Musical Notes & Sound Money - CALLING ALL CREATIVES! The future of music & money needs you! The Future of Money Award was founded in 2009. Created to develop links between the financial industry and creative practitioners from around the world. Over the past 15 years, FOM and the talented designers and artists that participated in the awards, have challenged, questioned and proposed new approaches to money and payments.

THE BRIEF:

Money and music (and, in fact, all creative endeavours) have always had an uneasy relationship.

Music is profoundly human—it likely existed even before the rise of civilisation—and it runs deep in our collective unconscious.

It is complex, emotive, irrational, and intrinsically linked to our sense of being and meaning-making.

Money, too, has a long history. It helped build civilisations, and in its contemporary form, it is rational, functional, practical, and pragmatic. 

The motivations behind music and money often stand in stark contrast. We all need music (and creativity) to live—and money to survive.

Can this relationship be reinvented?

Buskers play for a peppercorn offering in coins and a transient audience. Youth orchestras often operate through a gift economy—people devoted to music and expression.

Oasis claimed they were the last rock band for the masses (oh dear). David Bowie predicted music would become like turning on a tap—and he created the infamous “Bowie Bonds”.

The truth is: money and music are both here to stay.

But can they play harmoniously together?

We challenge you to explore and create from the relationship between money and music.

Ask yourself… what if!

• What if music became money?
• What if musicians owned platforms?
• What if people were paid to listen to new music (like taste-testers for food)?
• What if musical instruments only played when money was inserted?
• What if buskers could play through your headphones as you walked by?
• What if buskers had their own micro radio stations?
• What if youth orchestras were nationally funded as part of the health service?
•  Don’t let “what is” dictate “what could be”!

WHO CAN ENTER:

Designers, Artists, Musicians, Creative Economists, Financial troublemakers, Speculative Designers, Critical Designers, Students, Professionals and the retired. Concepts need to be communicated effectively in a visually engaging way (if shortlisted).  

Hence, if you don’t have skills in visualisation, but have a great idea, perhaps befriend someone who can help?  If you are a brilliant social scientist with an innovative approach, perhaps join forces with a designer or artist?  (Just a thought).  

SUBMISSIONS:

The competition will run in two phases.

FIRST PHASE – Initial Idea

Please submit an overview of your concept (ideally with illustrations) as a PDF. Maximum 3 pages communicating the concept and examples of previous work (website or PDF).

Deadline for submission 6th March 2026
(Please do not enter if you believe you can monetise your concept, we are looking for insights and inspiring ideas, not patentable tech)

SECOND PHASE – Exhibition

10 to 12 entries will be selected, and their concepts will be exhibited at Pay360 event in London - https://pay360event.com/ . Taking place on the 26th March 2026.  3 selected finalists will receive an award and prize.

PRIZES

750 pounds for the winning entrant, travel expenses to London for finalists, an opportunity to present to financial and payment industry experts, projects achieved on the FOM award website and a physical award (to put on the shelf).

Terms & Conditions

By entering the Future of Money Design Awards, you retain full copyright in your work. You grant the Awards a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, display, and archive your entry for award-related purposes such as promotion, exhibition, and inclusion on our website and associated media. No ownership rights are transferred.

Please note: the Awards are intended for speculative and exploratory design/art work. If your project contains commercially sensitive or potentially patentable ideas, we kindly ask that you do not submit it.