece for a symphony orchestra: a mere snip at £750 per minute, rising to £800 if there are soloists or a chorus. Even so, that means a 20-minute piece could cost around £16,000. And if that money is not in the bank, that’s a lot of delving down the back of the sofa.

However, salvation could be at hand through the new Music Patron scheme which might make all the difference for composers and patrons. The venture is the brainchild of Anthony Bolton, a former City financier, musician and, more to the point, a composer with a keen interest in contemporary music.

‘In our family charity, which has been going 15 years, we’ve supported contemporary music, especially commissioning,’ he said. ‘The composer Julian Anderson became my mentor, also around 15 years ago, and since then it has struck me how difficult it is for composers as their product is intangible. And when writing for bigger groups there’s the near impossibility of getting a performance.’

Philanthropic phenomenon: Music Patron founder Anthony Bolton swapped his finance career for the life of a composer

Bolton then discovered the Patreon scheme in the USA, a commercial organisation which supports a wide range of artists, though mainly in the pop music sphere. ‘A lot of money goes through Patreon, particularly when funds are aggregated. That’s when I started to wonder whether we could do something similar in the UK. I worked with Jackie Newbould, formerly of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and we got a concept together but felt this needed to be under the umbrella of an existing music organisation.’

That’s how Music Patron became associated with Sound and Music. ‘Patronage was at the heart of the great music of the past,’ noted Bolton. ‘Our plan is more democratic as there are more people involved. Patronage also gives security, which a composer will not get from a commission. After all, in the last 100 years or so, the composer and the support for their work became detached and an orchestra or a broadcaster got in the way. Music Patron provides a direct relationship between patrons and composers.’

Sonia Stevenson is head of the new platform. ‘Tony got to the point where he could see just how difficult things were in the new music industry,’ she said. ‘He thought that, rather than giving out individual bits of money to individual composers, there could be a way to change the whole system for the better. When he came across Patreon, he thought, “What could a platform that uses technology alongside the American model of grassroots giving look like if it was in the UK?”.’

It’s obvious that the concept has legs but, rather than start from scratch, bolting onto an existing organisation would have instant benefits. As a result, Sound and Music – the national charity for music and composers – acts as an ‘incubator’ for the project. Indeed, the expectation is that the model could be extended to other aspects of the creative industries.

There is also a subtle difference between Patreon and Music Patron. ‘You don’t ever go to Patreon to discover somebody new,’ said Stevenson. ‘You’re there because you know the creator and they’ve said, “come and support me”. We’re hoping Music Patron will be a way that people come and explore new composers and find new sounds.’

Being a tech start-up in a rather unexplored area also presents challenges. ‘We test, experiment and learn,’ added Stevenson. ‘What we have to remember at all times is that nobody has tried to attract patrons for new music in this way before. Once we see what happens, we choose our next step.’

If someone knows a composer and they’d like to support them, that’s fine. But if they are more interested in the general concept of supporting new music they can go to the extremely informative Music Patron website – where they will find a quiz.

Composers are paired with potential patrons via an online quiz

‘It’s a tool to match people with a composer, but it is also a marketing tool – people love a quiz,’ said Stevenson. ‘We’re trying to find out what types of genres people are interested in and how they listen to music. If you find a composer you like, you can listen to some of their music immediately and then click through to their profile page to find out a lot more.’

One composer highlighted by Stevenson is Yshani Perinpanayagam. A real ‘live wire’, she specialises in not being a specialist. She’s a composer, repetiteur and director and has worked in opera and musical theatre. She also does a great deal in the comedy world. Her musical styles include different genres, including not only classical music and musical theatre, but also computer game music. One of her patrons is Lev Parikian, a conductor, writer and Guardian columnist. ‘There’s a real meeting of minds here,’ noted Stevenson. ‘It’s not just the money that flows from one to the other, but there’s an exchange of ideas and a real sense of community that they have together.’

Perinpanayagam elaborated on what Music Patron means to her. ‘Having support to just be as a composer is incredibly powerful. Without the need to deliver a commission to deadline in return for this support, I’ve been given room – and what feels like permission – to delve deliberately deeper into my process, exploring unknowns purely for creative enrichment and regardless of whether they directly lead to a product or not.’

For Parikian, it was the discovery of Perinpanayagam through a video of her short and witty piano piece, Snake. ‘When her name appeared on the list of Music Patron’s first composers, I didn’t hesitate to support her,’ he said. ‘Music Patron is such a good idea, not just allowing music lovers to support composers directly, but giving them insight into the composition process and, of course, giving the composers some financial breathing room.’

Money, however, must keep flowing. ‘We could really do with a celebrity or personality to endorse us,’ said Burton. ‘Someone who believes in what we are doing. People can make small donations – say £10 – to try out the site. But we are also looking to foundations which can offer us larger amounts.’

There are strict guidelines on the Music Patron website as to who may put themselves forward as a composer. Increasingly, too, composers are not just creating music but also commenting about present-day events: political strife, injustice, war, famine, climate change… the list is inexhaustible. Asked why new music is valuable, whether it matters and why, one patron – Doug Morrison – said: ‘Well, Beethoven can’t comment on current events.’ But Beethoven’s perspective was heard loud and clear when he scratched out the dedication of his Eroica Symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte. The Symphony was ‘new’ music when it premiered in the early 19th century and, just as it’s creator was responding to the world around him then, Music Patron aims to give composers of today’s new music the breathing space to do the same.

www.musicpatron.com