UNIFIED Music Group Launches ‘Ground Floor’ Artist Development Program

UNIFIED Music Group will add muscle and speed to the careers of emerging artists through a new accelerator program, Ground Floor.

Announced today, September 2nd, to coincide with the kickoff of BIGSOUND 2025, Ground Floor is a six-month incubator for independent homegrown artists, powered by Community Music.

“There’s been this narrative, that’s been getting a lot of traction over a long period of time, around how hard it is for new artists to get going,” UNIFIED CEO and founder Jaddan Comerford tells The Music Network.

“We thought, how do we make it easier for them? How do we actually create a pipeline that will allow us to support? And that’s really the idea of Ground Floor came from.”

After all, he continues, UNIFIED is “a music eco-system that works with artists across all stages of careers.”

Ground Floor is, essentially, a fresh iteration on the UNIFIED Grant, only created to assist artists instead of entrepreneurs.

“The artists need help more now than ever,” notes Comerford.

It’s envisioned that four, rising acts will be ushed into the system per year, each of whom will enjoy strategic mentorship from senior leaders from across the entire group, and its partners (see the full list below).

The selected artists will then have access to educational workshops on media training, touring, sync, legal and finance, priority marketing and DSP pitching for their next release via Community Music and The Annex, and a live performance opportunity at a UNIFIED or Community Music event.

This mentorship element “could be very impactful,” notes Comerford. “We essentially want to bring artists into the ecosystem that we can hopefully turn into match-fit artists so we can, in an ideal world, work with them for many years to come.”

For the participating artist, a commitment for one through Community Music. But that’s all. The artist must be independent, and must be unsigned.

The initiative is part of Community Music’s $10 million pledge to support the development of local artists in building long-term, global careers. It is supported by Community Music, UNIFIED Artist Management, Lonely Lands Agency, The Annex, Sound Story and the Bush Music Fund.

Community Music, a global distribution alternative for independent and DIY artists, was unveiled last October during SXSW Sydney 2024. The platform also provides services to labels Domestic La La (Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, Dear Seattle, and Teenage Joans) and UNFD (Silverstein, Void of Vision, Thornhill, and Yours Truly).

Comerford is on the BIGSOUND stage from 1pm Tuesday for the panel discussion “First Word: One Brilliant Thing“, also featuring Annabelle Herd (ARIA), Dan Rosen (Warner Music ANZ), and Josh Simons (Vinyl Group), moderated by Neil Griffiths (Rolling Stone AU/NZ). 

Read more on Community Music at communitymusic.net/ground-floor.

Delivery partners:

Community Music, UNIFIED Artist Management, Lonely Lands Agency, The Annex, Sound Story, Bush Music Fund.

Mentor group

Ash Hills – General Manager, UNIFIED Artist Management

Caleb Williams – Senior Artist Manager, UNIFIED Artist Management

Chelsea Donoghue – Senior Lawyer, UNIFIED Music Group

Coco Eke – Founder, Bush Music Fund

Dan Nascimento – Senior Artist Manager, General Manager, Community Music

Elinor Williams – Director of Marketing, The Annex

Francesca Caldara – Vice President, Community Music

Harry Moore – General Manager, Lonely Lands Agency

Jack Parsons – Founder, Bush Music Fund

Jaddan Comerford – CEO and Founder, UNIFIED Music Group

Kate McCabe – Sound Story

Mardi Caught – Managing Director, The Annex

Steve de Wilde – Senior Artist Manager, UNIFIED Artist Management

Will Cuming – Artist, Head of Product Development, Community Music