Currently 14 active paid audio, sound and music grants, fellowships and residencies. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Almost every entry is funded; a few notable unpaid open calls and festival submissions are included as clearly flagged exceptions. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.
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One residency for an artist, designer or maker working with sound, exploring spatial sound in relation to seismology, climate and discharge-related acoustics, run with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. THE PREMISE: climate change is making major landslides, ice-breakoff events from marine-terminating glaciers, and sound-producing ice movements more common. These generate infrasonic vibrations inaudible to humans that sometimes spread across the entire planet and into the atmosphere. The residency asks how immersive sound techniques can make these events tangible and build meaningful sonic narratives from them. WHAT YOU GET ACCESS TO: scientific data on seismological events, vibrations, infrasound and the movement of land and ice masses, with scientific expertise from KNMI (lead researcher Jelle Assink) and artistic guidance from the Futures of Listening team, relating local events to global impact. RESEARCH QUESTIONS to position your proposal against include how immersive sound can cultivate situated listening to ecological processes and more-than-human encounters, how artistic and scientific methods of working with environmental data can inform each other, and what is gained, lost or ethically at stake when environmental sounds are translated, interpreted or reconstructed through spatial and synthetic means. DELIVERABLE: residents are expected to create a final spatial sound production using the 4DSOUND system. Other outcomes may include immersive installations, data-driven sonic works, audiovisual pieces, software prototypes or reusable methodologies. Experience in art-science environments is welcome but not required; you may instead explain why working in one would benefit your practice. HARD ELIGIBILITY GATE: applicants must be based in the Netherlands AND registered as an artist with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK). This is not negotiable and rules out non-NL applicants. Futures of Listening is a Netherlands-based platform for spatial sound, immersive experience, performance and installation art, founded by FIBER Festival, 4DSOUND, Robin Koek and Art of Sound at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, supported by CIIIC and Stimuleringsfonds.
One residency for an individual practitioner, a duo or a studio working at the intersection of sound and space, exploring architecture through spatial audio. THE PREMISE: architecture is traditionally conceived through form, structure, material and light, with sound treated as something to be controlled or optimised afterwards. This residency asks what happens if architecture begins with sound, shifting the question from how a space should sound to how sound can generate space. Spatial audio, virtual acoustics and immersive media now allow prototyping of responsive environments, impossible architectures and sonic spaces beyond physical constraints. RESEARCH QUESTIONS include how sound can become a first principle in architectural and spatial design, how the acoustic properties of space inform the creation and perception of spatial sound, and how artistic research can shape the future tools, interfaces and methods of spatial sound creation. NOT JUST ARTWORKS: they explicitly say they want new methods, insights and creative infrastructures too. Outcomes may include installations, spatial audio compositions, performances, audiovisual works, software prototypes, reusable methodologies or modular interfaces. Residents may collaborate with a 4DSOUND software developer to prototype new tools, and practitioners who already build their own software, hardware or creative technologies are encouraged to advance those as part of the residency. WHO: architects are the named invitees, with scenographers, spatial designers, installation artists, sound artists, composers and creative technologists also encouraged. Creative coding experience is welcome but not required. Lead researcher is Poul Holleman, co-founder and director of 4DSOUND. HARD ELIGIBILITY GATE: applicants must be based in the Netherlands AND registered as an artist with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK). This is not negotiable and rules out non-NL applicants. Futures of Listening is a Netherlands-based platform for spatial sound, immersive experience, performance and installation art, founded by FIBER Festival, 4DSOUND, Robin Koek and Art of Sound at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, supported by CIIIC and Stimuleringsfonds.
