Creative Wales invests in innovative new Gateway to music developed by Anthem.
The Anthem Gateway has been announced as one of 17 innovative projects from across Wales that have been awarded funding as part of the Welsh Government’s Creative Skills Fund, administered by Creative Wales.The Creative Skills Fund, now in its second round, aims to nurture new and existing talent by training and upskilling individuals across several creative sectors, including screen, music, immersive tech, animation and games.
Anthem Music Fund Wales believes that every young person deserves the opportunity to engage and explore what music can do for them. Their mission is to enable access to music, generate more opportunities and nurture diverse talent to take the next steps to musical careers. In 2022 Anthem undertook a consultation with young people across Wales exploring what support they needed on their pathway to music. Many young people commented that they didn’t know where to find trusted sources of online information and they struggled to understand how things were done. The Anthem team developed the idea of the Gateway to combat these issues – a website created for young people and curated by the music community in Wales offering authentic advice in both Welsh and English.
The Anthem Gateway was launched in early 2023 to provide a first stop shop for young people in Wales aspiring to expand their knowledge and experiences of the music industry. The Gateway is an online platform combining useful resources covering key topics, connections to other key music organisations across Wales, information on careers in music, and current opportunities on offer in music in Wales. The Gateway also includes a network on Discord where young musicians and music professionals across Wales can connect and support each other peer to peer.
Rhian Hutchings, Chief Executive Officer of Anthem commented:
“Young people start out with a huge passion for music and want to be able to progress quickly in connecting to venues, getting their music online, and understanding what their pathway is. The Anthem Gateway has so much potential and support from the Creative Skills Fund will be instrumental in developing it to be the valuable resource for so many budding musicians and music professionals we know it can be.”
Minister for the Creative Industries, Jack Sargeant, said:
“The Anthem Gateway is a fantastic initiative, empowering young musicians across Wales by giving them the tools, connections, and knowledge they need to make their way in the music industry. It’s exciting to see how our Creative Skills Fund will support this platform to continue to evolve, providing invaluable resources and creating a creativity community. Pob lwc i bawb!”
Lennon Williams, Anthem FFWD>> member and Gateway Project Manager said:
“As a young musician based in North Wales, I’ve struggled to make connections and find opportunities and resources that can help me progress. Working with Anthem has helped me connect with valuable industry resources and support. Now we are creating the Anthem Gateway to help more young musicians in Wales feel part of a community and access the guidance they need to take the next step in their music career.”
Across the next 18 months, the Anthem Gateway team will hone the web platform, making it more user friendly and easy to navigate. 40 new resources will be created including online resources, three podcast series and 6 webinars led by young creatives. Our Discord network will develop new activity and online events for our members. Throughout the whole development process, Anthem will be constantly consulting with young creatives to make sure that what we are creating is fit for purpose and giving a space for people to contribute ideas for content.
Visit the Anthem Gateway here:
