OnlyFans has announced the launch of a creative prize fund, focused on providing a boost to emerging artists across the creative industries, starting with musicians based in the UK.

The new £80,000 fund is set to be split between four artists, with £20,000 grants awarded to individual applicants chosen by a panel including the UK rapper Stefflon Don, OnlyFans CEO Tim Stokely, designer Henry Holland, and Assassination Nation actress Suki Waterhouse.

The launch of the fund marks efforts to expand on the NSFW content that the platform has become best known for, into more SFW territory such as exclusive virtual performances or Q&A content. It’s also intended to highlight the fact that UK artists’ earnings from OnlyFans are lagging behind those of artists from the US who have landed on the platform, such as (and most notably) Cardi B. 

Stefflon Don tells the Independent that this fund is particularly valuable amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Music is an industry you have to work incredibly hard at anyway and with live gigs off the table it’s been tougher than ever,” she says. “My hope is this gives musicians inspiration or a channel to earn a wage. For the winners who will get the grant, I’m excited to see their possibilities in the industry and see the entries.”

In the last year, OnlyFans has also collided with the music industry via a shoutout from Beyoncé in a remix of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage”. The site reportedly saw a massive spike in traffic following the shoutout, with Stokely (unsurprisingly) welcoming Beyoncé’s seal of approval.

Applications for the new OnlyFans prize fund are open here to musicians from the UK, who are asked to upload a 90-second video performing one of their songs. Entries close on April 13 at midday (GMT).