Salt Lick Incubator- Artist Project Grant

Salt Lick Incubator- Artist Project Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Salt Lick Incubator Incorporated
Amount: US $5,000 - US $15,000
Last Updated: March 20, 2026

Summary

The Salt Lick Incubator offers project grants ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 for emerging musicians in contemporary genres. These grants support activities such as recording, music videos, and marketing strategies. Recipients receive mentorship to enhance their careers and participate in analytics tracking to refine their strategies. With a focus on song-driven music, the incubator also hosts retreats and performances, fostering collaboration and growth for artists at various stages of their careers.

Overview

Salt Lick Incubator The Salt Lick Incubator is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting emerging musicians in building sustainable careers. We offer project grants ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 to artists working in songful, contemporary genres. These grants can be used for projects such as producing a song or album, creating a music video, developing social media assets, pressing vinyl, touring, or enhancing branding and marketing strategies. In addition to funding, grant recipients receive mentorship and guidance from industry professionals, along with a personalized plan tailored to ensure their activities are both strategic and successful. Our focus is on song- and lyric-driven melodic music. Our Activities The first thing we will do is offer micro-grants ($5–$15k per artist) for projects that might include a recording session, making a music video, pressing vinyl, producing merch, hiring a producer, or other similar activities. The artists will propose their plans to us; we will not dictate the plan, but we will determine whether we believe the plan makes sense in order to decide whether we invest or not. Micro-grant recipients will agree to participate in the creation of a dashboard of analytics that track key measures to help guide marketing, social media, touring, and other elements of the individual artist’s strategy. This will help us fine-tune our approaches and allow a community-wide sharing of good ideas. The next activity will be song-writer and artist retreats. These will aim to elevate the group’s aspirations for the quality of their writing and simultaneously create relationships/partnerships that can serve our artists in many ways. We envision the majority of the group will be early-stage artists coupled with a few experienced writers. In addition, we will host periodic performances and house parties to create more performance experience and allow us, our supporters, and new audiences to experience artists in action.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. To be eligible for a grant, applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:Be at least 18 years of ageBe a U.S. citizen or eligible to work in the United StatesBe individuals or small groups (i.e., duos, trios, bands)Be an emerging artist in the early stages of their professional artist careersMust own the master recordings of your musicWe ARE well-positioned to support artists working in the following genres:Rock, folk, Americana, R&B, roots, soul, neo-soul, blues, bluegrass, and singer-songwriter (and all indie variants of these).

Ineligibility

Must not have accepted an advance for the project being submittedCannot be in an active contract with a record labelMust not have released more than three (3) full-length albums to dateThis grant is not subject to commissionWe ARE NOT positioned to support artists working in the following genres: Electronic, hip-hop, rap, pop country, pure pop, metal, world, spoken word, classical, jazz.