Published by: New Music Scotland

New Music Scotland May 2026 members meeting notes

On 5 May, NMS members came together online for the second members' meeting of 2026, with a session led by Pete Stollery and Katherine Wren on getting your music out there as a composer in Scotland today. Members shared their own experiences and reflections throughout.

The session was deliberately framed as a sharing exercise rather than a how-to guide, with the recognition that there are no definitive answers and that everyone's path through the sector looks a little different. This note aims to capture some of the main themes covered.

Before the discussion began, Joseph and Becca updated members on upcoming activity. The next Peer to Peer session takes place on 28 May, focused on how to collaborate to increase commissioning and performances of new music across Scotland. Members were also asked to save the date for the two-day NMS conference and celebration on 28 and 29 August, with booking expected to open at the end of the month.

The composition process

The session opened with a reminder that composers work in very different ways, from those who keep daily writing hours to those who store their creative energy up for longer, uninterrupted stretches. Both are valid, and self-discipline matters in either approach. There was also encouragement to recognise that being a composer is much more than putting notes on a page. Admin, research, thinking time and apparently unproductive days are all part of the work, and what feels like a lost day can often resolve into completed material a few days later.

A recurring thread throughout the evening was that composing can be a solitary practice, and that getting work out into the world depends on being part of a wider ecosystem of performers, promoters and venues.

Securing performers

Members discussed how to find performers for new work, with a strong steer away from the assumption that you have to pitch to the biggest organisations first. Approaching performers who share your ethos, having early-stage conversations about where a project could go, and looking for shared interests or potential joint funding applications were all encouraged.

The idea of co-creation came up repeatedly. Coming to a performer or venue with a fully fixed piece and asking them to deliver it is generally less successful than arriving with an idea and an openness to shaping it together. For festivals and promoters, that involvement from an early stage also tends to make the work more engaging to programme.

Members also acknowledged that finding the right collaborators takes time, and that a piece that does not land with one performer may well find its place with someone else later. An unsuccessful collaboration is not a verdict on the work.

Fair pay and knowing your rate

The Musicians' Union rates and the Irish Contemporary Music Centre rates were both flagged as useful reference points for what composers should expect to be paid, with the caveat that some of the MU figures have not kept pace with inflation, and that the CMC rates are updated more regularly.

The conversation acknowledged that festivals and venues rarely have the budget to pay everyone at top rates, and that negotiation is a normal and necessary part of the process. The aim is to start the conversation from an informed position rather than to under-value the work. Several members reflected on starting at lower rates earlier in their careers and building rates up as relationships and reputations grew, but the wider view was clear: Composers, like any other skilled worker, should not be under-valued.

Securing funding

Katherine spoke about funding from the perspective of the individual composer, while noting that collaborating with a charitable organisation or festival can open up trusts and funds that do not accept applications from individuals.

Practical advice included: Read each fund's criteria carefully and tailor the application to what is actually being supported; pull together everything you will need in advance, including references, letters of support and partner CVs; show where the application fits into your current practice and how it will develop you as an artist; and fully cost the budget rather than plucking figures from the air, including a 10 to 12 per cent contingency for the unexpected.

Creative Scotland was highlighted as a key funder, alongside schemes for early career composers and opportunities that are not age-limited, such as composers' labs. There was also a brief discussion of residencies, with the view that they can be valuable provided you go in with a clear sense of what you want to get out of the time.

Promoting your work and respecting people's time

A consistent message from those who receive submissions was that time to listen is the scarcest resource. Festivals and promoters are often working through significant volumes of unsolicited material.

Practical suggestions included: a clear website where your music is immediately accessible on the landing page rather than buried; a short digital business card that can sit in an email signature; and making sure your strongest material lands in the first ten seconds or so. The aim is not to communicate everything in a minute, but to plant enough of a seed that the listener wants to know more.

When approaching festivals or promoters, members were encouraged to do their homework, to engage with the work of the people they are contacting, and where possible to actually attend the festivals and events they are pitching to. 

Community, networking and being part of the ecosystem

There was a sustained discussion about community as a practical foundation for a composing career, not just a nice-to-have. Connections often happen in unexpected places, including bars at concert intervals, coffee meetings, and conversations in corners rather than at structured networking events.

Members reflected on what networking can look like for those who find it difficult, including neurodivergent members and self-identified introverts. There was support for the idea of a future event on building connections for those who experience challenges around more traditional forms of networking. Quiet one-to-one chats, focused written contact, and following up over coffee were all offered as alternatives to higher-pressure formats.

