Music Creators Network

31/08/2026

You won’t want to scroll past this one! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1345656607553389&set=a.336268638492196&type=3

We wouldn’t scroll past this one 🎶 ✨

Applications are now open for The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival Music Bursaries, hosted through partnership with Belfast City Council and the Music Matters strategy to support the composition and recording of new music by Northern Ireland-based artists.

Twenty bursaries of £1,000 each are up for grabs. That’s backing to turn an idea into something you can release into the world.

Whether you’re an emerging artist chasing a first proper recording or an established name ready to make your next move, this is time, space and money to create. And it’s open to solo musicians and bands alike.

Past recipients span the full breadth of what’s being made here - from Eve Belle, Conchur White and Gemma Bradley to Wynona Bleach, Conor Mallon, Róise, Rebecca Rua and Fun Protestants - a reminder of just how much range there is in Northern Irish music right now.

The funding can go toward the whole journey: studio hire, engineering, mixing and mastering, session musicians, right through to the campaign around it, from video and photography to artwork, manufacture and distribution, PR and marketing.

So what could £1,000 unlock for you? A new track. An EP. A recording session. A collaboration you’ve been meaning to chase. That project you’ve been sitting on.

Full info via the link in bio. It couldn’t be easier!

Deadline: 5pm on Friday, 29th October 2026.

https://cqaf.com/creative-bursaries-2026/

25/08/2026

Looking forward to Output this year! And it’s FREE to attend.

Next month the Cathedral Quarter will transform into the capital of music industry ⬇

24/08/2026

Sign up for the biggest music conference in Ireland and what a lineup this year and it’s FREE to attend, curated by the guys at Scoredraw Music, including the wonderful Mark Gordon, it is a must for music makers and anyone wanting to find a way into music!

21/08/2026

Mark the date.

Clear your diary for Thursday, 24th September: Output Belfast is back and it’s going big.

Presented by Belfast City Council / Belfast City of Music, and programmed by Score Draw Music, Ireland’s largest one-day music conference takes over The MAC, Oh Yeah Music Centre and the Cathedral Quarter with 28 sessions built for anyone making, managing, scoring, booking or breaking music right now. Want to know how producers actually get paid in 2026? How to fund a tour without losing your mind? How to write a Eurovision banger? Dana’s on that panel, so you’re in safe hands.

The opening keynote is a serious statement: Tom Kiehl, Chief Executive of UK Music, sits down with Catherine Martin of the Ivors Academy (the former Minister for Culture behind the Basic Income for the Arts pilot) and David Martin of the Featured Artists Coalition. Three people shaping how the industry works on both sides of the border, in one room, in Belfast.

New for 2026: a gear expo room with Audient consoles and interfaces, Lowden guitars and a full Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 listening experience.

And the best part? It is, once again, completely free.

Full conference details and registration is open now via link below, with a closing keynote announcement still to drop in early September. As ever, the full lineup for the evening showcases, a fixture of the NI music calendar, will be announced soon. Watch this space ✨

https://www.outputbelfast.com/

20/08/2026

This Saturday IAGO Records will be taking over the seaside stage at the Lammas fair and we will be there too. If you’re in the area pop down and say hi! Peter Brogan will be playing songs from his new album and brianrobb_music will be there too!

05/08/2026

On the Saturday of the Ould Lammas Fair I-Ago Records and MCN will be showcasing acts on the seaside stage

07/07/2026

The UK Artist Touring (UKAT) fund will return for Phase Two this summer.

Developed by the FAC in partnership with the Musicians’ Union and Music Managers Forum, and backed by the LIVE Trust, the fund supports artists to tour across the UK creatively, safely and sustainably.

Further details, including eligibility criteria and application dates, will be announced soon.

FAC PRO Members will be the first to hear about key updates and application information. Sign up via the link in bio to stay informed.

Head to the UKAT Hub - www.thefac.org/ukatfund for all information surrounding the fund.

By plugging genuine shortfalls and de-risking touring, the FAC’s UK Artist Touring (UKAT) fund, developed in partnership with the Music Managers Forum and the Musicians’ Union and backed by the LIVE Trust, aims to protect the UK’s cultural infrastructure, deliver renewed vitality in the grassr...

30/06/2026

A truly amazing organisation, music is so much more than entertainment. It’s a voice to the voiceless, a truly universal language, thanks to organisations like Beyond Skin

UPDATE visa decision overturned. See more recent post.

Hi everyone. We are overwhelmed at the support for Soraya. Thank you to all those who have been sharing, messaging us and lobbying politicans.
You are all very kind souls.

We can confirm that some MPs are now raising the case with UK Home Office to right this wrong, but we have to keep the pressure on.

For those just joining the story.
Soraya is a professional musician from Afghanistan living in Europe.
Her visa to come and perform at the world's largest Irish music festival Fleadh Cheoil hosted in Belfast was denied by the British Government.

Soraya is scheduled to perform at the Persian, Kurdish Celtic Connection concert 6th August The Duncairn and also at a South Asian Heritage Month event and at a music industry conference in Belfast at a later date.

Music is banned in Afghanistan by the regime. Women and girls have no rights in Afghanistan.
Not allowing an Afghan woman to perform in a UNESCO City of Music is another level of wrong.

This has now opened up a bigger question that many concert, festival promoters and artists are struggling with.
Why are the UK Home Office deciding who can and can not perform at festivals and concerts? In essence deciding what live music we all should only listen to. A special exemption system for artists and promoters needs to replace the current one.

Example letters of support are now on a webpage
www.beyondskin.net/soraya

Regarding the concert, all ticket sales will go towards other Afghan women artists at risk we are supporting in Afghanistan.

Thanks for your love and solidarity ❤️

27/06/2026

A great day out for three of our four musketeers yesterday , we went to meet the incredible Paddy Glasgow and his wife Stella as they delivered an amazing insight into what they offer in Draperstown, I could see from meeting them why everyone in the music industry here in Northern Ireland holds them in such high regard. Got to meet our first minister before she was whisked off to Stormont. And got to catch up with the amazing Charlene Hegarty. Thanks Shona McCarthy, Philip and our hosts for making the event such a magical and inspiring day in Draperstown X