One residency to research and develop an interactive listening experience built on non-linear sound narratives, experienced by navigating through a series of virtual spaces or layers. NO VISUALS: Worlding Narratives centres sound as the primary medium for immersion and intentionally removes dominant visual layers such as VR, AR, projection or video. THE DESIGN PROBLEM they want tackled is translation and adaptation, specifically the shift from one visitor in a headphone-mediated experience to rendering for a multi-speaker system for group interaction. That change in dynamics, reproduction and perspective is integral to the residency scope. RESEARCH QUESTIONS include how immersive sound can function as a primary narrative medium across speculative and non-fictional realities, what new narrative structures and dramaturgical methods become possible when the creative process originates from sound rather than adapting frameworks from other media, and how interactive sonic structures can create navigable listening experiences designed for and by multiple intelligences. Outcomes may include interactive sonic prototypes, spatial audio compositions, immersive listening experiences, narrative sound works or software prototypes. WORTH NOTING: your residency runs in tandem with resident Pinar Temiz, an expert in sound design for gaming environments, with the opportunity to work together. Lead researcher is Dr Angela McArthur of UCL, with research support from Dr meLe yamomo of the University of Amsterdam. WHO: media and sound artists, sound designers, musicians producing their own sonic work, field recordists, writers, composers and game sound designers. Experience with interactive audio, spatial sound tools or game-sound workflows is welcome but not required. HARD ELIGIBILITY GATE: applicants must be based in the Netherlands AND registered as an artist with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK). This is not negotiable and rules out non-NL applicants. Futures of Listening is a Netherlands-based platform for spatial sound, immersive experience, performance and installation art, founded by FIBER Festival, 4DSOUND, Robin Koek and Art of Sound at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, supported by CIIIC and Stimuleringsfonds.
MoTA (Museum of Transitory Art) in Ljubljana runs an annual open call for production residencies for media, sound and visual artists, curators and researchers. Production residencies offer full support including accommodation, technical support, production costs and an artist fee; the exact artist-fee amount is not published on the official or aggregator pages, so applicants should confirm the figure directly by email. Residencies run up to one month. Open internationally: artists of all nationalities and at all professional levels are encouraged to apply, as individuals or collectives. No application fee. The annual deadline is 15 September (for residencies the following year). Apply by email to mota.artists@gmail.com with the subject line Application for production residency. Note: the official motamuseum.com SSL certificate is currently expired, which may briefly affect link reliability.
The residencies at Q-O2 offer time and space for artistic research, reflection and creation in the field of experimental music and sound art. In 2027, Q-O2 will host 20 residencies, 10 for international artists and 10 for local artists living in Belgium, working with, on or around sound. The programme is open to artists, art workers and theorists who wish to pursue a research-oriented project; note that Q-O2 does not organise production-directed residencies and is not a rehearsal space. Duos are possible, and exceptionally small groups too. SUPPORT: a work studio and materials, a creative and communicative environment, and the possibility to present work to a public and/or propose a workshop; for international residents, accommodation in a shared apartment and a contribution to travel expenses of up to EUR 200; and a small subsistence budget reserved for artists who do not come with other funding. There is no artist fee. A final public presentation can be arranged if the artist wishes but is not expected; what Q-O2 requires are some traces of the residency in word, image and/or audio form. APPLY by 15 September 2026: email a concise project proposal of no more than one page plus a permanent link to your website or other secondary information (no temporary links) to info@q-o2.be with the subject 'Residency27 - your name'. State where you would travel from, how long you would like to stay (4 to 6 weeks), and your interest in Q-O2 as a working environment, and make sure you receive an email confirmation of receipt.
Resynthesising the Traditional is CTM Festival's long-term initiative co-curated by Stas Sharifulla, taking resynthesis (the computer-music method of analysing a sound to extract its components) as a metaphor for critically engaging with tradition and heritage, against conservative views of culture as frozen and untouchable. The artistic lab at its heart is an open toolbox for artists connecting to the traditional outside exoticisation, cultural essentialism and uneven power dynamics. THEME, AT THE EXTREME: this edition invites artists and practice-based researchers whose work examines the ethical, aesthetic and political implications of traditions entangled with extremity: intensity, transgression, transformation, marginality, outsiderness, endurance, conflict and excess. The call explicitly looks past the usual noise, violence and loud-popular-music tropes and past masculine codings of the extreme, toward current queer and feminist reframings, treating extremity as a relational condition, chosen or imposed, produced between majoritarian centres and their minoritarian outsides. Guiding questions include what it means to follow a tradition to its extreme consequences, who is allowed to push tradition to its limits and whose practices get framed as inauthentic or dangerous, what it means to practise tradition under war, displacement, repression or ecological crisis, and how traditions might offer ways of inhabiting extreme times. Preference goes to work engaging technological, bodily, aesthetic and theoretical forms at that intersection, especially in unexpected or rarely recognised ways. WHAT HAPPENS: theory and practice workshops from the co-hosts with individual and group exercises, closed 15 to 20 minute oral presentations by each participant, a solo public performance or presentation (15 to 20 minutes) at a free-entry event, inputs from specialists such as artists, researchers and technologists, guided individual and group sonic improvisations, field trips and site visits, and feedback sessions with the co-hosts and curators. AFTERWARDS: participants may propose new artistic work or research, solo or in collaborations formed at the lab, to the artistic team; selected works are shortlisted, and up to two are commissioned and presented at CTM in January/February 2028. ELIGIBILITY: an existing practice tied to (re)connecting with traditional ideas and sounds through a contemporary lens and how that overlaps with the extreme, plus clear ideas or questions about the next step you want to take. Approaches may be technological, instrument-focused, compositional, aesthetic, research-oriented or otherwise. Working knowledge of English is recommended, and any concerns about that can be flagged in the form. Up to six participants are selected by co-hosts Karina Utomo (extreme metal vocalist, composer and collaborative artist) and Luigi Monteanni (sound researcher and ethnomusicologist completing a PhD at SOAS on extreme metal in Bandung). The lab is a time-intensive full-day commitment and participants must agree to give the short public performance. APPLY through the form with a portfolio link (PDF, max 10 pages, public access, works from the last five years, text kept minimal) and a link to a specific audio track or section (max five minutes) that best represents your current practice. CTM asks that AI support rather than replace your own voice in the application. TIMELINE: deadline 28 September 2026; participants announced mid to late October 2026. Questions to resynth@ctm-festival.de.
