Virgin Money Launches Emerging Stars Programme


As Virgin Money begins a new partnership direction in music, the company has launched its Emerging Stars programme. The initiative is designed to identify, support and promote Britain’s most exciting new music artists – seeking to help the next generation of UK music talent pursue their passions and reach the next stage of their careers. 

R&B and soul singer-songwriter, Aaron Taylor, indie-rock band, Mosa Wild and indie-pop artist, DYLAN are the first three acts to be inducted into the Virgin Money Emerging Stars programme. Virgin Money planned to launch with a live showcase but in the absence of events, the programme launches digitally with the help of television presenter and Radio DJ Laura Whitmore, who has joined the programme as official ambassador.

Aaron Taylor, Virgin Money Emerging Star and singer-songwriter said: “The pandemic has shaken the music industry to its core; music venues are closing, recording studios are shut, shows cancelled...the list goes on. All the work I’ve put into my career was essentially put on pause for the foreseeable future and everything became so uncertain. Virgin Money’s Emerging Stars programme couldn't have come at a better time. We need the UK to support British creative talent and invest in the future of music. Being part of the programme is going to help me continue to work on my art and I’m so excited for what the next year brings.”

The artists were selected by an industry panel who were tasked with choosing the first three Emerging Stars from a long list based on a number of different factors, including artists’ music credentials, ‘It’ factor, anticipated career longevity and much mor

The programme aims to accelerate the growth opportunities for artists tipped as the future of British music, helping them to fulfil their ambitions and showcase the transformative power of music - a mission at the heart of Virgin Money’s Brighter Music Moments campaign.

The first year of the Emerging Stars programme will run through to June 2021. At the end of the twelve months, Virgin Money will host an event to showcase the eight Emerging Stars live at Indigo at The O2.

The 12-month initiative will seek out a total of eight artists that embody the Virgin Money spirit – original, creative entrepreneurs, who are pursuing their passion no matter what, but who could benefit from a helping hand to push them to the next stage in their career. 

Each artist will receive a £10,000 development fund to pursue their creative passions, song-writing and music production, as part of the programme offering. This will help to ease the financial pressures on them at this crucial point in their careers. The grant can be put towards recording and releasing music, as well as used for touring and live development, including new equipment, crew fees, merchandise, marketing and more.  Adding to this, artists will have access to financial mentoring from Virgin Money and industry career advice from music experts and thought leaders to help them grow and enhance their profiles while building their audiences.

Artists will also have the opportunity to perform live at Virgin Money’s newly opened retail stores across the UK, and at special events at the brand’s partnership venues, The O2 and the SSE Hydro in the future. Giving the Virgin Money Emerging Stars a platform to perform will help grow the artist's fanbase and provide an opportunity to help them connect to new and existing fans across the country. The Emerging Stars will also benefit from a national marketing campaign supported by Virgin Money and its partners, which is designed to help increase discovery and grow audiences for the artists. This includes promotion across Virgin Money’s customer experience channels.

Brighter Music Moments 

With music integral to Virgin’s DNA, Virgin Money is going back to its roots, bringing music and money together. Supported by a ‘Brighter Music Moments’ campaign, which focuses on creating a platform that showcases the transformative power of music, the music sponsorship will enable Virgin Money to create experiences, events and music content for its customers and the UK public.

In February 2020, Virgin Money announced new partnerships with two of the world’s most iconic music venues: The O2 in London and The SSE Hydro in Glasgow. This marks the beginning of a new direction in sponsorship for Virgin Money as part of the repositioning of the brand in the UK.

As part of its wider ambition to disrupt the status quo, Virgin Money is reimagining the role of the bank branch on the UK high street - and music will play a major part in this. Flagship Virgin Money stores will be ‘bank by day, music venue by night’, including co-working spaces, events throughout the year and content-creation studios