The New Music Award will fund the creation and performance of a new work. The competition is open to individuals, groups, or organizations working in any genre of music, so long as it is, according to the submissions guidelines, "an original piece of work with new British music at its heart." The award will be presented biannually.

The PRS Foundation was established four years ago by the Performing Right Society (PRS), which collects and distributes music royalties on behalf of its members. In 1999, PRS charged a group of staff and board members to come up with an entity dedicated to the support of new music. Since its inception the PRS Foundation has funded more than 1,000 new-music initiatives, for a total of Ô£5 million.