News

Take it away scheme goes live!

2 July 2007

Take it away, Arts Council England's new national initiative to encourage more people to get involved in learning and playing music goes live today.

Designed to make musical instruments more easily affordable for families and those on lower incomes, the scheme allows individuals to apply for a loan of up to £2,000 for the purchase of any kind of musical instrument, and pay it back in nine monthly instalments, completely interest free.

The scheme is run by the Arts Council's trading subsidiary company, ArtCo Trading Ltd, in conjunction with The Musical Instrument Finance Company (MIFCO) who are the credit provider.

Around 70 musical instrument retailers from across the country successfully applied for membership of the scheme earlier this year and over 100 outlets are expected to begin offering the scheme to customers when it launches.

Take it away is being promoted by Arts Council England in partnership with the Music Industries Association, the UK trade body for the music industry.