Recording Program
2025 Recording Program Guidelines
Deadline: March 20, 2025 at 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time
Any applicant wishing to apply to the Recording Program must first apply to the Recording Program Preliminary Round. Please visit the program page for that round for instructions and to begin an application.
Only applicants who have already submitted an application to the Preliminary Round and received an invitation from the Fund to submit a full proposal may submit an application to the Recording Program. No other applications will be considered.Eligible Applicant Types:
Performing Ensembles
Presenting Organizations
Recording Companies
Fiscally Sponsored Individuals
All applicants must meet one of the following requirements:
- 501(c)(3) non-profit status (or foreign equivalent); or
- Fiscal sponsorship by an organization with 501(c)3 non-profit status; or
- Be a Recording Company with a Federal Tax ID (EIN).
Program Objectives
To increase the public's knowledge of and appreciation for contemporary American concert music and contemporary jazz through the documentation and distribution of commercial recordings.
Application snapshot
- Eligibility
- Definitions
- How to Apply
- Funding Provisions
- Review Procedures
- Application Cycle and Deadline
- Questions?
Eligibility
NOTE: The Recording Program has a two-part application process. Applicants must first submit a proposal to the Preliminary Round before being invited to apply for a Recording Program grant. Please review the Preliminary Round guidelines for additional information.
Who is eligible?
Applicants must meet one of the following requirements:
- 501(c)(3) non-profit status (or foreign equivalent); or
- Fiscal sponsorship by an organization with 501(c)3 non-profit status; or
- Be a Recording Company with a Federal Tax ID (EIN).
Eligible Applicant Types:
- Performing Ensembles
- Presenting Organizations
- Recording Companies
- Fiscally Sponsored Individuals
Recording companies may submit a maximum of three proposals. All other applicants may submit only one proposal.
What is eligible?
The Recording Program funds commercial recordings of contemporary (within the last 40 years) American concert music and contemporary jazz (see definitions for more information). First recordings are preferred.
Recording projects must meet all of the following requirements:
- Unreleased prior to the Recording Program Application deadline;
- Professionally produced and distributed;
- All works to be included in the proposal must be completed at the time of the application—works in progress are not eligible.
NOTE: For all projects distributed digitally, grantees will be required to post liner notes and credits on an appropriate page of their web sites and to provide a permanent copy of the funded recording for the Fund’s archive.
What is not eligible?
The Recording Program does not fund the following:
- Recordings of works outside the field of American concert music and jazz; this includes commercial, pop, Broadway-style musical theater, sacred, holiday, and traditional concert band music.
- Promotional and/or marketing materials
- Archival recordings
- Live streaming activity (this activity may be funded by the Performance Program)
- Proposals to record works that have not been completed at the time of application
- Recordings made by student ensembles*
- Recordings made by volunteer, community, and amateur ensembles*
- Recordings released by educational institutions*
- Composer commissioning fees and/or honoraria
- Applicants with overdue or delinquent Recording Program projects (please contact the Grants Manager with any questions)
*Such organizations are not generally eligible but may apply if authorized in advance by the Grants Manager. Educational institutions may not apply for projects involving school-age students, student ensembles, or credit-bearing university-level activities but they may apply for eligible activities that involve professional musicians (including faculty). However, the participation of some professional musicians in an ensemble that is primarily a student activity does not make that activity eligible for support.
Definitions
Contemporary
For the Fund’s purposes, music composed within the last 40 years is considered contemporary. The Fund provides support for concert music and jazz composed within that time period; if your project falls outside of this scope but is of exceptional importance and relevance to contemporary American concert music, please contact the Grants Manager.
Concert Music
For the Fund’s purposes, concert music includes opera, orchestral and chamber music for instrumental and/or vocal ensembles, as well as concert music in experimental genres and similar formats. Popular music, including commercial, pop, Broadway-style musical theater, sacred, holiday, and traditional concert band music, is not fundable.
American Music
Music by composers with U.S. citizenship, wherever they may live, as well as non-citizen composers who have lived and worked in the U.S. and its territories for a significant period.
