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When Red Bull pulled the plug on its cherished music academy programme, there was a noticeable dearth of big brands with consistent and well-intentioned capital directed towards the electronic underground. In recent years, more opportunities for private-sector funding have emerged and unlike formal investment, this bankrolling comes without any strings attached. From grants to educational training to equipment give-aways, programmes span all genres and geographies–Carhartt and NTS run an artist development venture, Levi's has a mentorship scheme and so on.

Jägermeister’s SAVE THE NIGHT fund has become a particularly significant support system for entrepreneurs since first launching in 2022. It offers €100,000 to projects advancing safer, more sustainable and more inclusive nightlife. Small and large-scale ideas are welcome–applicants can ask for anywhere between €10,000 to €100,000 depending on what their plan requires. Whatever the number, the full amount goes to the project with no hidden fees. The goal, according to the alcohol giant, is to help grassroots crews and individuals enact real-world solutions that will benefit local scenes. Previous winners have included Kenya's Rabudi West for his HI8US project to decentralise local nightlife and a solar-powered party in London called CLUB SOL.

Jägermeister will first filter submissions, narrowing the pool to around 30 projects before an independent advisory board makes their final say. This year's members include Jorge Nieto, creative director at fabric, Stacy Lentz, LGBTQ+ activist who co-owns New York's The Stonewall Inn, Tresor founder Dimitri Hegemann and Alejandra Gómez Quintero, an artist from Bogotá, who will all be available to winners for mentorship. Each one brings with them varying perspectives to ensure applications are judged from numerous angles. Nieto boasts a design background, Lentz is committed to marginalised voices, Hegemann champions club culture and Quintero represents the Global South. The jury can determine whether the entire €100,000 amount goes to one project or be split up among several. For shortlisted projects that don't receive any funding, there are other avenues of support. For instance, ideas can be passed onto Jägermeister's local teams in that market to explore other opportunities.

Funds like SAVE THE NIGHT are a positive indicator for the electronic music ecosystem. It shows that not only are more industries recognising the sector's cultural value, they're finally understanding its economic merit–something that think-tanks like The Organization for Recorded Culture and Arts hope to prove to more governments and corporates. Recipients of grant funding invest that money back into their societies by hiring locals, stimulating consumer spending on events and encouraging younger generations to pursue careers in nightlife. These kinds of long-term returns help brands by uplifting the economy they operate in. Moreover, it's a much better marketing tool than simply pushing products onto consumers.

Perspectives on the ground

Speaking to Resident Advisor, a few interested applicants in SAVE THE NIGHT expressed concern that their project wasn't original or groundbreaking enough. When those worries were relayed to Kea Kleihauer, global manager of culture and experiential marketing at Jägermeister, she offered some insights into how applications are judged.

"The big questions we ask are: Does it improve inclusivity, sustainability and safety? It's always a plus if the idea hasn't been done a million times before but it absolutely does not have to be something completely new. Even if the core idea isn't original, it's about the context and angle it's situated in, as well as the problem in nightlife that it's trying to solve. Ensuring representation from a geographical, racial, identity and musical lens is, of course, a huge priority for us alongside the quality of the idea."

When Jägermeister does the first round of filtering ideas, the team first looks at which projects are feasible from the brand's perspective. "During this process, we ask: is this project globally feasible, and is it locally feasible in terms of execution and support that we can expect from the market?" said Kleihauer. Our independent jury then judges each project based on certain dimensions: How normative is it? How does it support community? What's the social impact? It's a tough job because we receive so many great ideas. And this is why we have various funding options to ensure a diverse range of winning ideas."

Article Originally Found At: www.ra.com