Teosto Cultural Foundation – Grants for music creators (autumn round 2026)

Two kinds of support for composers, lyricists and arrangers in Finland: a working grant that buys you months of living expenses so you can write, or a grant for expenses covering the costs around the work — equipment and software, residency travel and rent, professional-development trips, fees for musicians on performances you organise, marketing, training. Regular gigs, ordinary tours and the costs of releasing a record are excluded, unless a recording is specifically needed to build an international portfolio.

You must be a Finnish citizen, permanently resident in Finland, or a Finnish-registered company or organisation. Working groups apply through one named main applicant. Publishers and other representatives of a creator may also apply. One personal application per round; a previous grant does not bar you from applying again.

In the autumn 2026 round, working grants are fixed at €8,000, €16,000 or €32,000 — the larger two cover six or twelve months full-time — and grants for expenses can be requested anywhere between €8,000 and €32,000. Grants are awarded only in the amount applied for. Working grants of four months or more carry mandatory Mela insurance, and roughly 15% of the grant must be set aside for the premiums. Money is used the following calendar year.

Applications go through an online service only, within the 1–21 September window. An expert committee of music creators and industry figures reviews them individually, then meets to agree a recommendation for the Board, which decides in November. They look for professional standing, evidence of income from music, a clear plan, and a convincing answer to why now. Work generated entirely by AI is not funded, and the Foundation gives no feedback on decisions.