Presenters
Music venues or similar organizations whose principal activity is to present live musical performances by a variety of performing groups throughout the year.
NOTE: Performance activity is not eligible in this grant program; please visit the Performance Program guidelines to review eligibility.
How to Apply
Only applicants invited to apply after submitting an approved proposal to the Preliminary Round may submit a full application to the Recording Program.
Log in here. Then click on the "apply now" button at the top of this page to begin the online application process.
NOTE: If you have been invited to submit multiple projects, you must submit a separate application for each.
PLEASE NOTE: The online application does not automatically self-save. It is not necessary to complete the application in one session, but the application must be saved at the end of every session and should be saved at least once during each session to avoid lost work.
All applicants must supply the following information:
Project
- Select one or more distribution options.
- Identify your label or distributor.
- Specify your planned release date (must be after the application deadline, March 20, 2025).
- Enter first-pressing quantity (for digital release, enter “1”).
- Upload project budget. Applicants must use the provided template, linked here.
- Enter requested grant amount. (The Fund does not award grants larger than the amount requested by the Applicant. Grants will generally not exceed 50% of the total project costs.)
- Enter the total cost of the project. This number should align with the uploaded project budget.
Proposal
- Select any of the “Special Categories” that apply to the project.
- Rationale: This section should be a very brief description of the project for which you are requesting funding.
- Existing Recordings: If any proposed work is currently available in recorded form, a list of the existing recording(s), and an explanation of why a new recording of the work is desirable.
- Plans and Timetable: Present a detailed timeline for production, promotion, and distribution of the recording.
- Composer Biographies: Present short biographies for each of the composers (max. 200 words each) whose works are featured on the recording.
- Performer Biographies: Present short biographies for each soloist (max. 150 words each) and each ensemble.
- Producer/Director Biographies: If not already captured above, present short biographies for each member of the creative team (max. 150 words each).
- Miscellaneous Remarks: This field should be used only for important information that cannot be captured elsewhere in the application (e.g. passwords for protected media, links to important supplemental materials, etc.).
Works to be Recorded
For each work to be recorded as part of this project, include the following:
- Composer Name
- Title of Work
- Performer(s)
- Duration (MM:SS)
- Year of Composition
Musical Materials
Recordings:
Select work samples that best reflect the participants and scope of the project.
Be sure that all personnel to be included are represented in your samples. This may require providing samples of works that are not included in your project; if so, it is recommended you provide samples that align stylistically with the project, and with similar instrumentation.
Submit a minimum of three 3-5-minute audio samples (MP3 format) for a total of no more than 15 minutes of music. All audio examples must be continuous, uncut excerpts.
Audio excerpts should be one of the following, in descending order of preference:
- The final master of the proposed work
- A recording of the proposed work other than the final master (such as a live performance or rough edit), performed by the same performers as proposed for the project
- A recording of the proposed work performed by different performers than proposed for the project
- A demo of the proposed work (such as a MIDI realization or a performance of the piano reduction)
- A recording of another work by the composer(s) in a similar style to the proposed work.
For each recording, indicate the following:
- Composer
- Performer(s)
- Type of excerpt (check all that apply)
- Title of Work
- Bar Numbers: indicate start and end measures of the excerpt from the corresponding score (where applicable)
Scores:
Applicants must submit complete scores (including traditional and non-traditional forms of notation) for each of the works included in the application. Scores must reflect the complete work; legibility is essential, though publisher-standard quality is not demanded.
In the description field for each file, please include the following information:
- Composer
- Title of Work
- Audio excerpt bars and page numbers (when applicable) (e.g. Copland, “Appalachian Spring”. Bars 30-93 on pages 6-22.)
Video examples:
NOTE: This applies only to projects that include a video component.
Select work samples that best reflect the participants and scope of the project.
Be sure that all personnel to be included are represented in your samples. This may require providing samples of works that are not included in your project; if so, it is recommended you provide samples that align stylistically with the project, and with similar instrumentation.
