What We Fund
In addition to funding the production and licensing of sound recordings by Canadian artists and music companies, we also fund a range of activities to support their commercialization. This includes marketing and promotion, touring and showcasing, producing videos, and creating digital content.
We fund music industry infrastructure through programs that support domestic and international business development. Through our Collective Initiatives program we work with non-profit organizations to create market opportunities and educational events through the country. FACTOR is also a major contributor to regional music events like the East Coast Music Awards and BreakOut West, as well as large-scale industry events like The Polaris Prize, the International Indigenous Music Summit, the JUNO Awards, Prism Prize, Pop Montreal, MUTEK, The Canadian Country Music Awards, and many others.
We help build a Canadian audience for Canadian talent by funding the music industry from coast to coast to coast. Through our National Advisory Board, FACTOR partners with music industry associations in all provinces and territories to ensure artists living and working outside major Canadian music centres have access to information, education, and financial assistance. Please see our Regional Representatives for more information.
Who is Eligible for FACTOR Funding?
FACTOR primarily supports Canadian musicians (as individual artists, bands, or companies) to record and produce primarily English-language, independent sound recordings. If you are looking for support on a French-language sound recording, please visit our Francophone counterpart Musicaction.
Through our numerous Programs and Components, artists can receive financial assistance to record an album, help with tour and showcase costs, or produce a music video. FACTOR funding is meant to help support projects, not pay for them entirely. Applicants should use FACTOR funding to supplement project funding from other sources.
Other members of the Canadian music industry can also apply for FACTOR funding, like music companies, record labels, distributors, and individuals or organizations who would like to produce industry-oriented conferences, workshops, showcases, etc.
See our past recipients
Want to know who else is #FACTORfunded? Read our Success Stories, or see a list of FACTOR’s Past Recipients.
Need some help?
If you’re interested in applying for FACTOR funding but aren’t sure where to start, check out our FAQ and our Applicant Resources for help.
What FACTOR Does Not Fund
- French-language music
- Manufacturing costs for retail stock
- Music festivals, unless they have a conference or educational component
- Festival production costs
- Recording studios directly
- Video production companies directly
- Contests such as “Battle of the Bands”
- Open mic nights
- Capital purchases like studio equipment, computers and software, tour vans
- Core operation costs (e.g. salaries, occupancy costs) unless they are directly attributable to a funded project
- Office supplies
- Business development costs for music business start-ups (for most programs, businesses must be operating for two years before they are eligible)
- Private showcases
- Concert tickets
- Alcohol