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On Tuesday, August 18th, Iceland Music hosted a reception for the recipients of the second 2026 Music Fund allocation—the fifth since the fund's establishment in 2024. Application numbers reached a record high this term, with 431 applications requesting a total of 704 million ISK. The allocation success rate stood at approximately 11%.

“Above all, these figures demonstrate the extraordinary demand on the Music Fund and the sheer volume of high-caliber, ambitious projects seeking support. Regrettably, it also means that far too many face rejection, and many worthy projects are left behind,” said María Rut Reynisdóttir, Managing Director of Iceland Music, which administers the fund on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education.

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At the ceremony, the folk duo Funi performed a selection of songs. The duo’s members, Chris Foster and Bára Grímsdóttir, are also directors of the Vaka Folk Festival, which received a 3 million ISK grant from the Development and Infrastructure department. Several other festivals received support from the same department, including the contemporary music festival Dark Music Days (awarded 3 million ISK), the heavy metal festival SÁTAN, the indefinable State of The Art, and Smekkleysa, which received a grant to host a two-day musical celebration in honor of the company’s 40th anniversary.

The highest grant in the Creation and Publishing department went to musician Bjarni Daníel Þorvaldsson, totaling 2 million ISK. Ellen Kristjánsdóttir and Þórður Magnússon each received 1.8 million ISK.

The opera company HinÓperan received the highest award in the Live Performance department, totaling 2.7 million ISK. Additionally, the band Moses Hightower received 2.2 million ISK and the chamber trio Meltríó received 1.8 million ISK to undertake concert tours across the country.

Record label Bedroom Community was awarded 2 million ISK from the Export department. The label celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and the grant will be used to promote the catalog and mark the anniversary on an international scale.

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