UNPAID COMMUNITY CALL. Algorave Istanbul, the local node of the international algorave scene (live-coded music and visuals performed for an audience), is looking for new artists to create, experiment and perform with. The call names live coding, sound, visuals, audiovisual performance, and generative or reactive systems, and says explicitly that it is open to formats the organisers have not thought of yet. WHO CAN APPLY: artists based in Istanbul. There is no stated experience requirement and no selection process described. Applications close 30 September 2026. WHAT IS OFFERED: performance opportunities and collaboration within the collective. No fee, stipend or expenses are mentioned anywhere in the call, so treat this as unpaid unless the organisers say otherwise. APPLY through the Google Form, or email algoraveistanbul@gmail.com. The call is published in Turkish and English.
Musikfonds Large Project Funding supports new, experimental and contemporary music projects with grants of up to EUR 50,000. A minimum 10 percent co-financing is required and the artist fee must be at least EUR 300 per concert. Applicants and projects must be based in Germany; pure audio or video productions, university projects and amateur-only projects are excluded. The application window runs 1 to 30 September 2026. NOTE: research-sourced; confirm current figures and window dates on the Musikfonds site before applying.
Columbia University's Institute for Ideas and Imagination brings a cohort of scholars and artists to Reid Hall in Paris for an academic year (September 2027 to May 2028), with a USD 75,000 stipend, housing, and research support. The creative-arts category explicitly includes visual and sound arts and film alongside writing and composition. ELIGIBILITY: any nationality, but artists must not be permanently residentent in the United States (Netherlands-based artists qualify). Deadline 30 September 2026.
One of the largest private funders of contemporary and new music in Europe, and it funds the organising side of the field rather than individual artists, which makes it directly usable by festivals. Eligible activity includes festivals, world premieres and revivals, composition commissions, events, academies and workshops, education projects, symposia and musicological publications. Experimental and contemporary sound programming is the core remit; this is not a classical-repertoire fund. There are two annual deadlines: 1 October at 14:00 CEST for projects starting the following year with decisions by year-end, and 1 March for projects starting in July or later with decisions by end of June. Grant sizes are not published, and the Foundation aims funding at artistic rather than overhead costs. Only the organising institution may apply and only legal entities qualify: cultural institutions, orchestra managers, festival organisers and ensembles. Self-applications and applications from individuals are explicitly refused. VOLUME LIMITS are strict and worth planning around: each institution may submit one application per deadline, may be supported for only one project per year, and may be supported for a maximum of three projects across three consecutive years.
