Levi's® Music Prize

The Levi’s® Music Prize is an exciting initiative that enables Australian and New Zealand bands and artists to maximise that next opportunity to get them to the next stage of their careers. 

The total Levi’s® Music Prize is a contribution of $AU120,000 annually which is divided into four (4) x $AU25,000 sums and which goes towards funding four (4) x quality artists/acts each year.

Stage and Screen offers a travel voucher of $AU5,000 to each prize winner (awarded four times total) to be used towards relevant travel costs.

The Levi’s® Music Prize is run in partnership with QMusic (the producers of BIGSOUND) and Sounds Australia who provide the judging panel for each round.

The Levi’s® Music Prize is aimed at early to mid-career artists seeking to capitalise on the initial success that they have already achieved for themselves. It is at this critical stage of many artists’ careers that it is difficult for them to stay on the journey and sustain the momentum that they have created. This happens for a number of reasons – but more often than not it is because of financial limitations. 

As many in the music industry would be aware, it’s a tough game. An artist or band may have a successful first album cycle or first tour, but where to from there? In order to keep up the momentum, bands need to get out on the road, travel overseas to do meet and greets with international record labels and get back into the studio to possibly record the next EP or album. Sometimes they may just need to produce a video for their next single release, or wish to work with an international producer that is proving too cost prohibitive. We understand that when the opportunity knocks, you have to be ready to leap into action which is not always possible if the cash flow is just not there. 

This is where the Levi’s® Music Prize comes into play and is the biggest annual prize pool of its kind in Australian music history.

The Levi’s® Music Prize is open to artists that have played on the BIGSOUND Festival line-up in the last 5 years, including 2018. These are artists that have already engaged in some kind of export/international touring activity – which is the focus of the prize.

The total Levi’s® Music Prize is a contribution of $100K annually which will be divided into 4 x $25K sums which will go towards funding 4 x quality artists/acts each year.
Stage and Screen will offer an additional travel voucher of $5,000 to each prize winner (awarded 4 times total) to be used towards relevant travel costs.

The prize has 2 components:

1. From 2017, one artist showcasing at BIGSOUND each year will be judged by a panel of international industry representatives to be the winner of a $25,000 prize, announced on the Friday morning of the BIGSOUND conference. By applying to showcase at BIGSOUND Festival 2018, you’re automatically in the running for the prize awarded at BIGSOUND. Certain terms and conditions will apply. If you win the prize, you must provide a sound business plan which meets approved criteria for how the money will be used to further your career before it can be released to you. 
2. Artists that have played on the BIGSOUND Festival line-up in the last 5 years (including 2018) can apply for 1 of another 3 x $25,000 prizes, to be judged at the end of the December, March and June quarters each year. At the conclusion of BIGSOUND 2018, an application form will appear on this website that can be completed to be in the running for the other 3 prizes. Each entrant will need to provide a sound business plan to support their intentions and goals, and the winner will be determined by a judging panel including industry experts. The prize will fund up to 80% of the proposed project to a maximum of $25,000 – you need to have some skin in the game.