HOW TO ENTER, AND HOW TO WIN!

This competition is only running for limited amount of time, so enter while you can. Entry is free and simple to enter with just your email address, and open to every independent band, artist and label across the UK.

We recommend you take a minute to rack up as many entries as you can to increase your chances of winning, including by donating whatever you are able to the Rescue the Roots fund. As the old adage goes, 'you've gotta be in it to win it!'

So, not only do you have the chance to win £2,500 of vinyl for your own band, you can make a real difference with £2,500 for your local music project, as well as being a part of the wider 'Rescue the Roots' campaign; which expects to help 18,000 creative people just in 2025 alone.

We'll be drawing the winner together with Youth Music, and will announce this shortly after the competition ends. Keep an eye on our newsletters for the results, and listen out for your phones! Competition winners will be asked to nominate their most-deserving local youth project to win the grant, helping to support future generations of music in their home town.

Know other artists that would benefit from this too? Share the love! Full T&Cs are above but in a nutshell, between us and Youth Music, your details are all totally secure.

WHY IS 'RESCUE THE ROOTS' IMPORTANT?

Grassroots music is in crisis and needs urgent help, with 41% of youth music spaces and projects at risk of imminent closure. While the top of the industry booms with record profits, the reality is that the majority of British artists can't afford to tour, music venues are closing across the nation at an alarming rate, and young people are losing vital access to music lessons and instruments. If we lose our grassroots infrastructure and the talent that it creates, how do we hope to foster the next generations of British talent?

This is what NME Magazine had to say about the Rescue the Roots campaign: "This is a call to arms that aims to drive systemic change, unite the sector to address the current crisis, and sustain the ecosystem for the long term."

Having already supported more than 5,000 music projects throughout Britain, Youth Music work hard to prove that every child, teenager and young adult facing inequity, exclusion and discrimination can improve their life through music. The charity has supported the formative careers of Ezra Collective, Sam Fender, English Teacher, Laura Mvula, Rizzle Kicks and a host of others; alongside fantastic work supporting early years, disabled, deaf and neurodivergent young people.

Rizzle Kicks star and Youth Music's current Grassroots Hero Award recipient, Jordan Stephens, said: "The UK music scene is in big trouble. Grassroots music projects are places for young people to build community, hone their passions and find purpose, and yet they are closing down at a worrying rate. I wouldn't be where I am today without the support of organisations like Youth Music".

Find out more information about the Rescue the Roots campaign, or donate separately to the competition by visiting their website.

OUR GRASSROOTS HISTORY

Having grown out of a grassroots collective before the turn of the century, DMS have a rich history of supporting grassroots organisations, both locally and across the globe. Our team is comprised of musicians and artists, event promoters and music mentors, sound engineers and avid record collectors, who share a deep and unwavering love of music and the music scenes that paved our paths to working together. Most recent recipients of DMS donations include Livewire, one of the longest-standing youth projects in Cornwall, whose young musicians have donated their own songs to be used as soundtracks to promote the competition, and Rocksteady Music School, providing young children the opportunity to learn instruments in school once more.

Throughout the years, we have supported community venue and recording studio Patchwork Studios CIC, Plymouth's own volunteer-run festival Freedom Fields, and independent booking agency Midnight Mango when all live events were postponed indefinitely during the pandemic. We have also helped independent artists back to their feet after crisis, like when Tankus had their band van full of equipment stolen right before a European tour, or when Katie Malco lost everything in a fire at her rehearsal rooms. Not confined to supporting projects on our doorstep, we're proud to have forged benevolent relationships as far and wide as Africa, with client-turned-friend Tshaka Mayanja and the Makakoba Project, and a Ugandan school for disabled young people.

"When we heard about the Rescue the Roots campaign, and how perfectly it aligned with our ethos and concerns for the future, we knew we had to invest, and do what we could to help raise wider industry awareness."

— Dave Summers, Managing Director of DMS Vinyl