Breakthrough, is Higher Rhythm’s artist development programme, delivered across Yorkshire since 2015

Evolving from this programme, Breakthrough Weekender is designed to provide the space, resources, and support for Yorkshire music artists to focus on their music, assisted by a team of established industry professionals.

Funded by Arts Council England, Breakthrough Weekender is open to Yorkshire-based music artists / bands of any contemporary genre (not classical) who write and play original music.

The deal:

◉ A residential recording weekend at our pro studio

◉ Accommodation plus travel expenses paid

◉ An engineer PLUS choice of producer from our pool

◉ Work with an experienced music business mentor

◉ Release a single with wraparound marketing support

◉ Play a mini-festival gig, recorded for broadcast

What are we looking for?

We’re looking for some of Yorkshire’s most exciting emerging artists who want to grow sustainable music careers. We will select 7 artists / bands across 2 calls over 1 full year.

Successful applicants will need to:

• Evidence previously playing multiple gigs / festivals
• Have at least 2 demo tracks with some evidence of play-out / distribution / reach
• Have a good web / social media presence
• Have ambition to earn a living from the music industry (not just a hobby)
• Fully commit to and attend all project activities and events

Producers include:

Skinny Pelembe, Danni Skerritt (Dirty Freud), Dilettante, Justin Lockey (Editors), Chloe Beth Smith (Brian Ferry), Andy Bell (Hudson Records)

You retain master rights and producer waives credits

Who’s going to make the decision and how?

We know it will be difficult to choose successful applicants because we expect the number of applications to be high and we know the level of quality of Yorkshire’s music artists.

For each cohort we will advertise the call with a deadline for applications. A panel of industry practitioners will then vote, marking applicants against the areas we are looking for, outlined above.

Artist applications are NOW CLOSED for our first cohort of 2026