The Canadian music industry faces many challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to help Canada Music Fund (CMF) recipients manage the crisis, the Department of Canadian Heritage and FACTOR have made changes to the Envelope Funding for Music Companies program and application process.

Changes are included in the Envelope Funding Program Guidelines, version 1.2 (PDF) and summarized below:

• The percentage of FACTOR’s contribution is now 75% of total eligible expenses.
• Investments – Estimated investments are still required to be completed as part of the Application Form, however:

1. Investments do not need to be broken down by individual artists. All artist investments can be combined in one column. Within this column, do continue to break down investments by the seven eligible activities: sound recording, touring and showcasing, music publishing, artist management, artist development, business development, administrative expenses.
2. Applicants are asked to separate estimated investments related to a sound recording with a French-language majority. (If more than one project, these can be combined in a separate column.)
3. Investments will not be included in the assessment for the funding contribution.

• Business Plan

1. NEW: Include a specific section on the applicant’s plans for the next 3 months as well as their administration needs. In particular, detail any administrative needs that remain after incorporating the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the overall Envelope Funding contribution, which includes project staffing expenses and up to 15% of administrative expenses.
2. Activities and investments do not need to be separated on an individual artist basis. Applicants may combine artists plans and strategy generally.

• Funding Contribution:

1. At minimum, Envelope Funding recipients will receive 80% of their total 2019-2020 CMF contribution (basic contribution and top-up amounts).
2. The remaining 20% ​​will be subject to the analysis of applicant revenues for their most recent 3 fiscal years, compared to peer companies.

The following guidelines remain in place:

• Eligibility criteria for applicants. See Program Guidelines.
• Revenue reporting through the Application Form, plus financial statements, for the applicant’s most recent 3 fiscal years.
• Application deadline – April 15, 2020, 11:59 pm Pacific. Maintaining the deadline allows FACTOR to get funding advances to recipients as soon as possible.

The FACTOR team is committed to assisting clients through this application process. Further questions can be directed to:

Megan Jones – megan.jones@factor.ca

Derek Wilson – derek.wilson@factor.ca

Amanda Lewis – amanda.lewis@factor.ca

• Published on:
  March 31, 2020