Video excerpts should be one of the following, in descending order of preference:
- The final master of the proposed work
- A recording of the proposed work other than the final master (such as a live performance), performed by the same performers as proposed for the project
- A recording of the proposed work performed by different performers than proposed for the project
- A demo of the proposed work (such as a MIDI realization or a performance of the piano reduction)
- A recording of another work by the composer composed around the same time as the proposed work and preferably in a genre similar to that of the proposed work
For each video, indicate the following:
- Title of Work
- Composer
- Performer(s)
- Date of Performance
- More Info (use this field for any of the following):
- Names of artistic staff
- Bar Numbers: indicate start and end measures of the excerpt from the corresponding score (where applicable)
- Passwords (if your video is password protected)
- Video: A link to the video URL
Supporting Materials
- Non-Profit Applicants: Submit a list of the Board of Directors, uploaded as a PDF.
- Fiscally-Sponsored Applicants: Submit a letter from the fiscal sponsor, on the sponsor’s letterhead, committing to take financial responsibility for the project.
- Recording Companies: Submit a PDF or a link to the URL of your catalog of recordings.
Organization Financials
- Financial Statements: Please submit the most recent financial statements for your organization. (This is not required for for-profit recording companies or individuals.)
- Financials: For the current and previous two years, please provide the following information:
- Income
- Expenses
- Indicate whether actual or projected
Review Procedures
Funding decisions will be made by a panel of experts from the contemporary American concert music and jazz fields. The following criteria will be applied in evaluating grant proposals:
- Quality of the music and the importance of the project to the recorded repertoire, to the composer(s) and to the performer(s)
- Artistic quality and performance history of the performer(s) to be recorded
- Feasibility of the recording project, including financial and other arrangements made with the recording company, timetable for the production and release of the recording, plans for distribution and promotion, and commitment from other funders
- Demonstrated commitment to contemporary American music
Please note: If you receive a grant for a recording project, you may not change any details about the project (i.e. works to recorded, personnel, release date, or record label) without explicit written permission from the grants manager.
Funding Provisions
In general, grants will not exceed $10,000. Grants will generally not exceed 50% of the total project costs.
Once awarded, all grants are subject to the following conditions and timetable:
- Funds must be requested within two years of award notification.
- Funds will be disbursed upon receipt the grantee’s signed Recording Project Payment Form. (Please thoroughly review the terms and conditions before signing.)
- A grantee may request an advance disbursement if needed. Please contact the Grants Manager to request an Advance Disbursement Form.
- The amount disbursed in advance will be at the discretion of the Fund’s staff based upon submitted documentation, but will generally not exceed 50% of the total grant award
- A grantee having received advance disbursement may request the balance of the award by submitting the signed Recording Project Payment Form.
- The recording must be released within two years after the date of the first payment.
Commercial recording grantees are subject to IRS expenditure reporting while the grant open.
If a grantee does not request funds within two years, or if the recording is not released within two years of grant award disbursal, the Fund reserves the right to cancel the grant.
If a recording funded by the Copland Fund should become unavailable in any form, either physical or digital, the Fund reserves the right, on thirty (30) days written notice, sent to the grantee at its last known address, to make it available on the internet, subject to the payment by the Fund of all required royalties and fees to performers and publishers.
Application Cycle and Deadline
- December 19, 2024: Preliminary Round deadline
- February 4, 2025: Preliminary Round notification via e-mail; invitation to apply
- March 20, 2025: Full Application Deadline
Applicants will be notified of funding decisions in or about June 2025. Please do not contact the Fund for information on funding decisions.
IMPORTANT: You are responsible for complying with all legal and contractual requirements that may apply to the creation of your materials. The Copland Fund hereby disclaims all legal responsibility in connection with your submissions. In case of questions, consult your legal advisor.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") Policy
Questions?
Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to read the Frequently Asked Questions before starting an application. If a question is not answered there, please contact the Grants Manager prior to the time of application.
Telephone: 212-461-6956 (Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET)
E-mail: onlinegrants@coplandfund.org
See lists of grantees from previous rounds
Updated November 15, 2024