Light red hand-drawn illustrations of various musical instruments animated on a dark red gradient background. The Devonstream Sessions logo in light blue and the Youth Music logo on purple are overlaid.

Devonstream Sessions

Devonstream Sessions gives upcoming musicians a grant-funded chance to showcase and develop their talent.

Funded by Youth Music, through summer and autumn 2023 Devonstream is offering eight Devon-based acts aged 18-25 an opportunity to record live sessions in studios around the county. The session recordings will be shared in Devonstream’s new programme Devonstream Discoveries.

Applications are open for our September and October sessions. Find out how to apply below.

August 2023

August’s sessions featured Jessie Robbins and Dead Cherub, recorded at Sound Gallery Studios in Exeter. Listen to the recordings on SoundCloud.

July 2023

July’s sessions featured Josh DC & The Anti-Heroes and Saff Juno, recorded at THE DEPO STUDIOS, Plymouth. Listen to the recordings on SoundCloud.

Get involved

Successful applicants will…

  • Have the chance to record their tracks live in a professional studio setting
  • Take away professionally recorded live versions of their tracks
  • Get their music played and promoted on Devonstream and its social media channels
  • Receive £200 micro-grant from Youth Music to cover costs of attending the session recording and to put towards further career development
  • Network and make new contacts in Devon’s music scene

Who is eligible

To be eligible for selection, you must:

  • Have a clear connection to the county of Devon
    That could be by birth or by living/working here (including those currently studying here). If you’re in a band/ensemble/collective, at least half of the band members must have that connection to Devon. The unitary areas of Plymouth and Torbay are included. We may ask to see proof of this.
  • Be aged 18–25
    Our funding partner Youth Music aims to provide early career support for musicians. If you’re a band/ensemble/collective, all members must be aged 18–25. We may ask to see proof of age.

When it’s happening

We plan to record sessions in studios across Devon during summer and autumn 2023, including:

  • September: Plymouth (apply by 10 September)
  • October: north Devon (details to be confirmed)

How to apply

Simply register, tell us about yourself, and upload a demo through Devonstream’s uploader.

We’re listening for potential here, so these don’t need to be perfect, finished recordings — a decent phone recording of a rehearsal could be sufficient. They do, however, need to be your own original artistic creations — no cover versions please. (Samples could be acceptable, as long as you have got the proper permission to use them.)

You only need to apply once. All applications will be considered for all of the dates — we’ll try to match selected artists to the recording date that is most convenient for them.

Apply ▶︎

How we’ll make our selection

First we’ll need to be sure you meet the criteria set out above. Then we’ll consider the following:

  • Quality of demo
    Our team will be listening out for your potential, in terms of your writing and musicianship
  • Your story
    We’re looking out for compelling stories: how you started making music; the highlights of your career so far; where you’d like to go in the future; etc.
  • Practicalities and logistics
    Whether we can accommodate you based on our studio partners’ capacity; your ability to attend a recording session at a particular time and place; etc.

A note on diversity

Devonstream Sessions is designed to provide opportunities for musicians from all walks of life to get their music heard.

This project is funded by Youth Music, through their Incubator Fund. They say:

“We believe every young person should have the chance to change their life through music.

“Yet our research shows that many can’t because of who they are, where they’re from or what they’re going through.

“The fund is designed to create sustainable, meaningful career opportunities for young people aged 18-25, particularly those who are underrepresented.”

Devonstream is committed to showcasing a diverse range of audio content—including submissions from people of any ability or health status; gender; sex; sexual orientation; race; religion or belief; or social/economic background—as long as they have a connection to Devon.

We welcome submissions from all musicians with a connection to Devon. But to showcase the most diverse mix of music and support the most diverse range of artists, we may choose to prioritise artists:

  • Whose characteristics are under-represented in the music industry
  • Where we feel we can have the most significant impact on their career development

Terms and conditions

Devonstream’s usual privacy policy applies to applications for the Devonstream Sessions project.

Selected artists will need to sign an artist agreement which will cover key points including:

  • All of the information they provided by artists is honest and accurate
  • Acknowledgement that Devonstream can broadcast and otherwise share the recordings made during artists’ sessions
  • Artists will attend recording sessions punctually, treat our team with courtesy and follow all reasonable instructions and guidance

We’ll share the full text of this agreement with selected artists before finalising their recording date/time.

 

Youth Music logo

Devonstream Discoveries and Devonstream Sessions are supported by Youth Music’s Incubator Fund thanks to funding from players of People’s Postcode Lottery.