NMC Recordings is embarking on a mission to collect recordings of all kinds of music made across England during the first national lockdown that began on 23 March 2020 and ended on 4 July 2020. Psappha is working in partnership with NMC and regional partners and we want to hear from music creators about their personal experience of lockdown and how it impacted their work.

For instance, was lockdown a negative or positive experience for you? Were your recordings created in unusual circumstances? Were unconventional instruments, collaborators, and recording techniques involved?

You are invited to submit your music and tell us about your lockdown experience. Tracks will then be selected and curated by our regional Gateway Partners to create album-length selections of music; there will be six music ‘albums’ in total representing tracks created in the North, the Midlands, London, East, South East and South West England. Psappha will curate the album for the North of England.

Once we have gathered the submissions, NMC will use this data to create a searchable map and database showing how and where creators were working during lockdown.

Contributing creators whose tracks are selected will be paid for their work according to a Musicians Union-approved fee scale. Learn more about how you will be paid here.