What is Pay It Forward?
Pay It Forward is an industry-funded initiative created by the Music Industry Therapist Collective CIC (MITC) to bring occupational health support to artists and crews working on small and mid-scale tours.
An initial £272,000 ($371,000 USD) has been raised from organizations and individuals from across the live music ecosystem to help make specialist support available to touring teams that are otherwise unable to afford it.
The support model underpinning Pay It Forward has also been trialled through MITC's work with artists and organizations including Radiohead, Dua Lipa, The Script, The Last Dinner Party, Joji, Warner Music Group, Believe, AEG, SJM and more.
Why is Pay It Forward needed?
Research shows that touring professionals are at elevated risk of stress, anxiety, burnout, clinical depression and suicidality. While major stadium and arena tours often have the resources to invest in mental health services, many smaller theatre and club tours do not. Pay It Forward is created specifically to bridge that gap – offering free occupational health support packages to independent artists and crew working on lower-budget tours.
The longer-term ambition is to help establish occupational health and preventative mental health support as part of professional touring practice for all.
Who is funding the initiative?
The funds raised so far have come from individuals and organizations across the live entertainment industry. Founding Funders include Radiohead’s Philip Selway, plus AEG International, d&b audiotechnik, Fly By Nite, Live Nation, Live Free 999, Lockton, The Team, and Universal Pixels.
The model is intended to make supporting the health of the touring workforce a shared industry responsibility, rather than leaving the cost entirely with individual artists and touring budgets.
How many tours will the program support?
Pay It Forward aims to support up to 50 tours per year, equating to approximately 150 tours during the initial three-year period.
The exact number of individuals reached will depend on the size of each touring party and the type of support used by each team.
Applications
Who can apply to access the Pay It Forward Fund?
Applications can be made by artists, artist managers, tour managers or production managers for any small or medium-size tour that meets the criteria below.
To be eligible for the first year of funding, tours must:
- Take place between October 2026 and the end of June 2027
- Involved sustained periods of touring and time away from home, rather than isolated performances – as a guide, this should normally include at least 10 show dates
- Be otherwise prevented from accessing specialist health and welfare support due to the cost
The program is open to artists and crews from anywhere in the world, regardless of where a tour takes place, with support available 24/7 across time zones.
Both headline and support tours are considered. While there is no single venue-capacity threshold, eligible tours would usually be those at club and theatre level.
The program is available to touring personnel aged 18 and over.
How do I submit an application?
Applications will open in three rounds during the first year so that support can be allocated across the touring calendar:
- Round 1: For tours beginning Between October and December 2026
- Applications open: 8 September 2026
- Applications close: 30 September 2026
- Round 2: For tours beginning between January and March 2027
- Applications open: 2 November 2026
- Applications close: 20 November 2026
- Round 3: For tours beginning between April and May 2027
- Applications open: 1 March 2027
- Applications close: 19 March 2027
Artists, crew and tour teams can find out more about eligibility and apply here https://www.musicindustrytherapists.com/pay-it-forward/apply-for-support.
What information do applicants need to provide?
Applicants will be asked to provide enough information for MITC to understand the scale, resources and circumstances of the tour, including:
- Artist and tour details;
- Tour start and end dates, number of show days and itinerary;
- The overall period of time the touring party will be away from home, including whether they return home between dates;
- Typical venue capacities;
- Size and roles of the touring party;
- Languages spoken by team members;
- How long the artist has been touring and whether this touring party has worked together previously;
- Details of the wider management/off-road team;
- Any existing health, welfare or psychological support available to the tour;
- Any external tour support or funding;
- The tour's anticipated financial position, supported by a P&L;
- Any known challenges or particular pressures associated with the forthcoming tour
- What the team hopes to gain from participating in Pay It Forward.
How will tours be selected?
Applications will be reviewed by MITC’s clinical panel following the closing date for each round.
Factors that will come into consideration include the tour's available resources and financial position, the size of the touring operation and the intensity of its itinerary, existing health or welfare provisions, any particular pressures identified within the application, and the likely benefit of the programme to the touring team.
We will also seek to ensure that the programme reaches a broad cross-section of the touring workforce across different roles, territories and backgrounds. In allocating places, MITC will consider barriers to accessing appropriate support, including where members of touring teams are underrepresented within the industry or may face additional barriers to accessing culturally appropriate support.
Who will decide which tours are successful?
Applications will be reviewed internally by a panel comprising clinical and operational representatives of the Music Industry Therapist Collective CIC (MITC). Final allocation decisions sit with MITC and are made independently of the organizations and individuals funding the program.