With Braunschweig Projects, HBK Braunschweig (one of Germany's largest art academies, with fine arts, art education, performing arts, design, visual communication, art history and media studies) offers 7 artistic fellowships on behalf of the State of Lower Saxony for 2027/28: 5 in fine arts and 2 in sound art. The programme promotes young artists and internationalisation, and is aimed at artists who want to work on a project in the immediate vicinity of HBK; proposals should make a significant contribution to the further development of forms of artistic practice. Each fellow is assigned a self-chosen mentor from the fine arts professors, all professors of the fine arts department are available for artistic discourse, and fellows can present their project's progress within the university. Fellows are expected to participate in the Welcome Weeks (19 to 30 April 2027) and a joint final presentation in January/February 2028, and must reside at HBK for at least 8 months during the summer and winter semester lecture periods. FUNDING: EUR 1,600 per month for 12 months from 1 April 2027, a rent-free one-person studio apartment (EUR 250 per month contribution to incidental costs), and an allowance for project and travel costs; a short final report (about 1 page) is due at the end. ELIGIBILITY: a successfully completed art degree, with the most recent studies completed after 31 March 2016 and before 1 April 2023; proof of extensive artistic practice and exhibition participation; no regular third-party benefits (salary, work scholarships or state subsidy) during the funding period. APPLICATION: in German or English by email to application-bsprojects[at]hbk-bs.de, addressed to President Prof. Dr. Ana Dimke, with the completed and signed application form, an artistic profile (one file, max 15MB: name, website and social media, artist statement max 350 words, project description max 350 words, portfolio of 10 to 15 works, short CV, links to 3 password-free video/audio files) and the diploma of the most recent degree (PDF, max 1MB). DEADLINE: 4 October 2026. A separate Braunschweig Projects curatorial fellowship for 2027/28 runs in parallel.
The Research Networking Day (RND) is an exchange platform for graduate or postgraduate students and independent artists conducting self-guided research traversing audio, arts, media, design, and related theoretical disciplines. The RND 2027 open call seeks innovative and critical submissions from all areas of study addressing the CTM 2027 festival theme 'Process...ing'. Nine selected candidates give short ten-minute presentations within different modules, linked by discussion rounds at the end of each module, offering an international platform to exchange with colleagues and researchers working on related ideas; research is also shared via audio/video after the festival on CTM's YouTube and SoundCloud channels. This edition takes place in collaboration with the Design Academy Eindhoven, Universitat der Kunste Berlin (UdK), and Leuphana University Luneburg. CONDITIONS: presentations take place on-site within the festival's Discourse programme, in English; applications are for individual (solo) presentations only (no duos or groups). As in previous years, no funding is available for travel and accommodation; participants receive a CTM 2027 festival pass, a catered lunch on the day, and a group dinner. Entrance to the event is free. KEY DATES: application deadline 25 October 2026 at 23:59 CET; programme announced mid to late November 2026; RND 2027 event Sunday 24 January 2027; CTM 2027 runs 22 to 31 January 2027.
Outer Ear is Musikfonds' dedicated special programme for participatory projects in experimental music, and the strand that most cleanly matches an experimental and sound-art public-programme brief rather than concert-series funding. It emphasises the creative process and audience participation over finished works, explicitly targeting audiences for experimental music, which makes it suitable for workshop-plus-presentation formats, listening programmes and process-led sound art events. Application windows run twice yearly: 1 to 30 April 2026 (closed) and 1 to 30 October 2026, the next live deadline. THE FIRST OUTER EAR ROUND WAS HIGHLY COMPETITIVE, with 14 projects approved at an 8.6 percent success rate, so treat it as a long shot. As with all Musikfonds strands, the applicant must be based in Germany, projects abroad are ineligible, and double-funding with BKM or with projects run by permanently institutionally supported bodies is excluded. Note that Musikfonds' Small and Large Project Funding strands are listed separately in the Grant Desk; Outer Ear is a distinct programme with its own window.
The NORMA Fonds redistributes copyright remuneration collected by Stichting NORMA into cultural, social and professional projects involving performing artists, and is one of the few Dutch schemes with four intakes a year and a genuinely short cycle. Both arts-sector organisations and individual arts professionals may apply, though the applicant needs a bank account and legal footing and cannot be a BIS-funded institution. The project must centre on performing artists in the copyright sense, meaning people who perform a copyright-protected work: musicians, dancers, actors, voice actors. This fits live experimental music, sound performance and performative media-art work, but not object-based exhibitions or non-performative installation programmes. The maximum grant is EUR 10,000, the total project budget must stay under EUR 150,000, the applicant's annual budget under EUR 500,000, and at least a quarter of the project budget must be earned from audience income, so this is a top-up rather than a primary funding source. Budgets must honour NORMA's 2026 performer wage norms. Applications are submitted online during a one-month window each quarter; the next round runs 1 to 30 October 2026, closing at 23:59. TIMING RULE: decisions arrive no later than eight weeks after the deadline, and the premiere date must fall at least eight weeks after the application deadline. Organisations that already received a NORMA Fonds grant in 2024 or 2025 are excluded, and supporting staff may not exceed 2 FTE.