This category is for projects which increase skills development in the areas of songwriting, arrangement, performance, production, administration, management and marketing for people involved in the Western Australian contemporary music industry.

Mentorships are encouraged as a way to transfer knowledge within the music industry. Mentorships are relationships between musicians, technicians or managers and experienced industry professionals. Both the mentor and mentee should benefit from the mentoring partnership, which should involve discussion and sharing of ideas and contacts, and may result in a project such as an event or recording. The majority of funding sought for a mentoring project should be allocated to professional fees for both the mentor and mentee.

Applications to this category should be particularly careful to clearly state the skills development goals of the project, as well as the mutually agreed processes by which they will be achieved.

Successful mentorships will:

• Develop the capacity of the applicant’s skills
• Build the capacity for the applicant to contribute to the wider industry
• Represent a significant development or variation from the applicant’s normal practice or activity.