Can artists or tours that are connected to one of Pay It Forward’s Founding Funders apply?
Yes. Tours promoted, represented or serviced by Pay It Forward’s Founding Funders can apply and will be assessed on the same basis as any other applicant.
Founding Funders have no role in selecting recipients, and affiliation with a Funder will not give a tour preferential access to funding. MITC will assess the resources available to the individual tour rather than assuming that an association with a major promoter, agency or supplier means that support is already available.
Will Pay It Forward’s Founding Funders have any involvement in selecting recipients or in the running of the program?
No. Founding Funders fund the program and help to spread the word, but they do not select recipients, make clinical or allocation decisions, or receive information about individuals using the service.
Pay It Forward is designed and operated by MITC. Individual use of the service is confidential, and information provided to Founding Funders through impact reporting will be anonymized and aggregated.
Can individual crew members apply themselves?
Applications need to be made on behalf of a tour by the artist, artist manager, tour manager or production manager. Individual crew members are encouraged to recommend the program, but tour and production managers will need to confirm their interest before an application is submitted.
Once a tour has been accepted, individual artists and members of the touring team can access the confidential support available through its package.
When will applicants find out if they have been successful?
Applications will be assessed after the closing date for each funding round, with applicants normally notified of the outcome within three weeks of the relevant closing date.
Successful tours will then complete an onboarding process and baseline questionnaire before their support package begins.
Support available
What does a successful tour receive?
Each touring team will receive a “Tour Health” package, including a range of specialist support designed around the realities of working and traveling on tour.
This includes:
- 10 confidential “Tour Check-Ins” with qualified mental health practitioners who understand the music industry and touring environment – these take place online and are available 24/7
- A 90-minute occupational health consultation with MITC Touring Welfare Officer Sascha Heeney, who supported Dua Lipa's Radical Optimism tour
- Healthy Touring workshops providing practical psychological skills for your team
- Resources to support performance and collaboration
- Access to MITC's audiobook Touring and Mental Health: The Music Industry Manual
Each support package remains available for up to six months, or until one month after the tour ends, whichever comes first.
The precise support delivered may vary according to the size and needs of each touring party.
Are “Tour Check-Ins” the same as therapy?
Tour Check-Ins are confidential, 50-minute online conversations with qualified and insured psychotherapists, counsellors and psychologists who understand the realities of working in music and touring. They are not a substitute for ongoing support with a qualified psychotherapist, counsellor or psychologist or medical treatment.
Instead, they provide flexible, ad-hoc support where needed – intended as an independent space to talk something through, reflect on how you’re coping, work through a difficult situation or get support when something is beginning to take a toll. You don’t need a diagnosis, referral or previous experience of therapy to use them.
What happens if somebody needs more intensive or urgent support?
Pay It Forward is not an emergency or crisis service. If someone needs urgent help, they should contact their local emergency services or attend their nearest accident and emergency department.
If a practitioner feels someone would benefit from more ongoing or specialist support than Tour Check-Ins can provide, they can discuss appropriate next steps and signpost them towards suitable services.
For details of crisis helplines, please visit: https://www.mitcbookings.com/resources/
Is support available in different languages?
Tour Check-Ins and Healthy Touring workshops are currently available in English, Spanish, Italian, German, French and Hindi, subject to practitioner availability.
The live Occupational Health consultation is currently available in English only. With advance notice, a pre-recorded Occupational Health seminar can be provided with subtitles in any of the languages listed above.
Impact
What happens after the initial three years?
Pay It Forward has been established as an initial three-year program. MITC will evaluate the program throughout that period, producing an annual impact report using anonymized and aggregated data to examine who the Fund has reached, how different elements of the support package have been used, the pressures and challenges being reported by touring teams, and participants' experiences and outcomes.
That learning will be used to refine the program from year to year, so that the support provided continues to reflect both what touring teams need and what the evidence suggests is most useful. MITC will continue to seek funding throughout the three-year period to sustain and, where possible, expand the program in response to demand. The findings from the initial three years will help inform its longer-term shape and development.
Can other organizations contribute to the fund?
Yes. Pay It Forward is designed to be supported by the wider live music industry, and MITC welcomes interest from organizations and individuals who would like to help sustain or expand the program.
MITC also gives organizations the option to donate unused sessions towards the Pay It Forward pool whenever they book Tour Check-Ins for their own teams.
They can find out more at https://www.musicindustrytherapists.com/payitforward/support or contact [email protected].