The amateur and community music sectors were flagged as an important and sometimes overlooked part of the picture, as were rural communities and audiences outside major cities. There was caution against the new music community only making work for itself.

Members were also encouraged to think about what they can offer as well as what they want, and to be willing to put the chairs out, both literally and metaphorically. Reciprocity, mutual support and asking other composers for help were all highlighted, with one member noting that composers are often bad at asking each other for advice.

Pitching and maintaining momentum

The conversation turned to how to pitch ideas, particularly interdisciplinary or collaborative work that is hard to summarise quickly. The recommendation was to find a ten-minute Zoom conversation rather than trying to convey a complex idea in an email, and to use existing networks to make warm introductions where possible.

Members also discussed how to handle commission offers that come in below a sustainable rate. Options raised included negotiating the scope of the piece down to match the fee, jointly approaching funders to make up the difference, and using the conversation to build a longer-term relationship. The point was not to accept low fees uncritically, but to find practical paths that respect both the composer and the commissioner.

Once a piece is up and running, members were encouraged to maximise it: half the work is already done, so push for further performances, register works with performing rights organisations, and keep reporting performances so that royalty income flows through.

Next steps

Members were warmly encouraged to share the conversation onwards, to bring new members along to future events, and to keep 28 and 29 August free for the NMS conference in Glasgow

Resources

A number of resources were shared during the session and are collected below for reference:

Apps

Carrd: https://carrd.co 

Books

Guide to Self-Releasing your Music - Matthew Whiteside
https://www.matthewwhiteside.co.uk/guidebook-to-self-releasing-your-music/ 
Also available to consult via: https://www.matthewwhiteside.co.uk/consultation/ 

Support

Musicians Union
Composing and Songwriting: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/composing-and-songwriting

Concert Music Commissions: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/working-performing/composing-and-songwriting/commissioned-work/concert-music-commissions  

Live Engagement Rates of Pay: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/working-performing/gigs-and-live-performances/live-engagement-rates-of-pay  

Independent Society of Musicians: https://www.ism.org/  

Sound

Composers’ Helpline: https://sound-scotland.co.uk/event/composers-helpline  

Composers’ Coffee Club (was Covfefe): https://sound-scotland.co.uk/event/composers-coffee-club  

Funding

Performing Rights Society Foundation: https://prsfoundation.com/ 

Creative Scotland: https://www.creativescotland.com/  

Hinrichsen: https://www.hinrichsenfoundation.org.uk/ 

Vaughan Williams Foundation: https://vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org/funding/ 

Frances Routh: https://francisrouthtrust.org/ 

Marchus Trust: https://www.marchustrust.net/ 

RPS: https://royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/composers 

Hope Scott: https://www.hopescotttrust.org.uk/musicians-grants/ 

Opportunities

Check regularly: 

https://newmusicscotland.co.uk/opportunities/ 

https://opportunities.creativescotland.com/ 

https://cultureforclimate.scot/projects/ 

Art Music Scotland has a comprehensive list of Scottish and International festivals, ensembles and organisations: https://artmusicscotland.org/resources/ 

Composers:

LSO Panufnik Composers’ Scheme: https://www.lso.co.uk/learn-and-discover/support-for-emerging-artists/helen-hamlyn-panufnik-scheme/ 

Philharmonia Composers’ Academy:     https://philharmonia.co.uk/what-we-do/talent-development/composers-academy/ 

LPO Young Composers' Programme: https://lpo.org.uk/project/young-composers/   

Royal Over-Seas League Composer Award: https://rosl.org.uk/art/composition/ 

RSNO: https://www.rsno.org.uk/join-in/composers/ 

Royal Philharmonic Society: https://royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/composers/rps-composers-programme  https://royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/composers/rps-thea-musgrave-fund 

Britten Sinfonia: https://www.brittensinfonia.com/what-we-do/composers 

Britten Pears Residencies: https://www.brittensinfonia.com/what-we-do/composers 

The Night With: https://thenightwith.com/news/ 

Red Note Noisy Nights: https://www.rednoteensemble.com/talent/noisy-nights/ 

SCO Soundbox: https://www.sco.org.uk/join-in/soundbox/ 

Chamber Music Scotland: https://chambermusicscotland.com/opportunity/creative-exchange/ 

Cumnock Tryst: https://www.thecumnocktryst.com/international-summer-school-for-composers 

The New Symposium, Slovenia: https://thenewsymposium.com/composers/  

For Disabled Musicians

Drake Music Scotland: https://drakemusicscotland.org/create/