The Statens Kunstfonds Projektstøtteudvalg for Musik has once again provided an extraordinary grant this year to the genre organizations’ International Transport Support. The total extraordinary grant amounts to 633,000 DKK, allowing JazzDanmark an additional 158,250 DKK to help Danish jazz musicians reach the world in 2024.

The demand for International Transport Support from Danish musicians is steadily increasing. The genre organizations can document this through their work with data and documentation, which contributed to the additional funding. Furthermore, it has been shown that the support for international transport has a positive effect. Over 90% of recipients of the International Transport Support in 2023 reported that their tour greatly or very greatly resulted in new opportunities and artistic development.

Funding for International Transport is a much-needed investment in sustainable musician livelihoods.

Morten Ogstrup Nielsen, the genre organizations’ joint project manager for data and documentation, wrote a piece for Kulturmonitor in May about the financial challenges of touring life. In it, he outlines how the international touring landscape is pressured by rising costs, increased supply, and competition from megastars. His conclusion was:

“If we want to invest in the development of our talent pool and create a sustainable artistic life for our many skilled musicians, transport support is an excellent area to prioritize. This funding targets musicians who have already reached an artistic and professional level where they can take their music beyond national borders. It also addresses them as they enter a phase where many are at risk of being overwhelmed by the financial realities they will face when traveling the world to present their music.”

The international transport support is distributed by the four genre organizations: Art Music Denmark, JazzDanmark, ROSA, and Tempi, which collectively receive between 400 and 800 applications each year from Danish musicians traveling abroad with their music or bringing international musicians to Denmark.

The number of applicants is growing, just like last year, and therefore the Statens Kunstfonds Projektstøtteudvalg for Musik has decided to grant an extraordinary allocation of 633,000 DKK, which will be distributed with 158,250 DKK to each genre organization for implementation in 2024.

JazzDanmark’s original grant framework for International Transport Support 2024 is 1,013,468 DKK. With the extraordinary allocation, this amounts to 1,227,459 DKK. In the first half of 2024, a total of 583,917 DKK in support has been awarded. During the same period, applications totaling 2,160,740 DKK have been submitted.

To learn more about Danish music in an international context, you can read the report ‘Danish Music Life in Numbers’ here. (in Danish)